[1] Upon his arrival in the colony he put a stop to a planned expedition against Spanish St. Augustine, organized in retaliation for an earlier attack against Charles Town.

He further angered the colonists by maintaining the government according to the colony's Fundamental Constitutions in the face of popular opposition.

In 1687 the Lords Proprietors wrote to Colleton, angry that a member of his Grand Council had been abetting pirates.

John Boone had been removed from the Council for smuggling supplies to Henry Holloway and a pirate named Chapman, and helping hide their loot.

This resulted in open resistance to his rule, prompting him to declare martial law, although he quickly retracted this when he could not even control the militia.