Part 9 (1/2)
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENT, 1688-1760
[Sidenote: New policy of the Stuarts.]
[Sidenote: Reasons for the new policy.]
81. The Stuart Tyranny.--Instead of admiring the growth of the colonies in strength and in liberty, Charles and James saw it with dismay. The colonies were becoming too strong and too free. They determined to reduce all the colonies to royal provinces, like Virginia--with the exception of Pennsylvania which belonged to their friend, William Penn. There was a good deal to be said in favor of this plan, for the colonists were so jealous of each other that they would not unite against the French or the Indians. If the governments were all in the hands of the king, the whole strength of the British colonies could be used against any enemy of England.
[Sidenote: End of the Ma.s.sachusetts Company, 1684.]
[Sidenote: Governor Andros of New England, 1688.]
82. The Stuart Tyranny in New England.--The Ma.s.sachusetts charter was now taken away, and Sir Edmund Andros was sent over to govern the colony. He was ordered to make laws and to tax the people without asking their consent. He did as he was ordered to do. He set up the Church of England. He taxed the people. He even took their lands from them, on the ground that the grants from the old Ma.s.sachusetts government were of no value. When one man pointed to the magistrates' signatures to his grant, Andros told him that their names were worth no more than a scratch with a bear's paw. He also enforced the navigation laws and took possession of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Plymouth. At the same time he was also governor of New Hamps.h.i.+re and of New York.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A PROCLAMATION OF 1690 FORBIDDING THE PRINTING OF NEWSPAPERS WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE GOVERNMENT.]
[Sidenote: Flight of James II.]
[Sidenote: Rebellion against Andros, 1689.]
83. The ”Glorious Revolution” in America, 1689.--By this time Charles was dead, and James was King of England. The English people did not like James any better than the New Englanders liked Andros. In 1688 they rebelled and made William of Orange and his wife Mary, James's eldest daughter, King and Queen of England. On their part, the Ma.s.sachusetts colonists seized Andros and his followers and shut them up in prison (April 18, 1689). The people of Connecticut and Rhode Island turned out Andros's agents and set up their old governments. In New York also Andros's deputy governor was expelled, and the people took control of affairs until the king and queen should send out a governor.
Indeed, all the colonies, except Maryland, declared for William and Mary.
[Sidenote: Policy of William and Mary.]
[Sidenote: The Ma.s.sachusetts Province charter, 1691.]
84. The New Arrangements.--For a year or two William was very busy in Ireland and on the continent. At length he had time to attend to colonial affairs. He appointed royal governors for both Pennsylvania and Maryland. William Penn soon had his colony given back to him; but the Baltimores had to wait many years before they recovered Maryland. In New York there was a dreadful tragedy. For the new governor, Slaughter, was persuaded to order the execution of the leaders in the rising against Andros. Ma.s.sachusetts did not get her old charter back, but she got another charter. This provided that the king should appoint the governor, but the people should elect a House of Representatives. The most important result of this new arrangement was a series of disputes between the king's governor and the people's representatives. Maine and New Plymouth were included in Ma.s.sachusetts under the new charter. But New Hamps.h.i.+re remained a royal province.
[Sidenote: Prosperity of the colonies, 1700-60.]
85. The Colonies, 1700-60.--During these years immigrants thronged to America, and the colonies became constantly stronger. Commerce everywhere developed, and many manufactures were established.
Throughout the colonies the people everywhere gained power, and had it not been for the French and Indian wars they would have been happy.
Aside from these wars the most important events of these years were the overthrow of the Carolina proprietors and the founding of Georgia.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Carolina Rice Fields.]
[Sidenote: Bad government of the Carolina proprietors.]
[Sidenote: Rebellion in Carolina, 1719.]
[Sidenote: North and South Carolina.]
86. North and South Carolina.--The Carolina proprietors and their colonists had never got on well together. They now got on worse than ever. The greater part of the colonists were not members of the Established Church; but the proprietors tried to take away the right to vote from all persons who were not of that faith. They also interfered in elections, and tried to prevent the formation of a true representative a.s.sembly. They could not protect the people against the pirates who blockaded Charleston for weeks at a time. In 1719 the people of Charleston rebelled. The king then interfered, and appointed a royal governor. Later he bought out the rights of the proprietors. In this way Carolina became a royal province. It was soon divided into two provinces, North Carolina and South Carolina. But there had always been two separate colonies in Carolina (p. 52).
[Sidenote: General Oglethorpe.]
[Sidenote: Grant of Georgia, 1732.]