Dominion of New England
Encyclopedia
The Dominion of New England in America (1686–89) was an administrative union of English
colonies in the New England
region of North America
. The dominion was ultimately a failure because the area it encompassed (from the Delaware River
in the south to Penobscot Bay
in the north) was too large for a single governor to manage. Additional factors resulted in its fall, including the fact that its governor, Sir Edmund Andros
, was highly unpopular, engaging in actions that offended significant segments of the New England population. After news of the Glorious Revolution
in England reached Boston in 1689, Puritans launched a revolt
against Andros, arresting him and his officers. Leisler's Rebellion
in New York City
deposed the dominion's lieutenant governor, Francis Nicholson
. After these events, the colonies assembled into the dominion then reverted to their previous forms of governance, despite the fact that some then formally governed without a charter. New charters were eventually issued by King William III
and Queen Mary II
.
The word dominion
would later be used to describe the 1867 Dominion of Canada and other self-governing British colonies, although no precedent from the Dominion of New England was cited in these cases.
and in the West Indies, with varying attributes. Some, like the Virginia Colony, originated as commercial ventures, while others, like Maryland and Massachusetts Bay
were created for religious reasons. The governance of the colonies also varied. Virginia, despite its corporate beginning, became a crown colony
, while Massachusetts, along with other New England colonies, had a corporate charter and a great deal of administrative freedom. Other areas, like Maryland and Carolina, were proprietary colonies, owned and operated by one or a few individuals.
Following the English Restoration
in 1660, King Charles II
sought to streamline the administration of these colonial territories. Charles and his government began a process that brought a number of the colonies under direct crown control. One reason for these actions was the cost of administration of individual colonies; another significant reason was the regulation of trade. Throughout the 1660s the English Parliament passed a number of laws, collectively called the Navigation Acts
, to regulate the trade of the colonies. These laws were resisted, particularly in Massachusetts and the other New England colonies. These provinces had established significant trading networks not only with other English colonies, but with other European countries and their own colonies. The laws made some existing New England practices illegal (effectively turning merchants into smugglers
), and the payment of additional duties would have significantly increased their shipping costs.
Some of the New England colonies presented specific problems for the king, and combining those colonies into a single administrative entity was seen as a way to resolve those problems. The Plymouth Colony
had never been formally chartered, and the New Haven Colony
had sheltered two of the regicides of Charles I
, the monarch's father. The territory of Maine was disputed by competing grantees and by Massachusetts, and New Hampshire was a very small, recently-established crown colony. In addition to its widespread resistance to the Navigation Acts, Massachusetts had a long history of virtually theocratic rule
, and famously exhibited little tolerance for non-Puritan
s, including (most importantly for the king) supporters of the Church of England
. Charles II repeatedly sought to change the behavior of the Massachusetts governing elite, but it proved recalcitrant, resisting all substantive attempts at reform. In 1683 legal proceedings began to vacate the Massachusetts charter; it was formally annulled in June 1684.
, the Plymouth Colony
, the Province of New Hampshire
, the Province of Maine
, and the Narraganset Country (present-day Washington County, Rhode Island
).
Charles II had chosen Colonel Percy Kirke
to govern the dominion, but Charles died before the commission was approved. King James II
approved Kirke's commission in 1685, but Kirke came under harsh criticism for his role in putting down Monmouth's Rebellion, and his commission was withdrawn. Due to delays in developing the commission for his intended successor, Sir Edmund Andros
, a provisional commission was issued on October 8, 1685 to Massachusetts Bay native Joseph Dudley
as President of the Council of New England. His limited commission specified that he would rule with an appointed council and no representative legislature. The councillors named as members of this body included a cross-section of politically moderate men from the old colonial governments. Edward Randolph
, who had served as the crown agent investigating affairs in New England, was appointed to the council, as well. Randolph was also commissioned with a long list of other posts, including secretary of the dominion, collector of customs, and deputy postmaster.
Dudley was significantly hampered by the inability to raise revenues in the dominion. His commission did not allow for the introduction of new revenue laws, and the Massachusetts government, anticipating the loss of the charter, had repealed all such laws in 1683. Furthermore, many refused to pay the few remaining methods of income on the grounds that they had been enacted by the old government and were thus invalid. Attempts by Dudley and Randolph to introduce the Church of England were largely unsuccessful due to a lack of funding, but were also hampered by the perceived political danger of imposing on the existing churches for their use.
The enforcement of the Navigation Acts was conducted by Dudley and Randolph, although they did not adhere entirely to the laws. Understanding that certain provisions of the acts were unfair (some resulted in the payments of multiple duties), some violations were overlooked, and they suggested to the Lords of Trade that the laws be modified to ameliorate these conditions. However, the Massachusetts economy, also negatively affected by external circumstances, suffered. A dispute eventually occurred between Dudley and Randolph, over matters related to trade.
