1 thoughts on “Smithsonian Article on religious tolerance”

1. Morris Fabbri October 4, 2010 at 10:40 am

   20. The English King James II sent Edmund Andros to lead the Dominion of New England (rather than appointing a New Englander) because he needed maintain power over this prosperous group of colonies; he wanted to enforce the Navigation acts, and he didn’t want the New England colonies to become independent of English rule. . The independent spirit that the colonies were developing could lead to rebellion against the Crown. However, Andros was too heavy-handed in his reign, curbing town meetings, embracing the Anglican Church, and his soldiers were rowdy and violent. His reign showed the colonists that the British didn’t have the right to rule them in this way. Had a New Englander been in charge of New England, the colonies as a whole would have developed a greater feeling of independence from Great Britain; the colonists would have felt as though they could rule themselves, and that would not bode well for Great Britain. As it was, though, the Glorious Revolution in England led to a rebellious feeling in the New England colonies, and the colonists proceeded to overthrow Andros and, afterwards, continued to thrive in the policy of salutary neglect practiced by England toward the colonies. So, in the long run, the growth of independence in the New England colonies was inevitable. Andros’s tyrannical rule and the revolution that followed led to the growth of a revolutionary and independent spirit in America; likewise, if a New Englander led the Dominion of New England, the colonies would have been free from the restrictions imposed by England, and the colonies would have had more freedom. The English King James II sent Andros to curb this type of thinking; however, he brought about a growing feeling of independence in the colonies.