Boston uprising in 1689
The 1689 Boston revolt began on April 18, 1689 in Boston and was directed against the rule of the governor of the Dominion of New England , Sir Edmund Andros . A well-organized mob of provincial militias and civilians formed in the city, arresting Dominion officials as well as Church of England members whom the Puritans believed sympathized with Dominion supporters. Neither side suffered losses during the uprising. The leaders of the former Massachusetts Bay Colony then took control of the government again, and the old administrative structures were restored in the other colonies.
Andros, who was appointed governor of the Dominion in 1686, incurred the hostility of the local population, in particular through the implementation of restrictive navigation acts, but also through the declaration of the ineffectiveness of existing land rights, the restriction of community meetings and the appointment of unpopular officers of the colonial militias. He had also enraged the Puritans in Boston by supporting the Church of England.
background
In the early 1680s, King Charles II of England began reorganizing the colonies in New England . 1684 was the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony revoked after their Puritan leader himself had refused reforms, which provided for a streamlining of the administrative structures and closer control by the British crown. However, Charles II died in 1685, and his successor, the Roman Catholic James II , continued the process of reorganization that culminated in the creation of the Dominion of New England .
In 1686, the former governor of the Province of New York Sir Edmund Andros was appointed governor of the Dominion. This initially consisted of the areas of the former colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth , Connecticut , New Hampshire and Rhode Island . In 1688 the Dominion was expanded to New York and East and West Jersey .
Andros was extremely unpopular in New England because he turned down local representatives, invalidated land tenure deeds based on the old charter, restricted community meetings and established the Church of England in the areas of the Puritans . He also enforced the Navigational Acts which made certain existing business practices of commerce in New England illegal. The royal forces stationed in Boston were often ill-treated by their officers who supported the governor and belonged to either the Anglican or Roman Catholic churches.
In the meantime, James II was becoming increasingly unpopular in England because he turned against him the Tories, who were actually well-disposed towards him, with his attempts to make English laws on religious matters less strict. In 1687 he published the Declaration of Indulgence , with which he guaranteed a certain degree of religious freedom, against which the Anglican Church protested. Jacob also increased the power of the regular army, which many parliamentarians saw as an attack on their authority, and placed Catholics in important military positions. He also tried to get sympathizers into parliament who he hoped would remove the test file that required a rigorous Anglican religion test for most civilian employees. With the birth of his son and potential successor, James Francis Edward Stuart, in June 1688, some Whigs and Tories put their political differences on hold in order to defeat James II through his Protestant son-in-law, William III. to replace. The Dutch prince, who had repeatedly unsuccessfully asked Jacob to reconsider his policy, agreed to an invasion, and in the framework of the Glorious Revolution that followed in November and December 1688, which was carried out almost without bloodshed , William III. and Maria II. installed as joint regents.
The religious leaders in Massachusetts - especially Cotton and Increase Mather - were very dissatisfied with Andros and forced disputes to influence the court in London. After King Jacob had published the Declaration of Indulgence in May 1687 , which guaranteed extensive religious freedom in England , Increase Mather wrote a letter to the king thanking him for the new laws. At the same time, he recommended his confidants to show their gratitude to the king in order to gain influence. Ten pastors followed this recommendation and decided to send Mather to England to bring about a decision against Andros. Although Edward Randolph tried repeatedly by accusations and arrests to deter him, Mather secretly got on a ship for England in April 1688. He and other people from Massachusetts were received benevolently by King Jacob, who promised in October 1688 that he would take care of the concerns of the colonies. However, this did not happen because of the outbreak of revolution.
The Massachusetts envoys then filed a petition with the new rulers and the Board of Trade demanding the reinstatement of the old Massachusetts Charter. Mather also convinced the Board of Trade to delay notifying Andros of the revolution. He had already sent a letter prepared before the revolution to former colonial governor Simon Bradstreet , informing him that the charter had been illegally canceled and that the colonists "should be prepared for change". However, rumors of the revolution reached the colony before the official news. Boston merchant John Nelson , who played a prominent role during the Revolution, wrote a letter about the events in late March, prompting Massachusetts religious leaders to meet with other anti-Andros politicians.
Andros received the first warnings of the impending revolution when he oversaw the construction of new fortifications in Pemaquid (now Bristol ) to protect the settlers from attacks by the French and Indians. In early January 1688/1689 he received a letter from James II, in which the latter described the military armament of the Dutch. On December 31, 1687 Jul. / January 10, 1688 greg. he issued a proclamation warning against Protestant agitation and criminalizing an uprising against the Dominion.
The forces led by Andros in Maine consisted of British and militias from Massachusetts and Maine. The leaders of the militias ensured severe discipline, which distanced them from the soldiers. Alarmed by the opposition meetings in Boston and unofficial news of the revolution, Andros returned to Boston in mid-March. Because of wild rumors that Andros had brought them to Maine as part of a so-called papist plan , the local militias mutinied , and those from Massachusetts made their way home. When a copy of the Revolution Declaration reached Boston in early April, Andros had the messenger arrested. His message was passed on nonetheless and gave new courage to the residents. Andros wrote to his commander in Pemaquid on April 16 that "there is an ongoing murmur among the people who are convinced they will regain their old charter" while arresting the returning deserters and sending them back to Maine. The threat of capture by its own colonial militias further increased tensions between Boston residents and the Dominion government.
