CONTINUED UNREST IN NEW ENGLAND

The New England colonics chafed under the harsh and arbitrary rule of Sir John Andros as governor. In 1688 they saw an opportunity to remove him. The Glorious Revolution in England removed James II from the throne and replaced him with William of Orange and Mary, who pledged their support to a parliamentary system. Andros was jailed in Massachusetts; colonists there wrote to the new monarchs pledging their loyalty to them and asking what form of government they should adopt. A Protestant revolt also took place in Catholic Maryland, while in New York a revolt put Jacob Leisler, a military officer, in charge.

The colonists soon discovered that William and Mary, like the Stuart monarchs that proceeded them, believed in firm control by Britain over colonial affairs. They sanctioned the rebellion in Maryland because of its religious overtones but ordered Jacob Leisler hung and again established Massachusetts as a royal colony with a governor appointed by the crown.

However, the authoritarian nature of the Dominion of New England ended, as representative political institutions at the local level were restored.