Dominion of New England

Dominion Of New England

The Dominion of New England in America (1686–89) was an administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America. The dominion was ultimately a failure because the area it encompassed (from the Delaware River in the south to Penobscot Bay in the north), composed of present-day Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, was too large for a single governor to manage. Additional factors resulted in its fall, including the fact that its governor, Sir Edmund Andros, was highly unpopular, engaging in actions that offended significant segments of the New England population. After news of the Glorious Revolution in England reached Boston in 1689, Puritans launched a revolt against Andros, arresting him and his officers. Leisler's Rebellion in New York City deposed the dominion's lieutenant governor, Francis Nicholson. After these events, the colonies assembled into the dominion then reverted to their previous forms of governance, despite the fact that some then formally governed without a charter. New charters were eventually issued by King William III and Queen Mary II.

The word dominion 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 was cited in these cases.