During Dudley's administration, the Lords of Trade, based on a petition from Dudley's council, decided to include the colonies of Rhode Island
and Connecticut
in the dominion on September 9, 1686. Andros, whose commission had been issued in June, was given an annex to his commission to incorporate them into the dominion.
's Third Church in 1687. Services were held there under the auspices of Reverend Robert Ratcliff until 1688, when King's Chapel
was built.
The first attempts to enforce the revenue laws were met by stiff resistance from a number of Massachusetts communities. Several towns refused to choose commissioners to assess the town population and estates, and officials from a number of them were consequently arrested and brought to Boston. Some were fined and released, while others were imprisoned until they promised to perform their duties. The leaders of Ipswich
, who had been most vocal in their opposition to the law, were tried and convicted of misdemeanor offenses.
The other provinces did not resist the imposition of the new law, even though, at least in Rhode Island, the rates were higher than they had been under the previous colonial administration. Plymouth's relatively poor landowners were hard hit because of the high rates on livestock. Somewhat ironically, the Andros taxes were lower in Massachusetts than those of its previous administration, and of the ones that followed; however, its colonists grumbled more about those imposed by Andros.
s, since these were where that protest had begun. He therefore introduced a law that limited meetings to a single annual meeting, solely for the purpose of electing officials, and explicitly banning meetings at other times for any reason. This loss of local power was widely hated. Many protests were made that the town meeting and tax laws were violations of the Magna Carta
, which guaranteed taxation by representatives of the people. Historian Violet Barnes observed that those who made this complaint had, during the period when the colonial charter was in effect, excluded large numbers of voters through the requirement of church membership, and then taxed them.
The manner in which Andros approached the issue was necessarily divisive, since it threatened any landowner whose title was in any way dubious. Some landowners went through the confirmation process, but many refused, since they did not want to face the possibility of losing their land, and they viewed the process as a thinly veiled land grab. The Puritans of Plymouth and Massachusetts, some of whom had extensive landholdings, were among the latter. Since all of the existing land titles in Massachusetts had been granted under the now-vacated colonial charter, Andros essentially declared them to be void, and required landowners to recertify their ownership, paying fees to the dominion and becoming subject to the charging of a quit-rent.
Andros attempted to compel the certification of ownership by issuing writs of intrusion, but large landowners who owned many parcels contested these individually, rather than recertifying all of their lands. The number of new titles issued before the Andros regime fell was small: 200 applications were made, but only about 20 of those were approved.
to surrender the colonial charter not long after his arrival in Boston. Unlike Rhode Island, whose officials readily acceded to the dominion, Connecticut officials formally acknowledged Andros' authority, but in fact did little to assist him. They continued to run their government according to the charter, holding quarterly meetings of the legislature and electing colony-wide officials, while Treat and Andros negotiated over the surrender of the charter. In October 1687 Andros finally decided to travel to Connecticut to personally see to the matter. Accompanied by an honor guard, he arrived in Hartford on October 31, and met that evening with the colonial leadership. According to legend, during this meeting the charter was laid out on the table for all to see. The lights in the room unexpectedly went out, and when relit, the charter had disappeared. The charter was said to have been hidden in a nearby oak tree (referred to afterward as the Charter Oak
) so that a search of nearby buildings would not locate the document.
Whatever the truth of the account, Connecticut records show that its government formally surrendered its seals and ceased operation that day. Andros then traveled throughout the colony, making judicial and other appointments, before returning to Boston. On December 29, 1687, the dominion council formally extended its laws over Connecticut, completing the assimilation of the New England colonies.
, East Jersey, and West Jersey were added to the Dominion. Because they were remote from Boston, where Andros had his seat, New York and the Jerseys were run by Lieutenant Governor Francis Nicholson
from New York City
. Nicholson, an army captain and protégé of colonial secretary William Blathwayt
, came to Boston in early 1687 as part of Andros' honor guard, and had been promoted to his council. During the summer of 1688, Andros traveled first to New York, and then to the Jerseys, to establish his commission. Dominion governance of the Jerseys was complicated by the fact that the proprietors, whose charters had been revoked, had retained their property, and petitioned Andros for what were traditional manorial rights
. The dominion period in the Jerseys was relatively uneventful, due to their distance from the power centers, and the unexpected end of the dominion in 1689.
, the Marquis de Denonville
launched an attack against Seneca villages in what is now western New York
. His objective was to disrupt trade between the English at Albany
and the Iroquois
confederation, to which the Seneca belonged, and to break the Covenant Chain
, a peace Andros had negotiated in 1677 while he was governor of New York New York Governor Thomas Dongan
appealed for help, and King James ordered Andros to render assistance. James also entered into negotiations with Louis XIV of France
, which resulted in an easing of tensions on the northwestern frontier. On New England's northeastern frontier, however, the Abenaki harbored grievances against English settlers, and began an offensive in early 1688. Andros made an expedition into Maine early in the year, in which he raided a number of Indian settlements. He also raided the trading outpost and home of Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin
on Penobscot Bay
. His careful preservation of the Catholic Castin's chapel would be a source of later accusations of "popery" against Andros.
