Dominion of New England

A number of English colonies were established in America and in the West Indies during the first half of the 17th century, with varying attributes. Some originated as commercial ventures, such as the Virginia Colony, while others were founded for religious reasons, such as Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony and Rhode Island Colony. The governments of the colonies also varied. Virginia became a crown colony, despite its corporate beginning, while Massachusetts and other New England colonies had corporate charters and a great deal of administrative freedom. Other areas were proprietary colonies, such as Maryland and Carolina, 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, but another significant reason was the regulation of trade. Throughout the 1660s, the English Parliament passed a number of laws to regulate the trade of the colonies, collectively called the Navigation Acts. The American colonists resisted these laws, particularly in the New England colonies which had established significant trading networks with other English colonies and with European countries and their colonies, especially Spain and the Dutch Republic. The Navigation Acts also outlawed some existing New England practices, in effect turning merchants into smugglers while significantly increasing the cost of doing business.

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. Plymouth Colony had never been formally chartered, and the New Haven Colony had sheltered two of the regicides of Charles I, the king'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. The Massachusetts General Court authorized Boston silversmith John Hull to produce local coinage between 1652 and 1682, which the English government considered treasonous.[1]

Massachusetts had a long history of virtually theocratic rule, and they exhibited little tolerance for non-Puritans, including supporters of the Church of England (which was most important for the king). Charles II repeatedly sought to change the Massachusetts government, but they resisted all substantive attempts at reform. In 1683, legal proceedings began to vacate the Massachusetts charter; it was formally annulled in June 1684.[2]

England's desire for colonies that produced agricultural staples worked well for the southern colonies, which produced tobacco, rice, and indigo, but not so well for New England due to the geology of the region. Lacking a suitable staple, the New Englanders engaged in trade and became successful competitors to English merchants. They were now starting to develop workshops that threatened to deprive England of its lucrative colonial market for manufactured articles, such as textiles, leather goods, and ironware. The plan, therefore, was to establish a uniform all-powerful government over the northern colonies so that the people would be diverted away from manufacturing and foreign trade.[3]

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, 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 Colony, the Plymouth Colony, the Province of New Hampshire, the Province of Maine, and the Narraganset Country (Washington County, Rhode Island).

King James II

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.[4] The King issued a provisional commission on October 8, 1685 to Massachusetts Bay native Joseph Dudley as President of the Council of New England, due to delays in developing the commission for Kirke's intended successor Sir Edmund Andros.[5]

Dudley's limited commission specified that he would rule with an appointed council and no representative legislature.[6] The councilors named as members of this body included a cross-section of politically moderate men from the old colonial governments. Edward Randolph had served as the crown agent investigating affairs in New England, and he was appointed to the council, as well.[7] Randolph was also commissioned with a long list of other posts, including secretary of the dominion, collector of customs, and deputy postmaster.[8]

Dudley's charter arrived in Boston on May 14, 1686, and he formally took charge of Massachusetts on May 25.[9] His rule did not begin auspiciously, since a number of Massachusetts magistrates refused to serve on his council.[10] 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."[11] Elections of colonial military officers were also compromised when many of them refused to serve.[12] 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.[13]

Joseph Dudley

Dudley was significantly hampered by the inability to raise revenues in the dominion. His commission did not allow the introduction of new revenue laws, and the Massachusetts government had repealed all such laws in 1683, anticipating the loss of the charter.[14] Furthermore, many refused to pay the few remaining taxes on the grounds that they had been enacted by the old government and were thus invalid.[15] Dudley and Randolph were largely unsuccessful at introducing the Church of England due to a lack of funding, but they were also hampered by the perceived political danger of imposing on the existing churches for their use.[16]

Dudley and Randolph enforced the Navigation Acts, although they did not adhere entirely to the laws. Some variations were overlooked, understanding that certain provisions of the acts were unfair, and they suggested to the Lords of Trade that the laws be modified to ameliorate these conditions. However, the Massachusetts economy suffered, also negatively affected by external circumstances.[17] A dispute eventually occurred between Dudley and Randolph over matters related to trade.[18]

The Lords of Trade decided on September 9, 1686 to include the colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut in the dominion, based on a petition from Dudley's council. Andros's commission had been issued in June, and he was given an annex to his commission to incorporate them into the dominion.

Andros had previously been governor of New York; he arrived in Boston on December 20, 1686 and immediately assumed power.[19] He took a hard-line position, claiming that the colonists had left behind all their rights as Englishmen when they left England. The Reverend John Wise rallied his parishioners in 1687 to protest and resist taxes, so Andros had him arrested, convicted, and fined. An Andros official stated: "Mr. Wise, you have no more privileges Left you then not to be Sold for Slaves."[20]

Andros' commission called for governance by himself with a council. The initial composition of the council included representatives from each of the colonies which the dominion absorbed, but the council's quorums were dominated by representatives from Massachusetts and Plymouth because of the inconvenience of travel and the fact that travel costs were not reimbursed.