Boston riot
Course of events
At around 5 a.m. on April 18, 1689, militias began to gather in Charlestown on the other side of the Charles River and in Roxbury on the other end of the Boston Neck . At around 8 a.m., troops in Charlestown began to cross over by boat, while the militia in Roxbury marched down the Neck and into town. At the same time, members of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts gained access to the homes of the regiments' drummers and confiscated their equipment. The militias attracted a steadily growing mob . They gathered around 8:30 a.m. and began to arrest the leaders of the Dominion and the regiment commanders. Eventually they surrounded Fort Mary , where Andros was housed.
One of the first to be arrested was the captain of HMS Rose, John George. The ship arrived between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. and was already awaited by a platoon of militias and the ship's carpenter who had joined the rebels. When the captain asked to see an arrest warrant, the militia drew their swords and took him into custody. By 10 a.m., the majority of the target people had already been arrested or fled to Castle Island or other fortified outposts. The Anglicans in Boston, including a church minister and a pharmacist, were also arrested. Shortly before noon, an orange flag was hoisted on Beacon Hill , signaling another 1,500 militias to enter the city. These gathered in the market square, where a declaration was read out in which the initiators of the action supported “the noble overthrow of the Prince of Orange ” and called for an uprising, since a “horrific papist plan” had been uncovered.
The old Massachusetts colonial leadership, led by former Governor Simon Bradstreet , called on incumbent Governor Andros to resign for his own safety, referring to the mob in the city, which they claimed were "from its preparation at all knew nothing ”. Andros, however, refused to resign and instead tried to flee to HMS Rose . But the dinghy that the rose sent was intercepted by the militia, so that Andros was forced to retreat to Fort Mary. After negotiations, Andros agreed to leave the fort to negotiate with the rebel council. After he was promised a safe conduct, he was taken under guard to the town hall where the council had met. There he was informed that the council was going to take government into its own hands and that he was being arrested. He was taken to John Usher's home and closely monitored there.
The HMS Rose and Fort William on Castle Island refused to surrender immediately. On April 19, however, there was a mutiny among Protestants on the ship when the crew was told that the captain was going to sail to France to join the exiled James II. The ship's rigging was removed and when the troops in the fort saw it, they gave up.
Outcome of the uprising
After the surrender of Fort Mary , Andros was brought there, where he was held together with Joseph Dudley and other Dominion representatives until June 7, when he was transferred to Castle Island. A popular story has it that during this period he tried to escape disguised as a woman. The Boston Anglican Pastor Robert Ratcliff countered these statements by calling this story and other rumors unfounded lies intended to stir up hatred against the governor. Andros actually managed to break out of Castle Island on August 2nd after his servant bribed the guards with alcohol. He managed to escape to Rhode Island, but was caught again and then placed in solitary confinement . He and others were detained for ten months before they were transported to England for their trial. However, Massachusetts officials in London refused to sign the allegations against Andros, so he was acquitted and released. He later served as governor of the Province of Virginia and the Province of Maryland .
Dissolution of the Dominion
With the arrival of news of the fall of Andros, the former colonies restored their pre-Dominion administrative structures and reinstalled their former leaders. Plymouth, Rhode Island, and Connecticut took up government under their respective old charter, and Massachusetts also followed its former charter, which was formally invalidated before the Dominion was founded. New Hampshire had no formal government at times and was co-administered by Massachusetts Governor Simon Bradstreet during this time .
During his imprisonment, Andros was able to send a request for assistance to his Lieutenant Governor Francis Nicholson in New York City . This reached Nicholson in mid-May, but at that time most of his soldiers were in Maine, and due to mounting tensions in New York, he could not do without more men. Nicholson himself was overthrown in the course of the Leisler's Rebellion led by Jakob Leisler and fled to England. Leisler ruled New York until 1691 and was replaced by Henry Sloughter . This brought Leisler to court for high treason , which found him guilty and had him executed.
After the end of Leisler's government and the resumption of government by the old colonial rulers in New England, there was no effort in England to rebuild the Dominion. After news of the capture of Andros, London focused on negotiating with Massachusetts over the withdrawn charter. These negotiations resulted in the establishment of the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691 , in which Massachusetts was united with the chartless Plymouth Colony , Nantucket , Martha's Vineyard , the Elizabeth Islands and parts of Maine.
Remarks
- ↑ In the Julian calendar used in the colonies at that time , the new year began on March 25th. In order to avoid conflicts with the otherwise used Gregorian calendar , dates from January 1st to March 25th have been given both years.
- ↑ At that time, Charlestown and Roxbury were separate cities and not yet part of Boston.
