14 Oct 2008

Daily Spark

Today Dominion of New England Glorious Revolution

Dominion of New England In 1685 King James II became king of England. He was determined to take more control over the English Government, both in England and in the colonies. He believed that the colonies were too independent. The king wanted them to be more connected to each other and to England.

Dominion of New England In 1686 James united the northern colonies under one government called the Dominion of New England. The Dominion eventually included Connecticut, Maine, Mass., New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. The King appointed Sir Edmund Andros as royal governor of the Dominion and a royal council for the Dominion.

Impact of Dominion The Dominion government took the place of the northern colonies original charters. The king’s actions greatly upset many of the colonists. “Dominion was without any liberty for an assembly.” 1687 residents of Ipswich, Mass. Protested Andros’ taxation policy and five were jailed. To insure this didn’t happen again Andros used his authority to limit the powers of town meetings.

Glorious Revolution King James II’s policies were unpopular in England as well as the colonies. Parliament felt threatened when he tried to change the country from a Protestant back to a Catholic one. To stop the king Parliament asked his Protestant daughter, Mary and her husband, William of Orange to rule England.

Revolution William, the leader of the Netherlands, landed in England with his army in the fall of James left the country. William and Mary’s overthrow of James II became known as the Glorious Revolution.

Revolutions Impact When residents of the Dominion first learned of the Glorious Revolution in 1689, they removed Andros as governor. The delighted colonist sent Andros to England to answer for his actions. The individual colonies left the Dominion and quickly formed new assemblies.

Change In Mass. The assemblies then sent declarations of support to William and Mary. In time William and Mary renewed the colonies charters, they were exactly as the old charters except in Mass. In Mass. They could originally elect their governor, the crown now chose Mass. Governor. Also you did not need to belong to the church to vote. Instead you had to own property.

English Bill of Rights The political ideas of the Glorious Revolution led Parliament to pass the English Bill of Rights in Under this act, the powers of the English monarchy were reduced. At the same time the powers of Parliament were increased. Americans were greatly interested in this shift of power from the monarch to a representative governing body.

Colonial Government As time went on, the colonists valued their own right to elect the representatives that governed them.