The restoration of Charles II had been anticipated in Virginia by the Assembly, which on the death of Matthews in 1660 recalled Sir William Berkeley from retire- Virginia ment. As soon as Berkeley was officially in- under formed of Charles's restoration he proclaimed him Charles II in Virginia and ordered writs to run in his name. Berkeley then went to England to consult his sovereign's pleasure. On his return to Virginia in 1662 he summoned an Assembly which, like the "Cavalier Parliament" in England, was overwhelmingly royalist, and continued to sit without reelection for the next fourteen years. The suffrage, which had been extended during the Commonwealth period to all freemen, was restricted by act of the Assembly in 1670 to freeholders. Virginia thus became a practical oligarchy. Berkeley selected his own councilors from the wealthier planters, prorogued the Assembly from session to session without reëlection and appointed the sheriffs and county justices, the latter composing the county court and having a general control of county affairs. Even the vestries, which ruled the parishes, were no longer chosen by the people, but had become close corporations and filled the vacancies that occurred in their numbers. The most serious hardship for the common people, however, was the steady decline in the price of tobacco, due in large part to the navigation acts which gave the English merchant a monopoly of the trade. The general dissatisfaction came to a head in 1676, when the Indians began attacking the frontier settlements. Berkeley was appealed to, but failed to take Bacon's effective measures for the defense of the colony rebellion and numbers of settlers were killed, among them the overseer of Nathaniel Bacon's plantation. Young Bacon, who had not been long in the colony, but who was a man of force and determination, then raised a body of three hundred volunteers and marched against the Indians. Berkeley denounced him and his followers as rebels and started out with a body of troops to disperse them. The majority of Bacon's followers turned back, but about sixty continued to follow him, and storming a palisade slew one hundred and fifty Indians. Death of In the meantime the people of the colony were thoroughly aroused and began arming. So serious was the disaffection that Berkeley had to hasten back to Jamestown, where he agreed to dissolve the old Assembly and execution of order a new election. To this Assembly Bacon was elected. When it convened the Governor pardoned him, restored him to his place in the council, and promised him a commission as commander-in-chief of the militia. leaders But no sooner had Bacon started on his second expedition than Berkeley again denounced him and raised a force of six hundred men to take him. Most of the wealthier planters stood by Berkeley, while probably two thirds of the people, -the lower classes and some of the planters, supported Bacon, giving the struggle the character of a popular revolution. Bacon now abandoned the Indian campaign, and marched against Jamestown which was taken and burned. Berkeley fled to Accomac, and Bacon was preparing to follow him when he was stricken with fever and died. Most of Bacon's followers soon dispersed, though some of them continued the struggle for two months, at the end of which period they were compelled to surrender. Thirteen of the leaders were summarily hanged, among them William Drummond, a Scotchman who had been governor of the Albemarle settlement in North Carolina in 1664. When he was brought before Berkeley, the old governor, bowing low, said: "Mr. Drummond, you are welcome. I am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, shall be hanged in half an hour." When Berkeley went to England to explain matters King Charles refused to see him, saying: "That old fool has hanged more men in that naked country than I have done for the murder of my father." you The old cavalier retired to his home and died a few months later broken-hearted. Charles II Conditions in Maryland under the Restoration were somewhat similar to those in Virginia. In March, 1660, the Assembly with the connivance of Josias Maryland Fendall, who had been appointed governor by under Lord Baltimore in 1657, took things into its own hands, abolished the council, and practically repudiated Lord Baltimore's authority. The rights of the proprietor were, however, upheld by Charles II, and Fendall's movement came to nought. In 1661 Charles Calvert was appointed governor by his father and on the latter's death in 1675 succeeded to his rights as proprietor. He restricted the suffrage, reduced the number of representatives in the Assembly, conferred most of the important offices on his Roman Catholic relatives, and ruled arbitrarily. News of Bacon's rebellion started an uprising, but the leaders were arrested and it amounted to nothing. King In 1675 Massachusetts and all New England became involved in a struggle with the Indians known as King Philip's War, which extended from the Connecticut Valley to the settlements in Maine. In August, Philip's 1676, King Philip was taken and slain. Out of a War, 16751676 military population of five thousand in Massachusetts and Plymouth, one in ten had been killed or captured, over forty towns had been fired, and more than a hundred thousand pounds spent in military expenses. Massachusetts de In 1684 Massachusetts was deprived of her charter on the ground that she had violated the acts of trade and was guilty of other shortcomings. The following year James II came to the throne and in May, 1686, he appointed Sir Edmund Andros governorgeneral of New England. Meanwhile a temporary 1684 government had been organized in Massachusetts, which abolished the representative Assembly, enforced the prived of her charter, navigation acts, and in June, 1686, established for the first time an Episcopal Church in Boston. The rule of General Andros, 1686-1689 Andros arrived in Boston December 20, 1686, and his administration lasted until April, 1689. Plymouth and Rhode Island submitted to his rule but the Connecticut authorities tried to retain their separate government. In October, 1687, Andros went to Hartford, dissolved the government and annexed the colony to the dominion of New England. But the authorities held on to their charter, hiding it in a hollow oak. In August, 1688, Andros visited New York and took formal possession of the government of that province and also of the Jerseys. Thus all of British America from Delaware Bay to Nova Scotia was under the rule of one governor-general. When Andros returned to Boston he left Francis Nicholson as deputy governor in New York. Penn's provinces, Pennsylvania and Delaware, were spared. The main purpose of the king in consolidating the northern colonies was to secure a rigid enforcement of the navigation acts and to afford protection against the French. The English Revolution of 1688-1689, which placed William and Mary on the throne, brought to a head the discontent that existed in several of the American The English Revolution colonies. When the news that the Prince of in America, Orange had landed in England and that James 1688-1689 had fled from the kingdom reached Boston, the people rose in open revolt, seized Governor Andros and cast him into prison. They then reorganized their government under the old charter. Connecticut and Rhode Island likewise reorganized under their former charters, and their action was later approved. But Massachusetts had been insubordinate under the old charter, so in the new charter, granted in 1691, an important change was made. Henceforth the governor was to be appointed by the Crown instead of being elected by the people. |