king appointed a president, deputy president, and sixteen councillors, to have complete executive and judicial control over Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. There was no provision for an assembly. Near the close of the same year, Sir Edmund Andros arrived in Boston as governor of all New England. When the charter of Massachusetts was revoked, all powers which it conferred were withdrawn, and the colony was left wholly at the mercy of the king. Even the titles to land, based upon the charter, were void. The people were considered subjects not of England, but of the king of England, and therefore not entitled to the civil and political rights of Englishmen. Andros. Andros was sent to put these principles into practice. Government of A council appointed by the king was associated with him; and together they were empowered to make laws, which should be sent to England for the royal sanction, to levy taxes, to establish courts of justice, to regulate trade and currency, to reprieve and pardon. The servant was as tyrannical as his master. Excessive taxes were imposed; and, though the people resisted, they were compelled to pay them. Owners of land were required to pay certain sums, called quit-rents, in order to secure a new and valid title to their property. The council became a cipher in the administration, and the will of Andros became the sole law; and he and his favorites enriched themselves at the expense of the people. In the next year, his commission was extended to include New York and New Jersey; and Boston was made the capital of the whole province. Early in 1689, news arrived of the dethronement of James, and the accession of William and Mary. At once there was an uprising of the people of Boston. Andros and his friends were seized and imprisoned, and a provincial government was established Revolution of on the basis of the old charter. Similar 1689. proceedings took place in Plymouth, and in Rhode Island and Connecticut, which had never given up their charters. The Province The agents of Massachusetts tried in vain to secure a renewal of the old charter. Its provisions were too liberal to suit the king; and Charter. in 1691 a new one was made, known as the Province Charter. The terms of this were such that the people no longer had that virtual independence of the crown which they had so long enjoyed, and which their neighbors of Connecticut and Rhode Island still possessed. Massachusetts, Plymouth, Maine, and Nova Scotia were united under one government. A governor, deputy, and secretary were to be appointed by the king. A house of deputies, chosen as before by the towns, and a council of twenty-eight Change in the members, appointed at first by the king, Government. afterward by the General Court, formed the legislature. The governor was commander of the militia, and appointed all military officers. The election of councillors was subject to his sanction. With the consent of the council he appointed all judicial officers. The General Court was to assemble on the last Wednesday in May, and the governor could convoke, adjourn, or dissolve it. This dangerous power was afterward used against the people when they were preparing for the Revolution. All acts passed by the deputies and council must receive the approval of the governor to become law, and then be sent to England for the approval of the king's ministers. They could be annulled within three years. Much of the first legislation failed to receive the royal sanction. The General Court established a new judiciary system, consisting of a superior court, a court of common pleas in each county, justices of the peace, and a court of sessions in each county, consisting of the justices of the peace therein, who heard appeals from the justice's courts, and had charge of some miscellaneous county business. The charter changed the basis of suffrage, making the qualifications for a freeman the possession of a freehold1 worth two pounds sterling a year, or personal property worth forty pounds. This charter went into operation in 1692; and from that time until the Revolution, Massachusetts and Plymouth, having lost the privilege of self-government, existed as a royal province subject to such governors as the king of England chose to send. SUMMARY. 1. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established under a charter from Charles I., in Boston and vicinity, about 1630. 2. The control of the colony was vested in the company; but by a transfer of the charter the power came into the hands of a portion of the settlers. 3. Executive and judicial power was chiefly exercised by a governor, deputy governor, and assistants. Legislative functions were exercised by the whole body of members of the company, meeting in an assembly called the Great and General Court. At this meeting, also, officers were chosen. 1 Freehold, an estate held in absolute ownership, either for life or without limitation of time. 4. Different communities early assumed the powers of towns, which powers were afterward formally confirmed by the court. 5. In a few years, these towns chose deputies to act with the assistants in legislation; and the General Court came to consist of two bodies, each having a negative upon the other. 6. Judicial business was gradually withdrawn from the General Court, and intrusted to courts held in different parts of the colony by the magistrates, afterward to county courts; and persons in the towns were empowered to "end small causes." 7. Only church-members were allowed to become freemen; and thus the political power was in the hands of a small minority of the colonists. The legislation was also largely in the interests of the Puritan churches. 8. The kings were displeased with the practical independence of this colony, and tried various means to reduce it to subjection. Finally, in 1686, the charter was taken away, and with it all political privileges. 9. During several years the colony was under the control of persons sent from England. These were intrusted with extensive authority, which they abused; and the people had no means of redress. 10. The Revolution in England was followed by a similar outbreak in Massachusetts. On the accession of William and Mary, a new charter, called the Province Charter, was given to the people. 11. This gave the choice of governor to the king, of judges to the governor, of deputies to the people, and of a council to the General Court, which consisted of deputies and council. The people lost much of the |