When Andros took over the adminsitration of New York in August 1688, he met with the Iroquois at Albany to renew to covenant. In this meeting he annoyed the Iroquois by referring to them as "children" (that is, subservient to the English), rather than "brethren" (that is, peers). He returned to Boston amid further attacks on the New England frontier by Abenaki parties, who admitted that they were doing so in part because of French encouragement. The situation in Maine had also deteriorated again, with English colonists raiding Indian villages and shipping the captives to Boston. Andros castigated the Mainers for this unwarranted act and ordered the Indians released and returned to Maine, earning the hatred of the Maine settlers. He then returned to Maine with a significant force, and began the construction of additional fortifications to protect the settlers. Andros spent the winter in Maine, and returned to Boston in March up hearing rumors of revolution in England and discontent in Boston.
and Increase Mather
, were opposed to the rule of Andros, and organized dissent targeted to influence the court in London. After King James published the Declaration of Indulgence
in May 1687, Increase Mather sent a letter to the king, thanking him for the declaration, and then suggested to his peers that they also express gratitude to the king as a means to gain favor and influence. Ten pastors agreed to do so, and they decided to send Mather to England to press their case against Andros. Despite repeated attempts by Edward Randolph to stop him (Mather was arrested, tried and exonerated on one charge, but Randolph made a second arrest warrant with new charges), Mather was clandestinely spirited aboard a ship bound for England in April 1688. He and other Massachusetts agents were well received by James, who promised in October 1688 that the colony's concerns would be addressed. However, the events of the Glorious Revolution
took over, and by December James had been deposed by William and Mary
.
The Massachusetts agents then petitioned the new monarchs and the Lords of Trade for restoration of the old Massachusetts charter. Mather furthermore convinced the Lords of Trade to delay notifying Andros of the revolution. He had already dispatched to previous colonial governor Simon Bradstreet
a letter containing news that a report (prepared before the revolution) stating that the charter had been illegally annulled, and that the magistrates should "prepare the minds of the people for a change." News of the revolution apparently reached some individuals as early as late March, and Bradstreet is one of several possible organizers of the mob that formed
in Boston in April 18, 1689. He, along with other pre-Dominion magistrates and some members of Andros' council, addressed an open letter to Andros on that day calling for his surrender in order to quiet the mob. Andros, Randolph, Dudley, and other dominion supporters were arrested and imprisoned in Boston.
The dominion then effectively collapsed, as local authorities in each colony seized dominion representatives and reasserted their earlier power. In Plymouth dominion councilor Nathaniel Clark was arrested on April 22, and previous governor Thomas Hinckley
was reinstated. Rhode Island authorities organized a resumption of its charter with elections on May 1, but previous governor Walter Clarke
refused to serve, and the colony continued without one. In Connecticut the earlier government was also rapidly readopted. New Hampshire was temporarily left without formal government, and came under de facto rule by Massachusetts Governor Simon Bradstreet.
News of the Boston revolt reached New York by April 26, but Lieutenant Governor Nicholson did not take any immediate action. Andros managed during his captivity to have a message sent to Nicholson. Nicholson received the request for assistance in mid-May, but rising tensions in New York, combined the fact that most of Nicholson's troops had been sent to Maine, meant that he was unable to take any effective action. At the end May Nicholson was overthrown by local colonists, supported by the militia, in Leisler's Rebellion
, and he fled to England. Leisler governed New York until 1691, when King William commissioned Colonel Henry Sloughter
as its governor. Sloughter had Leisler tried on charges of high treason; he was convicted and executed in a trial presided over by Joseph Dudley.
, its defenders recalled in the aftermath of the revolt, was exposed to French and Indian raids with the outbreak in 1689 of King William's War
. The cost of colonial defense resulted in a heavy tax burden, and the war also made it difficult to rebuild the colony's trade.
Agents for both colonies worked in England to rectify the charter issues, with Increase Mather petitioning the Lords of Trade for a restoration of the old Massachusetts charter. When King William was informed that this would result in a return of the hard-line Puritan government, he acted to prevent that from happening. Instead, the Lords of Trade decided to solve the issue by combining the two provinces. The resulting Province of Massachusetts Bay
, whose charter was issued in 1691 and began operating in 1692 under governor Sir William Phips
, combined the territories of those two provinces, along with the islands south of Cape Cod (Martha's Vineyard
, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands
).
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
colonies in the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
region of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The dominion was ultimately a failure because the area it encompassed (from the Delaware River
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
in the south to Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
in the north) was too large for a single governor to manage. Additional factors resulted in its fall, including the fact that its governor, Sir Edmund Andros
Edmund Andros
Sir Edmund Andros was an English colonial administrator in North America. Andros was known most notably for his governorship of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. He also governed at various times the provinces of New York, East and West Jersey, Virginia, and...
