|
[Half-title]
THE AMERICAN COLONIES
IN THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
ii
iii
THE AMERICAN COLONIES
IN THE
SEVENTEENTH CENTURY
BY
HERBERT L. OSGOOD, Ph.D.
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
VOLUME III
IMPERIAL CONTROL. BEGINNINGS OF THE SYSTEM OF ROYAL PROVINCES
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd.
1907
All rights reserved
iv
Copyright, 1907,
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up, electrotyped, and published April, 1907.
v
PREFACE
With the publication of the present volume the pledge made three years ago is redeemed, and the treatment of the seventeenth century as contemplated in the plan of this work is completed. The volume will be found to contain both more and less than a history of British colonial administration in America during the period under review. It contains more than this, because an effort has been made to trace the internal development of Virginia during a large part of the century, and special attention has been given to domestic relations in the other royal provinces as in succession they appeared. The history of the royal provinces is more than a history of imperial administration, though the two are closely interwoven; and in tracing it the author should never forget that he is still standing upon American soil. His outlook is broader than it was when he was considering the chartered colonies, but it is not radically different.
The book contains less than a history of British colonial administration, because the island colonies, with Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, are for the most part left out of account. In the opinion of the British merchant and official the island colonies and the northernmost dominions appeared to be the most important. Their affairs received proportionally greater attention than did those of the inter-mediate continental colonies; their trade was more valuable to Great Britain and came far less directly into competition with British industry than did the trade of the northern colonies. From this comparative estimate proceeded a course of development which had not a little to do with the revolt of the continental colonies and their independence at the end. But though this group of colonies was less thoroughly “administered” than were the islands, yet their experience amply illustrates all the phases of the
vi
British system of control. In the present volume an attempt has for the first time been made to trace the history of this control as a distinct and separate feature of colonization. Attention has been directed to the organs through which it was exercised, to the objects and ideals which were pursued, and to the obstacles which prevented their attainment. The early stage of development only has been traced; the heart of the subject has been reached. If the inquiry can be pursued through the period of the French wars, and the processes of control as applied to the royal provinces be revealed, a body of precedent will be collected and a point of view attained, in the light of which the events of the colonial revolt will appear in their proper relief.
For valuable suggestions in reference to the commercial policy of England, I am indebted to Mr. George Louis Beer. The preparation of the manuscript for the press has been greatly facilitated by the assistance of my wife.
Columbia University,
January, 1907
vii
CONTENTS
PART FOURTH
IMPERIAL CONTROL. BEGINNINGS OF THE SYSTEM OF ROYAL PROVINCES
CHAPTER I
The Nature and Organs of Imperial Control
| page |
Analogy between chartered colonies and privileged commercial companies | 3 |
Significance of imperial control | 4 |
In this case it does not consist in the government of alien peoples | 4 |
It does consist in the remoteness of the colonies from the centre of government | 5 |
Distinction between the realm and the dominions | 7 |
There was no distinction in law | 8 |
But there was a great difference in fact | 9 |
Lack of administrative unity, combined with an unlimited right of control, gave rise to a novel political structure | 10 |
Neither royal officials nor colonists understood its character | 11 |
Organs of imperial control | 12 |
Early instances of acts of parliament which mentioned the dominions | 12 |
Early efforts to bring colonial affairs before parliament | 13 |
Sense in which English common law and statutes were in force in the colonies | 14 |
The executive was the only branch of the English government which was continuously concerned with the colonies. Reason for this | 15 |
Officials and boards that were concerned with executive control | 15 |
