The Dominion of New England

Introduction

The dominions of New England remind us about the most recognizable, yet disreputable image in the mythology and American history. We think of early New England as a world of Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, of clustered villages and white steepled churches, of pious founders and stern fathers, of the tormented souls of Nathaniel Hawthorne's fiction and the witchcraft mania of Salem, of unquiet Yankees and brooding “sinners in the hands of an angry God.” We also identify colonial New England in terms of the famous phrase of one Puritan leader— Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor John Winthrop's likening of the new American settlement as a “city upon a hill.” Though not a minister, Winthrop delivered the sermon in 1630 to prospective colonists in England while his assistants sifted through recruits and readied to depart for Massachusetts (Sosin, 14). The governor admonished the settlers to be “knit together in this work as one man.” Winthrop sketched a hierarchical social vision for Puritans who aimed to move from a dissenting religious minority in England to the governing majority in America.

The first manifestation of parliamentary authority over the colonies was the Navigation Act of 1651 which required that imports and exports of the colonies were to embark on British flag vessels; subsequent laws banned trade relations between the colonies and other countries. Though colonies traders tended to ignore these provisions when affecting their interests, this legislation created a business environment that generally benefited the colonies and the mother country alike. In 1660 with the new reign of Charles II of England expanded boating laws and New Hampshire and Massachusetts became royal provinces (McFarlane, 8). In 1684 James II decreed the unification of the colonies of New York, New Jersey and New England in a single royal province, the Dominion of New England. Thus in this paper I will illustrate the attempted unity between colonies, the events of Sir Edmond Andros, and the ultimate failure of the dominion of New England.

Discussion

After the death of King Charles the Second heir to the throne, James II (James II), and the UK wanted more control over the new lands. James II appointed his envoy aristocrat Edmund Andros Syrah (Sir Edmund Andros) to manage the Dominion of New England created in 1686, which consisted of the colony of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. Andros arrived in New York and the name of the King demanded the return of the royal government of Connecticut "Charter" of 1662. After repeated reminders to return Charter sire Andros had to personally come to Hartford with an armed detachment to seize by force the government of this important document (Lovejoy, 15).

Province of Maine

It was established in 1622 (An earlier attempt to resolve the Popham Colony in Sagadahoc, Maine (near present Phippsburg and Popham Beach State Park) in 1607 was abandoned after only one year). Massachusetts Bay Colony ventured into Maine during the English Civil War, but, with the Restoration, autonomy was returned to Maine in ...