, was highly unpopular, engaging in actions that offended significant segments of the New England population. After news of the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
in England reached Boston in 1689, Puritans launched a revolt
1689 Boston revolt
The 1689 Boston revolt was a popular uprising on April 18, 1689, against the rule of Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of the Dominion of New England. A well-organized "mob" of provincial militia and citizens formed in the city and arrested dominion officials...
against Andros, arresting him and his officers. Leisler's Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late 17th century colonial New York, in which German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the colony's south and ruled it from 1689 to 1691. The uprising took place in the aftermath of Britain's Glorious Revolution and the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
deposed the dominion's lieutenant governor, Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson was a British military officer and colonial administrator. His military service included time in Africa and Europe, after which he was sent as leader of the troops supporting Sir Edmund Andros in the Dominion of New England. There he distinguished himself, and was appointed...
. After these events, the colonies assembled into the dominion then reverted to their previous forms of governance, despite the fact that some then formally governed without a charter. New charters were eventually issued by King William III
King William III
William III may refer to:* William III of Aquitaine * William III of Toulouse * William III of Provence * William III of Montferrat * William III of Angoulême * William III of Ponthieu William III may refer to:* William III of Aquitaine (915–963)* William III of Toulouse (died 1037)* William III of...
and Queen Mary II
Mary II of England
Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...
.
The word dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
would later be used to describe the 1867 Dominion of Canada and other self-governing British colonies, although no precedent from the Dominion of New England was cited in these cases.
Background
In the first half of the 17th century a number of English colonies were established in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and in the West Indies, with varying attributes. Some, like the Virginia Colony, originated as commercial ventures, while others, like Maryland and Massachusetts Bay
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
were created for religious reasons. The governance of the colonies also varied. Virginia, despite its corporate beginning, became a crown colony
Crown colony
A Crown colony, also known in the 17th century as royal colony, was a type of colonial administration of the English and later British Empire....
, while Massachusetts, along with other New England colonies, had a corporate charter and a great deal of administrative freedom. Other areas, like Maryland and Carolina, were proprietary colonies, owned and operated by one or a few individuals.
Following the English Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
in 1660, King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
sought to streamline the administration of these colonial territories. Charles and his government began a process that brought a number of the colonies under direct crown control. One reason for these actions was the cost of administration of individual colonies; another significant reason was the regulation of trade. Throughout the 1660s the English Parliament passed a number of laws, collectively called the Navigation Acts
Navigation Acts
The English Navigation Acts were a series of laws that restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade between England and its colonies, a process which had started in 1651. Their goal was to force colonial development into lines favorable to England, and stop direct colonial trade with the...
, to regulate the trade of the colonies. These laws were resisted, particularly in Massachusetts and the other New England colonies. These provinces had established significant trading networks not only with other English colonies, but with other European countries and their own colonies. The laws made some existing New England practices illegal (effectively turning merchants into smugglers
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
), and the payment of additional duties would have significantly increased their shipping costs.
Some of the New England colonies presented specific problems for the king, and combining those colonies into a single administrative entity was seen as a way to resolve those problems. The Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
had never been formally chartered, and the New Haven Colony
New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was an English colonial venture in present-day Connecticut in North America from 1637 to 1662.- Quinnipiac Colony :A Puritan minister named John Davenport led his flock from exile in the Netherlands back to England and finally to America in the spring of 1637...
had sheltered two of the regicides of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, the monarch's father. The territory of Maine was disputed by competing grantees and by Massachusetts, and New Hampshire was a very small, recently-established crown colony. In addition to its widespread resistance to the Navigation Acts, Massachusetts had a long history of virtually theocratic rule
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
, and famously exhibited little tolerance for non-Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
s, including (most importantly for the king) supporters of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. Charles II repeatedly sought to change the behavior of the Massachusetts governing elite, but it proved recalcitrant, resisting all substantive attempts at reform. In 1683 legal proceedings began to vacate the Massachusetts charter; it was formally annulled in June 1684.
Establishment
Following the revocation of the Massachusetts charter, Charles II and the Lords of Trade moved forward with plans to establish a unified administration over at least some of the New England colonies. The specific objectives of the dominion included the regulation of trade, an increase in religious freedoms, reformation of land title practices to conform more to English methods and practices, coordination on matters of defense, and a streamlining of the administration into fewer centers. The Dominion initially comprised the territories of the Massachusetts Bay ColonyMassachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
, the Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
, the Province of New Hampshire
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire is a name first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was formally organized as an English royal colony on October 7, 1691, during the period of English colonization...
, the Province of Maine
Province of Maine
The Province of Maine refers to several English colonies of that name that existed in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, at times roughly encompassing portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, as well as the Canadian provinces of Quebec...
, and the Narraganset Country (present-day Washington County, Rhode Island
Washington County, Rhode Island
Washington County, commonly known colloquially as South County, is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Washington County borders Kent County to the north, New London County in Connecticut to the west, Suffolk County in New York to the southwest, the Atlantic...