Functions of the privy council in early times—correspondence, hearings, orders | 16 |
Routine connected with issue of royal charters | 19 |
Colonial agents and royal commissions | 21 |
In the history of imperial control the central fact is the transition from the system of chartered colonies to that of royal provinces | 23 |
Needs and motives which led to this | 23 |
vii
CHAPTER II
The Dissolution of the Virginia Company of London
| page |
The importance of the residence of the corporation in questions of this kind | 25 |
The assistance which, through diplomacy, the king had early given to the Virginia enterprise | 25 |
The attitude of the crown toward the company when under the Sandys Southampton management | 26 |
The king inclines to interfere in the election of treasurer, 1620 and 1622 | 26 |
The early attitude of crown and parliament toward the production of tobacco | 28 |
Proclamations of 1619, and rates of duty | 29 |
Controversy between the company and Abraham Jacob | 30 |
Efforts of government to suppress the production of tobacco in the realm | 31 |
Monopoly of importation granted to Sir Thomas Roe and others for 1620 | 32 |
The Virginia company plans to market its tobacco in the Netherlands | 32 |
This course forbidden by the privy council. An early, though partial, assertion of the policy of the staple | 33 |
The proposed contract of the Virginia and Somers islands companies with the king for the exclusive importation of tobacco for seven years, 1622 | 34 |
Negotiations and proposals | 34 |
Terms of the contract | 35 |
Plans and estimates for administration under the contract | 36 |
Debates on the subject in Virginia company | 36 |
The prosecution of ex-governor Argall reacts upon the question | 36 |
Samuel Wrote attacks the Earl of Southampton and his associates | 37 |
Indications of extravagance in Sandys’s management | 38 |
Debates over salaries of those who were to have charge of the sale of tobacco under the contract | 39 |
Dissensions reported to the king | 41 |
Hearing before the privy council | 41 |
Sandys defends the company | 42 |
A royal commission of inquiry appointed at request of Alderman Johnson, 1623 | 43 |
Exaggerated accounts by Captain Nathaniel Butler of suffering in Virginia after the Indian massacre of 1622 | 44 |
Defence, by Sandys and his associates, of the policy of the company against the attacks of the Warwick-Johnson faction | 46 |
The king supports the latter and orders the company to decide whether or not it would surrender its charter and accept a new one | 47 |
ix
| page |
The company votes not to surrender | 48 |
Quo warranto proceedings ordered | 49 |
The royal commissioners attempt to collect evidence against the company in Virginia | 49 |
The dissolution of the Virginia company under process of quo warranto before King’s Bench, 1624 | 61 |
CHAPTER III
Relations between the English Government and Massachusetts Prior to the Beginning of the Great Civil War
Removal of Massachusetts company into New England a challenge to English government | 54 |
Policy of early Stuarts was ostensibly one of strong executive control over colonies. Proclamation of 1625 | 55 |
Events which occasioned interference of English government with Massachusetts | 66 |
Interests of Gorges family prejudiced by Massachusetts grant | 56 |
Complaints by Morton and Ratcliff | 67 |
Case of Sir Christopher Gardiner | 57 |
Petition by complainants in 1632 | 59 |
Hearing and rejection of petition by privy council | 60 |
Archbishop Laud joins Gorges and Morton in opposition | 61 |
Rapid settlement of New England by Puritans alarms Laud | 61 |
Administration of oath of allegiance to emigrants, February, 1634 | 62 |
Creation of board of commissioners for trade and plantations, April, 1634. Composition and powers of this board | 62 |
Massachusetts charter ordered to be produced | 63 |
Edward Winslow sent as agent to England | 64 |
His hearings and imprisonment | 65 |
Surrender of charter of New England council, 1635 | 66 |
Gorges to be sent to New England as governor general | 66 |
Massachusetts prepares to resist Gorges | 67 |
Failure of Gorges’ plan to cross the Atlantic . | 68 |
Suit under writ of quo warranto against Massachusetts charter | 69 |
The Massachusetts company not dissolved | 70 |
CHAPTER IV
Beginnings of Royal Government in Virginia
Intimacy of early relations between Virginia and England | 72 |
Royal commission of 1624 to regulate Virginia affairs | 73 |
Early correspondence between Virginia and the crown | 75 |
Agency of Sir George Yeardley, 1625 | 76 |
Virginia receives less direct aid than under the company | 78 |
x
| page |
Internal development of Virginia | 79 |
Land grants and quit rents | 79 |
