The
Dominion of New England in America (1686–89) was a short-lived administrative union of
EnglishEngland 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 and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
colonies in the
New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
region of
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
.
King
James II of EnglandJames II & VII was King of England and Ireland as James II, and Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
decreed the creation of the Dominion as a measure to enforce the
Navigation ActsThe English Navigation Acts were a series of laws which restricted the use of foreign shipping for trade between England and its colonies, which started in 1651. At their outset, they were a factor in the Anglo-Dutch Wars...
and to coordinate the mutual defense of colonies against the
FrenchNew France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763...
and hostile
Native AmericansThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Americas, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those peoples...
. The Dominion initially comprised the
Massachusetts Bay ColonyThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, centered around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston...
, the
Plymouth ColonyPlymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement 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 of Plymouth, Massachusetts...
, the
Province of New HampshireThe Province of New Hampshire was a crown colony organized on October 7, 1691, during the period of British colonization of the Americas. The charter was enacted May 14, 1692, by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, at the same time that the...
, the
Province of MaineThe 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 province of Quebec...
, and the
Narraganset Country or King's ProvinceWashington County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Also known as South County, 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 Ocean to the...
. The
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence PlantationsProvidence Plantation was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a theologian, independent preacher, and linguist on land gifted by the Narragansett sachem Canonicus. Roger Williams, fleeing from religious persecution in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, agreed with his fellow settlers on an egalitarian...
and the
Connecticut ColonyThe 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 gained control of the...
were added to the Dominion on September 9, 1686. On May 7, 1688, the
Province of New YorkThe Province of New York resulted from the capture of the Dutch Republic colony of Provincie Nieuw-Nederland in 1664 by the Kingdom of England, and included all of the present U.S. state of New York. The province was renamed for James, Duke of York, brother to Charles II of England immediately...
, the Province of East Jersey, and the Province of West Jersey were added to the Dominion. The capital was located in
BostonBoston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is considered the economic and cultural center of the region and is sometimes regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England"...
but, due to its size, New York and the Jerseys were run by the lieutenant governor from
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
.
Although the New England colonists had previously sought a loose voluntary association in the form of the
New England ConfederationThe United Colonies of New England, commonly known as the New England Confederation, was a political and military alliance of the British colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. Established May 19, 1643, its primary purpose was to unite the Puritan colonies against the...
, the imposition of a centralized authority from England was highly unpopular. The Dominion Governor in Chief
Edmund AndrosSir Edmund Andros was an early colonial English governor in North America, and head of the short-lived Dominion of New England....
began promoting the
Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches...
, banning town meetings, and challenging land titles. Andros's actions, along with the behavior of English soldiers garrisoned at Boston, angered many colonists in the
Massachusetts Bay ColonyThe Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, centered around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston...
and elsewhere in British North America.
When word of the overthrow of James II by
William of OrangeWilliam III was a sovereign Prince of Orange by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland, and as William II over Scotland...
in the
Glorious RevolutionThe Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, was the overthrow of King James II of England in 1688 by a union of Parliamentarians with an invading army led by the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau who, as a result, ascended the English throne as William III of England...
of 1688 reached Boston, the colonists rose up in rebellion and arrested Andros on May 18, 1689. The Dominion immediately collapsed. One month later, Lieutenant Governor
Francis NicholsonFrancis Nicholson was a British military officer and was colonial governor or acting governor of New York, Virginia, Maryland, Nova Scotia, and South Carolina....
was deposed in New York City during
Leisler's RebellionLeisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late 17th century colonial New York, in which militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of lower New York from 1689 to 1691. The uprising, which occurred in the midst of Britain's "Glorious Revolution," reflected colonial resentment against the policies of...
.
The word
dominionA dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of semi-autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, from the late 19th century. They included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the...
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 is cited in these cases).
Governors in Chief of the Dominion of New England in America
This is a list of the Governors in Chief of the Dominion of New England in America from 1686 to 1689:
| Governor in Chief |
Date |
Joseph DudleyJoseph Dudley , colonial governor of Massachusetts from 1702 to 1715, was born and died in Roxbury, Massachusetts...
|
1686 |
| Sir Edmund Andros |
1686–1689 |
When the Dominion disintegrated in 1689,
Simon BradstreetSimon Bradstreet was a colonial magistrate, businessman and governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.- Life and career :...
served as Governor of Massachusetts Bay until
William PhipsSir William Phips was a colonial governor of Massachusetts.-Military career:Phips was born at Woolwich, Maine, near the mouth of the Kennebec River, the twenty-sixth child in his family. He was a cousin of Sir Constantine Phipps, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, ancestor of the Marquess of Normanby...
arrived as Royal Governor in 1692.