).
Charles II had chosen Colonel Percy Kirke
Percy Kirke
Lieutenant General Percy Kirke , English soldier, was the son of George Kirke, a court official to Charles I and Charles II.In 1666 Kirke obtained his first commission in the Lord Admiral's regiment, and subsequently served in the Blues...
to govern the dominion, but Charles died before the commission was approved. King James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
approved Kirke's commission in 1685, but Kirke came under harsh criticism for his role in putting down Monmouth's Rebellion, and his commission was withdrawn. Due to delays in developing the commission for his intended successor, Sir Edmund Andros
Edmund Andros
Sir Edmund Andros was an English colonial administrator in North America. Andros was known most notably for his governorship of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. He also governed at various times the provinces of New York, East and West Jersey, Virginia, and...
, a provisional commission was issued on October 8, 1685 to Massachusetts Bay native Joseph Dudley
Joseph Dudley
Joseph Dudley was an English colonial administrator. A native of Roxbury, Massachusetts and son of one of its founders, he had a leading role in the administration of the unpopular Dominion of New England , and served briefly on the council of the Province of New York, where he oversaw the trial...
as President of the Council of New England. His limited commission specified that he would rule with an appointed council and no representative legislature. The councillors named as members of this body included a cross-section of politically moderate men from the old colonial governments. Edward Randolph
Edward Randolph (colonial administrator)
Edward Randolph was an English colonial administrator, best known for his role in effecting significant changes in the structure of the England's North American colonies in the later years of the 17th century...
, who had served as the crown agent investigating affairs in New England, was appointed to the council, as well. Randolph was also commissioned with a long list of other posts, including secretary of the dominion, collector of customs, and deputy postmaster.
Dudley administration
Dudley's charter arrived in Boston in May 14, 1686, and he formally took charge of Massachusetts on May 25. His rule did not begin auspiciously, since a number of Massachusetts magistrates who had been named to his council refused to serve. According to Edward Randolph, the Puritan magistrates "were of opinion that God would never suffer me to land again in this country, and thereupon began in a most arbitrary manner to assert their power higher than at any time before." Elections of colonial military officers were also compromised when many of them, too, refused to serve. Dudley made a number of judicial appointments, generally favoring the political moderates who had supported accommodation of the king's wishes in the battle over the old charter.The enforcement of the Navigation Acts was conducted by Dudley and Randolph, although they did not adhere entirely to the laws. Understanding that certain provisions of the acts were unfair (some resulted in the payments of multiple duties), some violations were overlooked, and they suggested to the Lords of Trade that the laws be modified to ameliorate these conditions. However, the Massachusetts economy, also negatively affected by external circumstances, suffered. A dispute eventually occurred between Dudley and Randolph, over matters related to trade.
During Dudley's administration, the Lords of Trade, based on a petition from Dudley's council, decided to include the colonies of Rhode Island
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original English Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of North America that, after the American Revolution, became the modern U.S...
and Connecticut
Connecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut was an English colony located in British America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony, it was organized on March 3, 1636 as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English...
in the dominion on September 9, 1686. Andros, whose commission had been issued in June, was given an annex to his commission to incorporate them into the dominion.
Andros administration
Andros arrived in Boston on December 20, 1686, and immediately assumed power. His commission called for governance by himself, again with a council. The initial composition of the council included representatives from each of the colonies the dominion absorbed, but because of the inconvenience of travel and the fact that travel costs were not reimbursed, the council's quorums were dominated by representatives from Massachusetts and Plymouth.Church of England
Shortly after his arrival, Andros asked each of the Puritan churches in Boston if its meetinghouse could be used for services of the Church of England. When he was rebuffed, he demanded and was given keys to Samuel WillardSamuel Willard
Reverend Samuel Willard was a Colonial clergyman. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts; graduated at Harvard in 1659; and was minister at Groton from 1663 to 1676, whence he was driven by the Indians during King Philip's War. The Reverend Willard was pastor of the Third Church, Boston, from...
's Third Church in 1687. Services were held there under the auspices of Reverend Robert Ratcliff until 1688, when King's Chapel
King's Chapel
King's Chapel is "an independent Christian unitarian congregation affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association" that is "unitarian Christian in theology, Anglican in worship, and congregational in governance." It is housed in what was formerly called "Stone Chapel", an 18th century...
was built.