Extension of settlement. Origin of counties and parishes | 80 |
Failure to develop towns | 82 |
Judicial system of Virginia | 83 |
The governor and council. Their support and the general character of royal appointments | 84 |
Form of early commissions to the governors | 86 |
The grand assembly. Its control, especially over appropriations and expenditures | 87 |
Relations between the governor, council, and assembly illustrated by the administration of John Harvey, 1628-1639 | 91 |
Reflex influence of the grant of Maryland on Virginia | 91 |
Early efforts of Claiborne to hold Kent island as Virginia territory | 92 |
Personal unpopularity of Harvey in Virginia | 96 |
Dependent position in which he stood toward the council | 98 |
Defeat of Claiborne in 1635 provokes an uprising against Harvey in Virginia | 98 |
Harvey sent back to England by the council | 100 |
Harvey restored to his province by king and privy council | 101 |
Continued complaints against Harvey and Secretary Kemp | 101 |
The commissions and instructions of Wyatt (1639) and Berkeley (1641) | 102 |
CHAPTER V
Colonial Policy During the Interregnum
General character of the period in England | 105 |
Parliament the immediate source of authority, executive as well as legislative | 106 |
Creation by parliament of a new board of commissioners for plantations, November, 1643 | 107 |
Its powers as compared with those of the previous board | 107 |
The friendly relations between it and New England | 107 |
Virginia and some of the island colonies inclined toward an hostile attitude | 108 |
New England affairs during the Civil War | 109 |
Puritan emigration checked | 109 |
New England ministers decline to take part in Westminster Assembly | 109 |
Roger Williams as agent in England, 1644 | 109 |
The Gortonists seek redress in England | 110 |
Edward Winslow sent to defend Massachusetts, 1647 | 111 |
The status quo about Narragansett Bay maintained | 112 |
The struggle in Maryland during the Civil War | 112 |
Outbreak of Civil War occasions renewed activity on the part of enemies of the Calverts | 112 |
First visit of Richard Ingle, 1644 | 113 |
xi
| page |
Second visit of Ingle. He and Claiborne unite and seize control of the government, 1645 | 113 |
Baltimore saves his interests, both in England and in the province, by appointing William Stone, a Protestant, as governor, 1648 | 114 |
Changes in organization of English executive after execution of the king | 114 |
Creation of council of state and large development of committee system | 114 |
Changes incident to establishment of Protectorate | 115 |
Enforcement of submission to parliament in the provinces of Barbadoes, Antigua, the Bermudas, and Virginia | 115 |
Preliminary inquiries by admiralty committee | 117 |
Act of 1650, prohibiting trade with those colonies . | 118 |
Appointment, under authority of this act, of a commission to enforce submission in those colonies | 119 |
Reduction of the island colonies | 119 |
Personnel and work of the commission in Virginia | 119 |
Opposition of Berkeley quieted | 121 |
Terms of settlement with assembly and with governor and council, 1652 | 122 |
Choice of governor and other officials intrusted to the assembly | 124 |
Peaceful continuance of this system in Virginia until the Restoration | 125 |
Bennett and Claiborne suspend proprietary government in Maryland and require express submission to Commonwealth, March, 1652 | 126 |
Hearing in England, favorable to Baltimore. Cromwell writes to Bennett | 128 |
Baltimore orders Stone to fully reestablish his government, July, 1654 | 129 |
Bennett, Claiborne, and the Puritans overthrow Stone’s government. Assembly at Patuxent, October, 1654 | 130 |
Stone resumes government, early in 1655 | 131 |
Battle on the Severn. Defeat of proprietary party | 131 |
Though no decision was reached in England, the decline of the Protectorate insured the permanent reestablishment of Lord Baltimore’s authority | 132 |
Attitude of the Commonwealth and Protectorate toward colonization in general | 133 |
Outburst of national energy | 133 |
Revival of hatred toward Spain | 134 |
War with the Dutch. Expedition of Sedgwick | 134 |
Reasons for peaceful relations with France prevail | 135 |
Expeditions against Hispaniola and conquest of Jamaica | 136 |
Cromwell’s plan to people Jamaica by colonists from New England | 137 |
These events bring the island colonies into prominence | 139 |
Continued naval operations in the West Indies and vigorous imperial control over these colonies | 140 |
Plan of Thomas Povey and others for the creation of a council for America and for other reforms | 141 |
xii
CHAPTER VI
The Restoration and the Royal Commission of 1664
