Edmund Andros.—Andros, the former governor of New York, was appointed governor-general and arrived at Boston in December. 1686. In a businesslike manner he organized his government. Boston was made the seat of power. Andros acted as commander of the army and Vice-admiral, and exercised the pardoning power. With the advice and consent of the council he made laws, levied taxes, and administered justice. He also made land grants and collected quit-rents. He demanded that Plymouth, Rhode Island, and Connecticut surrender their charters. Plymouth and Rhode Island complied and their representatives were admitted to the council, but Connecticut temporized. Finally Andros visited the obdurate colony, dissolved the government, and admitted representatives to his council. The charter, however, according to Connecticut tradition, was hidden in an oak tree and never left the colony. In 1688 the Lords of Trade determined to bring all the territory from the St. Croix and the St. Lawrence to the Delaware under the supervision of Andros.
Overthrow of Andros.—The system aroused the anger of the colonists, who looked upon the governor-general as a tyrant. Mutterings of discontent grew louder and louder, and when news reached Massachusetts that James II had fled from England, the people of Boston rose in revolt, seized the fortifications and royal frigate, and imprisoned Andros and Randolph. A council was established, a convention was summoned, and the old charter government was reëstablished. Connecticut and Rhode Island also restored the charter governments.
READINGS
COLONIAL POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION
Andrews, C.M., Colonial Self-Government, 1-40; Beer, G.L., The Old Colonial System, I, 1-315; "The Commercial Policy of England toward the American Colonies," in Columbia University, Studies in History, Economics, and Public Law, III, Pt. 2, pp. 29-54; Channing, Edward, History of the United States, II, 1-13; Egerton, H.E., A Short History of British Colonial Policy, 66-80; MacDonald, William, Select Charters, 106-115, 119-120, 133-136; Osgood, H.L., The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, III, 143-241.
VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND
Andrews, C.M., Colonial Self-Government, 202-251; Andrews, C.M., ed., Narratives of the Insurrections, 11-141, 299-314; Channing, Edward, History of the United States, II, 80-91, 209-213; Fiske, John, Old Virginia and her Neighbors, II, 45-107, 131-173; Osgood, H.L., The American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, III, 242-308; Wertenbaker, T.J., Virginia under the Stuarts, 115-259.
NEW ENGLAND
Andrews, C.M., Colonial Self-Government, 41-73, 252-287; Andrews, C.M., ed., Narratives of the Insurrections, 165-297; Andrews, C.M., The Fathers of New England; Channing, Edward, History of the United States, II, 65-79, 155-203; Doyle, J.A., The Puritan Colonies, II, 190-276; Ellis, G.W., and Morris, J.E., King Philip's War; Fiske, John, The Beginnings of New England, 199-278; James, B.B., The Colonization of New England, 213-295; Osgood, H.L., The English Colonies in the Seventeenth Century, III, 309-335, 378-443; Palfrey, J.G., Compendious History of New England, II, 1-20; History of New England, III, chs. 3, 7-9, 12-14.