Revenue laws
After Andros' arrival, the council began a long process of harmonizing laws across the dominion to conform more closely to English laws. This work was so time-consuming that Andros in March 1687 issued a proclamation stating that pre-existing laws would remain in effect until they were revised. Since Massachusetts had no pre-existing tax laws, a scheme of taxation was developed that would apply to the entire dominion. Developed by a committee of landowners, the first proposal derived its revenues from import duties, principally alcohol. After much debate, a different proposal was abruptly proposed and adopted, essentially reviving previous Massachusetts tax laws. These laws had been unpopular with farmers who felt the taxes on livestock were too high. In order to bring in immediate revenue, Andros also received approval to increase the import duties on alcohol.The first attempts to enforce the revenue laws were met by stiff resistance from a number of Massachusetts communities. Several towns refused to choose commissioners to assess the town population and estates, and officials from a number of them were consequently arrested and brought to Boston. Some were fined and released, while others were imprisoned until they promised to perform their duties. The leaders of Ipswich
Ipswich, Massachusetts
Ipswich is a coastal town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,987 at the 2000 census. Home to Willowdale State Forest and Sandy Point State Reservation, Ipswich includes the southern part of Plum Island...
, who had been most vocal in their opposition to the law, were tried and convicted of misdemeanor offenses.
The other provinces did not resist the imposition of the new law, even though, at least in Rhode Island, the rates were higher than they had been under the previous colonial administration. Plymouth's relatively poor landowners were hard hit because of the high rates on livestock. Somewhat ironically, the Andros taxes were lower in Massachusetts than those of its previous administration, and of the ones that followed; however, its colonists grumbled more about those imposed by Andros.
Town meeting laws
One consequence of the tax protest was that Andros sought to restrict town meetingTown meeting
A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule, used primarily in portions of the United States since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government....
s, since these were where that protest had begun. He therefore introduced a law that limited meetings to a single annual meeting, solely for the purpose of electing officials, and explicitly banning meetings at other times for any reason. This loss of local power was widely hated. Many protests were made that the town meeting and tax laws were violations of the Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
, which guaranteed taxation by representatives of the people. Historian Violet Barnes observed that those who made this complaint had, during the period when the colonial charter was in effect, excluded large numbers of voters through the requirement of church membership, and then taxed them.
Land title reform
Andros had been instructed to bring colonial land title practices more in line with those in England, and introduce quit-rents as a means of raising colonial revenues. Titles issued in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine under the colonial administration often suffered from defects of form (for example, lacking an imprint of the colonial seal), and most of them did not include a quit-rent payment. Land grants in colonial Connecticut and Rhode Island had been made before either colony had a charter, and there were conflicting claims in a number of areas.The manner in which Andros approached the issue was necessarily divisive, since it threatened any landowner whose title was in any way dubious. Some landowners went through the confirmation process, but many refused, since they did not want to face the possibility of losing their land, and they viewed the process as a thinly veiled land grab. The Puritans of Plymouth and Massachusetts, some of whom had extensive landholdings, were among the latter. Since all of the existing land titles in Massachusetts had been granted under the now-vacated colonial charter, Andros essentially declared them to be void, and required landowners to recertify their ownership, paying fees to the dominion and becoming subject to the charging of a quit-rent.
Andros attempted to compel the certification of ownership by issuing writs of intrusion, but large landowners who owned many parcels contested these individually, rather than recertifying all of their lands. The number of new titles issued before the Andros regime fell was small: 200 applications were made, but only about 20 of those were approved.
Connecticut charter
Since Andros' commission included Connecticut, he asked Connecticut Governor Robert TreatRobert Treat
Robert Treat was an American colonial leader, militia officer and governor of Connecticut between 1683 and 1698....
to surrender the colonial charter not long after his arrival in Boston. Unlike Rhode Island, whose officials readily acceded to the dominion, Connecticut officials formally acknowledged Andros' authority, but in fact did little to assist him. They continued to run their government according to the charter, holding quarterly meetings of the legislature and electing colony-wide officials, while Treat and Andros negotiated over the surrender of the charter. In October 1687 Andros finally decided to travel to Connecticut to personally see to the matter. Accompanied by an honor guard, he arrived in Hartford on October 31, and met that evening with the colonial leadership. According to legend, during this meeting the charter was laid out on the table for all to see. The lights in the room unexpectedly went out, and when relit, the charter had disappeared. The charter was said to have been hidden in a nearby oak tree (referred to afterward as the Charter Oak
Charter Oak
The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree growing, from around the 12th or 13th century until 1856, on what the English colonists named Wyllys Hyll, in Hartford, Connecticut, USA...
) so that a search of nearby buildings would not locate the document.
Inclusion of New York and the Jerseys
On May 7, 1688, the provinces of New YorkProvince of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
, East Jersey, and West Jersey were added to the Dominion. Because they were remote from Boston, where Andros had his seat, New York and the Jerseys were run by Lieutenant Governor Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson
Francis Nicholson was a British military officer and colonial administrator. His military service included time in Africa and Europe, after which he was sent as leader of the troops supporting Sir Edmund Andros in the Dominion of New England. There he distinguished himself, and was appointed...
from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Nicholson, an army captain and protégé of colonial secretary William Blathwayt
William Blathwayt
William Blathwayt was a civil servant and politician who established the War Office as a department of the British Government and played an important part in administering the Thirteen Colonies of North America....