| page |
The event of first importance after the Restoration was the conquest of New Netherland | 143 |
The event of second importance was the settlement of the Carolinas | 144 |
Next in importance to the acquisition of those territories was the development of the policy by which they were to be governed | 144 |
Continued activity of Thomas Povey and his associates after the Restoration | 145 |
Joseph Williamson and Samuel Maverick | 146 |
All culminated in the activities of the group of officials and statesmen (mainly Tory) who surrounded the Duke of York | 147 |
Early committees on colonial affairs | 147 |
Establishment of council for trade and council for foreign plantations, November and December, 1660 | 149 |
Membership and powers of these bodies | 150 |
Business which early came before the plantation board | 152 |
The circular letter of spring of 1661 | 153 |
Restoration of normal provincial government in Virginia | 153 |
Affairs in New England and the encroachments of the Dutch demand immediate attention | 154 |
The attempt to adjust relations in New England | 156 |
The plantation board receives petitions from the enemies of Massachusetts | 157 |
Statements of Edward Godfrey, of the younger Gorges, of Captain Breedon, of the proprietors of the iron works at Lynn, of the Quakers | 157 |
Correspondence of Samuel Maverick with Clarendon | 159 |
John Leverett informs Massachusetts of attack upon her | 161 |
She sends her first address to the king | 161 |
Her instructions to the agents—policy of passive resistance | 162 |
Slight concessions in New England | 163 |
Royal letter of February, 1661, to Massachusetts | 163 |
Massachusetts again defines its powers as a body politic | 164 |
Leverett throws up his agency, and, after a sharp report on the petitions from the plantation board, the privy council takes the matter into its own hands | 165 |
Massachusetts sends Bradstreet and Norton as agents | 166 |
They bring back the king’s letter of 1662. Its requirements | 167 |
Action of general court thereon | 168 |
Efforts of Mason and Gorges to assert their claims, both in England and New England | 168 |
Home government fails, owing to lack of officials of its own in New England | 171 |
Resort had to a royal commission, 1664. Its doings in New England | 171 |
Personnel of the commission | 171 |
xiii
Instructions to the commission | 172 |
Its attempt to settle the western boundary of Connecticut | 175 |
Early experiences in Massachusetts | 177 |
Visit to the southern colonies of New England | 178 |
Return to Boston and struggle with the general court and magistrates over its claim to hear appeals | 183 |
Visit of commissioners to northern New England | 186 |
Their failure. Their return and report | 189 |
Further action delayed by fall of Clarendon ministry | 191 |
CHAPTER VII
The Acts of Trade
The principles of mercantilism as applied to the commercial relations of the British empire | 193 |
Policy affecting the tobacco industry after Virginia became a royal province | 197 |
Prohibition of tobacco culture within the realm continued | 198 |
Attitude of government toward Spanish tobacco | 198 |
Effort to improve colonial product and to limit the amount produced | 199 |
The production of other staples in Virginia encouraged | 200 |
Experiments with government monopolies of importation, 1624-1639. Uniformly opposed by colonists | 201 |
The acts of 1650 and 1651 affecting colonial trade | 204 |
Both were aimed at carrying trade of the Dutch | 205 |
The act of 1651 not vigorously enforced | 205 |
The acts of trade of Charles II | 206 |
The principle of the navigation act (1660)—encouragement of shipbuilding | 207 |
The policy of the staple, for the benefit of merchants, applied in the acts of 1660 and 1663 | 208 |
Relation of the conquest of New Netherland to this policy | 212 |
Scotland excluded from colonial trade | 212 |
Institution of system of fleets and convoys during the Dutch wars of the Restoration | 214 |
Restriction of intercolonial trade in enumerated commodities by act of 1673 | 216 |
Royal customs officials appointed for the colonies under the act of 1673 | 216 |
Administration under the acts of trade illustrated by the experiences of customs officials | 217 |
Quarrel between Giles Bland and Governor Berkeley in the royal province of Virginia | 217 |
Complaints of illegal trade in New England, 1675 | 218 |
The interpretation put by the merchants on the act of 1673 is disallowed by the English government | 220 |
xiv
| page |
Further complaints followed by circular letter and resolve to administer to the governors the oaths required by acts of trade | 222 |