Sir Edmund Andros

Connecticut charter

Andros' commission included Connecticut, and he asked Connecticut Governor Robert Treat to surrender the colonial charter not long after his arrival in Boston. Connecticut officials formally acknowledged Andros' authority, unlike Rhode Island, whose officials acceded to the dominion but in fact did little to assist him. Connecticut 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. He arrived in Hartford on October 31, accompanied by an honor guard, and met that evening with the colonial leadership. The Colonists lay the charter on a table for all to see during this meeting, but the lights suddenly went out. When the lights were relit, the charter had disappeared. It 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 could not locate the document.[32]

Francis Nicholson

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.[33] On December 29, 1687, the dominion council formally extended its laws over Connecticut, completing the assimilation of the New England colonies.[34]

The religious leaders of Massachusetts, led by Cotton and Increase Mather, were opposed to the rule of Andros and organized dissent targeted to influence the court in London. King James published the Declaration of Indulgence in May 1687, and Increase Mather sent a letter to thank him for the declaration, and then he suggested to his peers that they also express gratitude to the king as a means to gain favor and influence.[43] Ten pastors agreed to do so, and they decided to send Mather to England to press their case against Andros.[44] Edward Randolph attempted 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.[45] He and other Massachusetts agents were well received by James, who promised in October 1688 that the colony's concerns would be addressed.[46] However, the events of the Glorious Revolution took over, and James was deposed by William III and Mary II.[47]

Engraving depicting Andros under arrest

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.[48] He sent a letter to previous colonial governor Simon Bradstreet containing news that the charter had been illegally annulled and that the magistrates should "prepare the minds of the people for a change."[49] News of the revolution apparently reached some individuals as early as late March,[50] and Bradstreet is one of several possible organizers of the revolt in Boston on April 18, 1689. He and other pre-Dominion magistrates and some members of Andros' council addressed an open letter to Andros on that day calling for his surrender.[51] Andros, Randolph, Dudley, and other dominion supporters were arrested and imprisoned in Boston.[52]

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 resumed the colony's 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.[53] New Hampshire was temporarily left without formal government, and came under de facto rule by Massachusetts Governor Simon Bradstreet.[54]

News of the Boston revolt reached New York by April 26, but Lieutenant Governor Nicholson did not take any immediate action.[55] Andros managed to send a message to Nicholson while in captivity. Nicholson received the request for assistance in mid-May, but he was unable to take any effective action due to rising tensions in New York, combined with the fact that most of Nicholson's troops had been sent to Maine.[56] At the end of May, Nicholson was overthrown by local colonists supported by the militia in Leisler's Rebellion, and he fled to England.[57] Leisler governed New York until 1691, when King William commissioned Colonel Henry Sloughter as its governor.[58] Sloughter had Leisler tried on charges of high treason; he was convicted[59] in a trial presided over by Joseph Dudley and then executed.[60]

This is a list of the chief administrators of the Dominion of New England in America from 1684 to 1689:

The Attorney General was an appointed executive officer of the Dominion of New England:

• History of New England
• New England Colonies
• New England Confederation

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• Barnes, Viola Florence (1923). The Dominion of New England: A Study in British Colonial Policy. ISBN 978-0-8044-1065-6. OCLC 395292.
• Dunn, Richard S. "The Glorious Revolution and America" in The Origins of Empire: British Overseas Enterprise to the Close of the Seventeenth Century ( The Oxford History of the British Empire, (1998) vol 1 pp 445–66.
• Dunn, Randy (2007). "Patronage and Governance in Francis Nicholson's Empire". English Atlantics Revisited. Montreal: McGill-Queens Press: 59–80. doi:10.1515/9780773560406-006. ISBN 978-0-7735-3219-9. OCLC 429487739.
• Hall, Michael Garibaldi (1960). Edward Randolph and the American Colonies. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
• Hall, Michael Garibaldi (1988). The Last American Puritan: The Life of Increase Mather, 1639–1723. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 978-0-8195-5128-3. OCLC 16578800.
• Kimball, Everett (1911). The Public Life of Joseph Dudley. New York: Longmans, Green. OCLC 1876620.
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• Lustig, Mary Lou (2002). The Imperial Executive in America: Sir Edmund Andros, 1637–1714. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 978-0-8386-3936-8. OCLC 470360764.
• Miller, Guy Howard (May 1968). "Rebellion in Zion: The Overthrow of the Dominion of New England". Historian. 30 (3): 439–459. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1968.tb00328.x.
• Moore, Jacob Bailey (1851). Lives of the Governors of New Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. Boston, MA: C. D. Strong. OCLC 11362972.
• Palfrey, John (1864). History of New England: History of New England During the Stuart Dynasty. Boston: Little, Brown. OCLC 1658888.
• Stanwood, Owen (2007). "The Protestant Moment: Antipopery, the Revolution of 1688–1689, and the Making of an Anglo-American Empire". Journal of British Studies. 46 (3): 481–508. doi:10.1086/515441. JSTOR 10.1086/515441. S2CID 145163326.
• Steele, Ian K (March 1989). "Origins of Boston's Revolutionary Declaration of 18 April 1689". New England Quarterly. 62 (1): 75–81. doi:10.2307/366211. JSTOR 366211.
• Taylor, Alan, American Colonies: the Settling of North America, Penguin Books, 2001.
• Tuttle, Charles Wesley (1880). New Hampshire Without Provincial Government, 1689–1690: an Historical Sketch. Cambridge, MA: J. Wilson and Son. OCLC 12783351.
• Webb, Stephen Saunders. Lord Churchill's coup: the Anglo-American empire and the Glorious Revolution reconsidered (Syracuse University Press, 1998)