, came to Boston in early 1687 as part of Andros' honor guard, and had been promoted to his council. During the summer of 1688, Andros traveled first to New York, and then to the Jerseys, to establish his commission. Dominion governance of the Jerseys was complicated by the fact that the proprietors, whose charters had been revoked, had retained their property, and petitioned Andros for what were traditional manorial rights
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
. The dominion period in the Jerseys was relatively uneventful, due to their distance from the power centers, and the unexpected end of the dominion in 1689.
Indian diplomacy
In 1687 the governor of New FranceNew France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, the Marquis de Denonville
Jacques-René de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville
Jacques-Rene de Brisay de Denonville, Marquis de Denonville was Governor General of New France from 1685 to 1689 and was a key figure in the Beaver Wars....
launched an attack against Seneca villages in what is now western New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. His objective was to disrupt trade between the English at Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
and the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
confederation, to which the Seneca belonged, and to break the Covenant Chain
Covenant Chain
The Covenant Chain was a series of alliances and treaties involving the Iroquois Confederacy , the British colonies of North America, and a number of other Indian tribes...
, a peace Andros had negotiated in 1677 while he was governor of New York New York Governor Thomas Dongan
Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick
Thomas Donegan, 2nd Earl of Limerick was a member of Irish Parliament, Royalist military officer during the English Civil War, and governor of the Province of New York...
appealed for help, and King James ordered Andros to render assistance. James also entered into negotiations with Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, which resulted in an easing of tensions on the northwestern frontier. On New England's northeastern frontier, however, the Abenaki harbored grievances against English settlers, and began an offensive in early 1688. Andros made an expedition into Maine early in the year, in which he raided a number of Indian settlements. He also raided the trading outpost and home of Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin
Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin
Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin was a French military officer serving in Acadia and an Abenaki chief. He is the father of two prominent sons who were also military leaders in Acadia, Bernard-Anselme and Joseph...
on Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
. His careful preservation of the Catholic Castin's chapel would be a source of later accusations of "popery" against Andros.
When Andros took over the adminsitration of New York in August 1688, he met with the Iroquois at Albany to renew to covenant. In this meeting he annoyed the Iroquois by referring to them as "children" (that is, subservient to the English), rather than "brethren" (that is, peers). He returned to Boston amid further attacks on the New England frontier by Abenaki parties, who admitted that they were doing so in part because of French encouragement. The situation in Maine had also deteriorated again, with English colonists raiding Indian villages and shipping the captives to Boston. Andros castigated the Mainers for this unwarranted act and ordered the Indians released and returned to Maine, earning the hatred of the Maine settlers. He then returned to Maine with a significant force, and began the construction of additional fortifications to protect the settlers. Andros spent the winter in Maine, and returned to Boston in March up hearing rumors of revolution in England and discontent in Boston.
Glorious Revolution and dissolution
The religious leaders of Massachusetts, led by CottonCotton Mather
Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...
and Increase Mather
Increase Mather
Increase Mather was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay . He was a Puritan minister who was involved with the government of the colony, the administration of Harvard College, and most notoriously, the Salem witch trials...
, were opposed to the rule of Andros, and organized dissent targeted to influence the court in London. After King James published the Declaration of Indulgence
Declaration of Indulgence
The Declaration of Indulgence was two proclamations made by James II of England and VII of Scotland in 1687. The Indulgence was first issued for Scotland on 12 February, and then for England on 4 April 1687...
in May 1687, Increase Mather sent a letter to the king, thanking him for the declaration, and then suggested to his peers that they also express gratitude to the king as a means to gain favor and influence. Ten pastors agreed to do so, and they decided to send Mather to England to press their case against Andros. Despite repeated attempts by Edward Randolph to stop him (Mather was arrested, tried and exonerated on one charge, but Randolph made a second arrest warrant with new charges), Mather was clandestinely spirited aboard a ship bound for England in April 1688. He and other Massachusetts agents were well received by James, who promised in October 1688 that the colony's concerns would be addressed. However, the events of the Glorious Revolution
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
took over, and by December James had been deposed by William and Mary
William and Mary
The phrase William and Mary usually refers to the coregency over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, of King William III & II and Queen Mary II...
.
Simon Bradstreet
Simon Bradstreet was a colonial magistrate, businessman, diplomat, and the last governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Arriving in Massachusetts on the Winthrop Fleet in 1630, Bradstreet was almost constantly involved in the politics of the colony but became its governor only in 1679...
a letter containing news that a report (prepared before the revolution) stating that the charter had been illegally annulled, and that the magistrates should "prepare the minds of the people for a change." News of the revolution apparently reached some individuals as early as late March, and Bradstreet is one of several possible organizers of the mob that formed
1689 Boston revolt
The 1689 Boston revolt was a popular uprising on April 18, 1689, against the rule of Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of the Dominion of New England. A well-organized "mob" of provincial militia and citizens formed in the city and arrested dominion officials...
in Boston in April 18, 1689. He, along with other pre-Dominion magistrates and some members of Andros' council, addressed an open letter to Andros on that day calling for his surrender in order to quiet the mob. Andros, Randolph, Dudley, and other dominion supporters were arrested and imprisoned in Boston.