Light thrown on illicit trade relations with New England by the Culpepper rebellion of 1677 in North Carolina | 223 |
Controversy between the proprietors of Maryland and royal customs officials, 1681-1685 | 225 |
Assassination of Rousby, the royal collector | 227 |
The appointment of Edward Randolph as royal customs officer in Massachusetts, 1679 | 228 |
The opposition with which he met during the first period of his residence there, 1679-1681 | 228 |
Randolph’s second period of residence (close of 1681 to 1683), with commission under the great seal and as deputy auditor | 231 |
He meets with an additional obstacle in the form of a newly created naval office | 232 |
He is unable to enforce the acts in New Hampshire | 234 |
The acts of trade nullified in New England | 235 |
Creation of office of surveyor general of customs for the North American colonies, 1685 . | 236 |
Customs administration under Dudley and Andros | 237 |
General summary of results | 239 |
CHAPTER VIII
Virginia during the Restoration. Bacon’s Rebellion
Virginia as the “old dominion” | 242 |
Character of Governor Berkeley and of the official group which he led | 243 |
Extension of settlement. Social classes | 246 |
The assembly in its relations with the official oligarchy | 247 |
Attempts of Charles II to change Virginia into a proprietary province | 248 |
Grant of the Northern neck in 1649 to St. Albans and associates | 248 |
Project revived in 1672, to grant all Virginia for thirty-one years to Arlington and Culpeper | 251 |
This defeated by opposition of colonists | 251 |
Plan for issue of a royal charter to Virginia | 252 |
Problem of coast defence in Virginia | 254 |
Futile efforts to fortify Point Comfort | 254 |
Virginia magistrates and the merchants disagree | 254 |
Province suffers from Dutch attacks in 1667 and 1672 | 255 |
Charges that money had been wasted begin to provoke revolt | 258 |
The Indian War of 1675 and 1676 | 258 |
Outbreak of war. Capture of Susquehanna fort | 261 |
Ravaging of the Northern neck | 262 |
The Long Assembly declares war, but takes no effective measures | 262 |
Inhabitants of upper counties gather for defence | 263 |
Appearance of Nathaniel Bacon | 263 |
He defeats Susquehannas near Roanoke river | 265 |
Berkeley proclaims Bacon a rebel | 266 |
xv
| page |
Bacon’s rebellion | 265 |
Dissolution of the old, and election of a new, assembly | 266 |
Bacon, a member, arrested, but released by governor | 267 |
Reform legislation of assembly of June, 1676 | 268 |
Assembly makes Bacon general of forces against Indians | 268 |
Bacon coerces Berkeley into granting him a commission | 270 |
After close of session Berkeley again proclaims Bacon a rebel and tries to raise lower parts of province against him | 271 |
Bacon organizes resistance at Middle Plantation | 272 |
Possibility of this becoming a revolt against the king | 275 |
Berkeley retires to Accomac and Bacon captures Jamestown | 276 |
Death of Bacon and collapse of revolt | 277 |
Reprisals of Berkeley | 278 |
CHAPTER IX
The Royal Commission of 1677. Virginia at the Close of Stuart Régime
Changes in plantation boards in England after 1667. Work of those boards | 280 |
Reception of news of Bacon’s rebellion | 283 |
The royal commission of 1677 | 283 |
Personnel and powers of the commission | 283 |
Condition of Virginia on its arrival, February, 1677 | 285 |
Commissioners quarrel with Berkeley, but he soon returns to England . | 286 |
Treaty of May, 1677, with the Indians | 288 |
Inquest by counties respecting causes of the uprising | 290 |
Local statements of grievances | 291 |
Close of work of commission and its report | 293 |
Administration of Lord Culpeper, 1680-1683 | 296 |
The instructions to the new governor | 296 |
His first sojourn in Virginia and return to England | 298 |
The tobacco-cutting insurrection of 1682 | 300 |
Second visit of Culpeper to Virginia and close of his administration | 301 |
Administration of Lord Howard of Effingham, 1684-1689 | 302 |
Division of legislature into two houses becomes complete | 302 |
Independent attitude of the burgesses | 302 |
Controversies with the governor during session of 1684 | 302 |
Controversies during sessions of 1685 and 1686 | 303 |
The assembly of 1688 | 306 |
Hearing on appeal of Ludwell in England | 307 |
Lord Howard retires from active duties as governor | 308 |
xvi
CHAPTER X
The Dissolution of the Massachusetts Company
| page |
Continued petitions of Mason and Gorges after fall of Clarendon ministry | 309 |
Complaints respecting violations of acts of trade . | 310 |
Edward Randolph sent as special agent to Massachusetts | 311 |
His reception by governor and magistrates | 312 |