See also
- Leisler's Rebellion , a conflict also fought in 1689 against the pro- Anglican governor of the Province of New York
literature
- James Truslow Adams: The Founding of New England . Atlantic Monthly Press, Boston 1921, OCLC 1068441 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- Viola Florence Barnes: The Dominion of New England: A Study in British Colonial Policy (= American Classics ). F. Ungar Pub. Co., New York 1960, OCLC 395292 .
- John Fiske: The beginnings of New England - or, The Puritan theocracy in its relations to civil and religious liberty . Houghton, Mifflin and Co., Boston / New York 1889, OCLC 29693285 .
- Michael Garibaldi Hall: The last American Puritan. The life of Increase Mather, 1639-1723 . Wesleyan University Press, Middletown CT 1988, ISBN 978-0-8195-5128-3 .
- Everett Kimball: The public life of Joseph Dudley. A study of the colonial policy of the Stuarts in New England, 1660-1715 (= Harvard historical studies . Vol. 15). Longmans, Green and Co., New York, et al. 1911, OCLC 687882 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- Leisler, Jacob . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 16 : L - Lord Advocate . London 1911, p. 402 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).
- David Sherman Lovejoy: The glorious revolution in America . Wesleyan University Press, Middletown CT 1987, ISBN 978-0-8195-6177-0 .
- Mary Lou Lustig: Sir Edmund Andros, 1637-1714 . In: The imperial executive in America . Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, Madison NJ 2002, ISBN 978-0-8386-3936-8 .
- Guy Howard Miller: Rebellion in Zion: The Overthrow of the Dominion of New England . In: Phi Alpha Theta (Ed.): The Historian . Vol. 30, No. 3 . Phi Alpha Theta, May 1968, ISSN 0018-2370 , p. 439-459 .
- Palfrey, John: History of New England (= Making of modern law ). Little, Brown, Boston, OCLC 60721741 ( limited preview in Google Book Search - 1858–1890).
- Ian K. Steele: Origins of Boston's Revolutionary Declaration of April 18, 1689 . In: Colonial Society of Massachusetts; Northeastern University (Ed.): The New England Quarterly . Vol. 62, No. 1 , March 1989, ISSN 0028-4866 , OCLC 1783237 , pp. 75-81 , JSTOR : 366211 .
- Charles Wesley Tuttle: New Hampshire Without Provincial Government, 1689-1690 . J. Wilson and Son, Cambridge MA 1880, OCLC 557979828 ( limited preview in Google Book Search).
- Stephen Saunders Webb: Lord Churchill's coup . the Anglo-American empire and the Glorious Revolution reconsidered. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse NY 1998, ISBN 978-0-585-25250-6 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lovejoy, pp. 148-156.
- ↑ Lovejoy, pp. 155-157, 169-170.
- ↑ Lovejoy, p. 170.
- ↑ Barnes, pp. 46-48.
- ^ Barnes, p. 223.
- ↑ Lovejoy, pp. 180, 192-193, 197.
- ↑ Barnes, pp. 169-170.
- ↑ a b Webb, p. 184.
- ↑ Miller, pp. 162-164.
- ^ Lovejoy, p. 221.
- ^ Webb, pp. 101-107.
- ^ Miller, p. 178.
- ^ Miller, p. 186.
- ↑ Lustig, p. 185.
- ^ Miller, p. 176.
- ↑ Lovejoy, pp. 226-228.
- ↑ Hall, pp. 207-210.
- ^ Hall, p. 210.
- ^ Hall, pp. 210-211.
- ^ Hall, p. 217.
- ↑ Barnes, pp. 234-235.
- ^ Barnes, p. 238.
- ↑ Steele, p. 77.
- ↑ Steele, p. 78.
- ↑ a b Lustig, p. 182.
- ^ Webb, p. 182.
- ^ Webb, p. 183.
- ^ Webb, p. 185.
- ↑ Lustig, p. 190.
- ^ Webb, pp. 186-187.
- ^ Webb, p. 187.
- ↑ a b Webb, p. 188.
- ↑ Lustig, pp. 160, 192.
- ↑ Lustig, p. 192.
- ↑ Webb, pp. 190-191.
- ↑ Lustig, p. 193.
- ^ Webb, p. 191.
- ↑ Palfrey, p. 586.
- ^ Webb, p. 192.
- ↑ Lustig, pp. 145,197.
- ^ Webb, p. 193.
- ↑ Fiske, p. 272.
- ↑ Lustig, pp. 200–201.
- ↑ Lustig, p. 201.
- ↑ Lustig, p. 202.
- ↑ Kimball, pp. 53-55.
- ↑ Lustig, pp. 244–245.
- ^ Palfrey, p. 596.
- ^ Lovejoy, p. 246.
- ^ Lovejoy, pp. 247, 249.
- ^ Tuttle, pp. 1-12.
- ↑ Lustig, p. 199.
- ↑ Lovejoy, pp. 255-256.
- ↑ Lovejoy, pp. 326-338.
- ↑ Lovejoy, pp. 355-357.
- ↑ Evans, p. 430.
- ↑ Evans, pp. 431-449.
- ↑ Barnes, pp. 267-269.
Coordinates: 42 ° 21 '29.9 " N , 71 ° 3' 34.9" W.