The dominion then effectively collapsed, as local authorities in each colony seized dominion representatives and reasserted their earlier power. In Plymouth dominion councilor Nathaniel Clark was arrested on April 22, and previous governor Thomas Hinckley
Thomas Hinckley
Thomas Hinckley was the governor of the Plymouth Colony and held several other governmental positions during his lifetime, including that of a representative, a deputy, magistrate, and assistant, among others...
was reinstated. Rhode Island authorities organized a resumption of its charter with elections on May 1, but previous governor Walter Clarke
Walter Clarke (governor)
Walter Clarke was an early Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and the first native-born governor of the colony. The son of colonial President Jeremy Clarke, he was a Quaker like his father. While in his late 20s, he was elected as a Deputy from Newport, and in 1673...
refused to serve, and the colony continued without one. In Connecticut the earlier government was also rapidly readopted. New Hampshire was temporarily left without formal government, and came under de facto rule by Massachusetts Governor Simon Bradstreet.
News of the Boston revolt reached New York by April 26, but Lieutenant Governor Nicholson did not take any immediate action. Andros managed during his captivity to have a message sent to Nicholson. Nicholson received the request for assistance in mid-May, but rising tensions in New York, combined the fact that most of Nicholson's troops had been sent to Maine, meant that he was unable to take any effective action. At the end May Nicholson was overthrown by local colonists, supported by the militia, in Leisler's Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion
Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late 17th century colonial New York, in which German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the colony's south and ruled it from 1689 to 1691. The uprising took place in the aftermath of Britain's Glorious Revolution and the...
, and he fled to England. Leisler governed New York until 1691, when King William commissioned Colonel Henry Sloughter
Henry Sloughter
Henry Sloughter was briefly colonial governor of New York in 1691. Sloughter was the governor who put down Leisler's Rebellion, which had installed Jacob Leisler as de facto governor in 1689. Lieutenant Governor Richard Ingoldesby, who had served against Leisler's rebels, took over after...
as its governor. Sloughter had Leisler tried on charges of high treason; he was convicted and executed in a trial presided over by Joseph Dudley.
Massachusetts and Plymouth
The dissolution of the dominion presented legal problems for both Massachusetts and Plymouth. Plymouth never had a royal charter, and that of Massachusetts had been legally vacated. As a result, the restored governments lacked legal foundations for their existence, an issue the political opponents of the leadership made it a point to raise. This was particularly problematic in Massachusetts, whose long frontier with New FranceNew France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, its defenders recalled in the aftermath of the revolt, was exposed to French and Indian raids with the outbreak in 1689 of King William's War
King William's War
The first of the French and Indian Wars, King William's War was the name used in the English colonies in America to refer to the North American theater of the Nine Years' War...
. The cost of colonial defense resulted in a heavy tax burden, and the war also made it difficult to rebuild the colony's trade.
Agents for both colonies worked in England to rectify the charter issues, with Increase Mather petitioning the Lords of Trade for a restoration of the old Massachusetts charter. When King William was informed that this would result in a return of the hard-line Puritan government, he acted to prevent that from happening. Instead, the Lords of Trade decided to solve the issue by combining the two provinces. The resulting Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
, whose charter was issued in 1691 and began operating in 1692 under governor Sir William Phips
William Phips
Sir William Phips was a shipwright, ship's captain, treasure hunter, military leader, and the first royally-appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay....
, combined the territories of those two provinces, along with the islands south of Cape Cod (Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands
Elizabeth Islands
The Elizabeth Islands are a chain of small islands extending southwest from the southern coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the United States. They are located at the outer edge of Buzzards Bay, north of Martha's Vineyard from which they are separated by Vineyard Sound, and constitute the town of...
).
Governors of the Dominion of New England in America
This is a list of the Governors of the Dominion of New England in America from 1686 to 1689:| Governor in Chief | Date of commission | Date office assumed |
|---|---|---|
| Percy Kirke Percy Kirke Lieutenant General Percy Kirke , English soldier, was the son of George Kirke, a court official to Charles I and Charles II.In 1666 Kirke obtained his first commission in the Lord Admiral's regiment, and subsequently served in the Blues... |
1684 | Appointment withdrawn in 1685 |
| Joseph Dudley Joseph Dudley Joseph Dudley was an English colonial administrator. A native of Roxbury, Massachusetts and son of one of its founders, he had a leading role in the administration of the unpopular Dominion of New England , and served briefly on the council of the Province of New York, where he oversaw the trial... (provisionally as President of the Council of New England) |
October 8, 1685 | May 25, 1686 |
| Sir Edmund Andros | June 3, 1686 | December 20, 1686 |