His return and report | 316 |
Stoughton and Bulkely sent as agents by Massachusetts | 317 |
Their instructions | 317 |
Randolph appears as active opponent of Massachusetts in England | 318 |
Questions in controversy referred to judges and privy council | 319 |
Opinion of Chief Justices Rainsford and North on the charter and on claims of Mason and Gorges | 319 |
Opinion of Sir William Jones, attorney general | 320 |
Opinion of attorney and solicitor general on laws of Massachusetts | 321 |
The agents plead general lack of instructions | 322 |
Massachusetts buys out the Gorges heirs | 323 |
Plantation board reports in favor of quo warranto, 1678 | 324 |
Return of the agents to Massachusetts | 324 |
Continued negotiations, ending in dissolution of company | 325 |
Moderate party wins a victory in Massachusetts | 325 |
The colony conforms to the will of king in some things | 327 |
But it meets commands to send other agents with prolonged delay | 327 |
Continued attacks on colony by Randolph | 328 |
Agency of Dudley and Richards, 1682 | 328 |
They were instructed not to consent to a change of system—religion and appeals | 329 |
Quo warranto proceedings instituted, 1683 | 331 |
Randolph unable to serve writ in time | 332 |
Process by scire facias substituted, and charter cancelled, 1684 | 333 |
Points in indictment and decree | 333 |
CHAPTER XI
Beginnings of Royal Government in New Hampshire
General conditions in New Hampshire towns | 336 |
Commission of 1679 to President Cutt and council | 337 |
The assembly of 1680. Government in accord with New England traditions | 338 |
Arrival of Mason and Richard Chamberlain | 339 |
Efforts of Chamberlain to secure recognition as secretary | 339 |
The assembly of 1681 | 342 |
Mason seriously obstructed in his efforts to assert his proprietary claims | 342 |
Representations on this subject to England and appointment of Edward Cranfield as governor | 345 |
xvii
| page |
The administration of Edward Cranfield, 1682-1685 | 346 |
Character and powers of Cranfield | 346 |
His first impression of New Hampshire favorable | 347 |
His change of attitude | 348 |
He dissolves his first assembly | 349 |
Abortive uprising at Hampton. Edward Gove | 349 |
Cranfield dissolves his second assembly, 1684 | 350 |
Autocratic government with a packed council and judiciary | 351 |
Various aspects of this government, especially its efforts to enforce Mason’s claims | 352 |
Attack on the clergy in person of Rev. Joshua Moody | 354 |
Attempt at prerogative taxation | 355 |
Expulsion of Thurton, the tax collector | 356 |
Grievances of the colony presented in England by Weare | 356 |
Hearing before lords of trade | 357 |
A qualified decision against Cranfield | 357 |
Cranfield returns home on permanent leave of absence | 357 |
CHAPTER XII
New York as a Royal Province. The Administration of Governor Dongan
The new commission and instructions to Dongan as royal governor | 358 |
Dongan urges the restoration to New York of all the territory which was comprised in New Netherland | 361 |
Dongan describes revenue system of New York | 363 |
His quarrel with Collector Santen | 364 |
Relations of Dongan with the French and Indians | 367 |
His correspondence with Denonville over alleged French and English encroachments | 368 |
Their conflicting claims to the Iroquois country | 369 |
Charges respecting deserters and sale of liquor | 372 |
Expedition of Rooseboom from Albany, 1685-1686 | 373 |
French attack on the Senecas, 1687 | 374 |
The treaty of neutrality at Whitehall, 1686 | 375 |
Palmer sent as agent to England | 375 |
Dongan ordered to protect the Five Nations and exclude the French | 376 |
CHAPTER XIII
The Dominion of New England
The nature and difficulty of the task which was undertaken by the Stuarts in reorganizing New England | 378 |
The unfitness of men like Randolph to administer New England affairs | 379 |
The English government considers the boundaries of the new province | 381 |
xviii
| page |
Question of the appointment of Colonel Percy Kirke as governor | 382 |
The administration of Joseph Dudley as president, with a council, 1686 | 383 |
Powers given to the president and council | 384 |
Character and position of Dudley | 385 |
Inauguration of the new government | 386 |
Conciliatory attitude of president and councillors | 386 |
Inauguration of Anglican worship in Boston | 390 |
Randolph dissatisfied with the new government because it did not go far or fast enough | 391 |
Administration of Governor Andros, 1686-1689. The Dominion of New England. | 393 |
His commission and instructions | 393 |
His appointment meant the introduction of the New York system of government, without an elected assembly, into New England | 393 |
