Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, one of the Lords Proprietors, sent Joseph West a patent making him a Landgrave, and gave him the commission as Governor of Carolina. The Proprietors had received numerous letters of complaints about Governor Sir John Yeamans,
Joseph Morton of Barbados replaced Joseph West as Governor. According to the Proprietors the change was due to West’s involvement in Indian slave trading. In reality, it was most likely a move to encourage more immigration from Barbados and other islands.