Background
After English forces took control of New Netherlands in 1664, King Charles II gave the territory to his brother James, then Duke of York, to rule as he pleased. James partitioned off East and West Jersey to other proprietors, and established an essentially autocratic government, with a strong governor and council, but no elected legislature.
James succeeded his brother to the throne in 1685, and established the Dominion of New England the following year. In May 1688 he added New York and the Jerseys to the dominion. Its governor, Sir Edmund Andros, came to New York that summer to establish his authority and install Francis Nicholson, a captain in the British Army, to administer those colonies as his lieutenant governor. Nicholson's rule, in which he was assisted by a local council but no legislative assembly, was seen by many New Yorkers as the next in a line of royal governors who "had in a most arbitrary way subverted our ancient priviledges". Nicholson justified his rule by stating that the colonists were "a conquered people, and therefore ... could not so much claim rights and priviledges as Englishmen".
In late 1688, the Glorious Revolution deposed the Catholic King James, and replaced him with the Protestants William and Mary. The rule of Andros was highly unpopular, especially in Massachusetts. Upon learning of the revolution, Massachusetts opponents of the Andros regime decided to use the event for their political benefit, and organized an uprising. On April 18, 1689 a mob formed in Boston and its leaders, former Massachusetts political figures, arrested Andros and other dominion officials. This led to a cascade of events, in which Massachusetts and the other New England colonies rapidly restored their pre-dominion governments.
Read more about this topic: Leisler's Rebellion
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