Issue of writs of quo warranto against Rhode Island and Connecticut | 395 |
Submission of Rhode Island | 397 |
Connecticut holds out for a time, but finally submits | 397 |
Beginning of government by Andros and his council | 400 |
The establishment of courts | 401 |
Question of raising a revenue, and t he light which it throws on Andros’s methods of legislation | 402 |
Resistance to the payment of taxes, and its suppression | 402 |
Drafting of a code of laws considered, but abandoned | 405 |
The inquiry into land titles and town grants, with a view to their renewal and to the levy of quit rents | 406 |
Agitation upon this important subject | 408 |
Town meetings prohibited, except for election of officers | 409 |
Increase Mather departs for England | 410 |
Andros receives government of New York and the Jerseys | 410 |
Difficulty of consolidating so large and diverse a territory | 411 |
Conflicts with French and Indians begin on eastern frontier. Andros goes thither | 412 |
Rumors are circulated that Andros intends to betray New England to the French and Indians | 412 |
Preparations for revolt | 413 |
CHAPTER XIV
The Revolution in New England. The Provincial Charter of Massachusetts
Arrival in New England of news of the English Revolution | 415 |
Attitude of Massachusetts toward Andros and of Andros toward James II | 416 |
Uprising in Boston, week of April 18, 1689 | 417 |
First day—seizure of leading officials and of the fort, and issue of manifesto by insurgents | 418 |
xix
| page |
Second day—surrender of the royal frigate and of the castle | 421 |
Third day—temporary government under a council of safety set up; a convention called | 421 |
Sessions of convention, May 9 and 22. The old charter government revived | 422 |
Conduct of Massachusetts imitated by the other corporate colonies | 423 |
The agency of Increase Mather in England | 424 |
The services of Mather as connected with the history of the colonial agency in general | 424 |
Mather at the court of James II | 426 |
Mather prevents the government of William III continuing Andros in office | 428 |
But he and his colleagues failed to convince it that the Massachusetts charter should be restored | 428 |
Reports from New England and royal order that Andros and his associates be sent to England | 430 |
Unfavorable reports as to the insurgent government in Massachusetts | 430 |
Renewed activity of Randolph | 431 |
Charges against Andros not sustained in England | 436 |
Failure to secure the restoration of the old charter | 436 |
The issue of the provincial charter of Massachusetts | 436 |
Negotiations of winter and spring of 1690-1691. King decides in favor of an appointed governor | 437 |
Draft of charter by Attorney General Treby and changes therein | 438 |
Details of charter, with extent of province, settled | 438 |
General characteristics of the new, as compared with the old, charter | 440 |
CHAPTER XV
The Revolt of Leisler in New York. An Assembly Permanently Established in That Province
Fears of Catholic intrigue and French invasion in New York | 444 |
Dissatisfaction with the government of that province | 447 |
Personal feeling between Jacob Leisler and the Bayards and Van Cortlandts | 449 |
Joint meetings of councillors, city officials, and officers of the train bands to provide for defence, April and May, 1689 | 450 |
The mutiny of the train bands (May 30-31) and its results | 452 |
Weakness of Nicholson and council shown | 454 |
Leisler and the other militia captains retain possession of the fort | 454 |
They will surrender it only to authority from William of Orange | 456 |
Nicholson returns to England to report | 456 |
The councillors and city officials pushed one side and the southern parts of the province fall under the control of the insurgents | 457 |
New York under the Leisler regime, 1689-1691 | 457 |
The convention of June 26: A committee of safety chosen; Leisler made commander of the fort; aid sought from other colonies | 458 |
xx
| page |
Vigorous measures of defence adopted | 458 |
The southern counties brought under military government | 459 |
Albany refuses to submit to Leisler | 460 |
Milborne, Leisler’s lieutenant, sent thither to reduce it | 461 |
His negotiations with the convention | 461 |
Milborne returns to New York baffled | 464 |
Unfavorable news from England. Henry Sloughter appointed governor | 464 |
More stringent measures adopted by Leisler | 465 |
The destruction of Schenectady by French and Indians (February, 1690) forces Albany to submit to his rule | 467 |
Assembly of April, 1690 | 468 |
War measures of summer of 1690 | 469 |
Arrival of Major Ingoldesby with troops, January, 1691 | 470 |
Ingoldesby refused admission to the fort | 471 |
Growing opposition to Leisler | 472 |
Encounter between the forces of Leisler and Ingoldesby, March 17 | 472 |
Arrival of Governor Sloughter, March 19, 1691 | 472 |
Downfall of the Leisler party | 472 |
Leisler delays surrender of fort | 472 |
He and his chief supporters are arrested | 473 |
Trial and condemnation of Leisler and his councillors | 473 |
Sloughter yields to pressure and orders the execution of Leisler and Milborne | 475 |
The excuses and defence urged by the condemned | 476 |
CHAPTER XVI
Collapse of Proprietary Government in Maryland
The accuracy with which political movements in England were reflected in Maryland | 477 |
Friction between the lower house of assembly and the proprietor between 1676 and 1689 | 478 |
The question of the number of representatives from each county | 478 |
Controversy over the right of John Coode to his seat | 480 |
Question of the confirmation of the laws | 481 |
Sessions of 1682 and 1683; bills for regulating elections and for establishment of towns | 483 |
Session of 1684; summary of relations during the past decade | 484 |
Disposition of the government on the return of Charles Calvert to England | 485 |
The uprising of the Associators in 1689 | 487 |
Strong attachment of the executive to the Stuarts shown by celebration of birth of the heir of James II, 1688 | 487 |
Jure divino theory of kingship and executive expounded by President Joseph | 487 |
Controversy over the oath of fidelity | 487 |
xxi
| page |
Because of death of his messenger, Lord Baltimore fails to transmit news of the Revolution in England to the colony | 490 |
Panic caused by rumors of a plot on the part of the Catholics and Indians to massacre the Protestants, March, 1689 | 491 |
These reports without foundation | 493 |
But Catholic rule in Maryland was doomed | 494 |
Uprising of Coode and the Associators, July, 1689 | 495 |
Occupation of St. Mary’s and Mattapony by the insurgents | 495 |
Many Protestants, especially those of Anne Arundel county, do not support the Associators | 497 |
Coode explains and defends his revolt | 498 |
The assembly of the Associators, August, 1689; temporary disposition of the government | 499 |
Murder of John Payne, collector of customs, by relatives of the proprietor | 500 |
Action taken by the English government | 501 |
Baltimore commanded to send duplicate orders for proclaiming William and Mary | 501 |
Baltimore asks for hearing and recommends the appointment of Henry Coursey as governor | 502 |
English authorities further prejudiced against him by reports from Coode in reference to murder of Payne | 502 |
Baltimore permitted to send an agent to Maryland to collect his revenue | 503 |
Resolve of the crown to assume the government of Maryland indicated by the opinion of Chief Justice Holt, June, 1690 | 503 |
Hearing before the council, November 20, 1690; Baltimore, Coode, and Cheseldyne present | 504 |
Lionel Copley commissioned as royal governor, June, 1691 | 505 |
Trial and punishment of the murderer of Payne, and establishment of royal government in Maryland | 506 |
CONCLUSION
The influence on the colonies of the great events of the century in England | 507 |
The seventeenth century was emphatically the period of chartered colonies | 509 |
The feudal aspects of this form of colony were perpetuated by the remoteness of America from England | 510 |
Lack of system in English administration tended to a similar end | 511 |
Tendencies toward independence specially emphasized in New England | 512 |
Resulting institutional differences between the realm and the dominions | 512 |
Parliament refrains from legislation affecting the colonies, except in the sphere of commerce | 513 |
As a result, the colonies are left almost t wholly under executive control | 514 |
Instances of executive control | 515 |
xxii
| page |
Rapid development of executive and judicial control after the Restoration | 516 |
This largely the consequence of passage of acts of trade | 516 |
Royal officials needed for this purpose in the colonies | 516 |
Appointment of royal commissions, agents, customs officers resorted to in effort to supply this need | 517 |
The process culminated in a plan to substitute royal provinces for chartered colonies on a large scale | 517 |
This was accompanied by the abolition of assemblies and the union of colonies into governor generalships | 517 |
This process checked by the Revolution in England and consequent uprisings in the colonies | 519 |
But an improved balance of powers was secured through the development of a system of royal provinces with assemblies | 520 |
|