The Glorious Revolution in America

18 Resettlement I

18Resettlement I Not long after the Revolution in England Sir William Temple described King William III as a prince of great firmness who spoke little but thought much.1 William's American colonists might have agreed, but they probably would have added that if William thought a good deal, it was not about them. One of the ironies of the Revolution was that Englishmen in England believed it was their revolution alone, and colonists should not presume it had meaning outside the realm. "The King is dead; long live the King" may have been a slight exaggeration if one dealt strictly with the facts, but the idea ought in substance to be good enough for colonists in America, for what bearing did events in England have upon colonists 3,000 miles away? That Englishmen in England, William III included, were surprised at what occurred in America is good evidence of their regard, or lack of it, for colonists and colonies and of what they understood the relation between England and America to be. Despite the constitutional changes which 1. "Diary of Lawrence Hammond," Feb. 15, 1692, M.H.S., Proc. (1891, 1892), 2d ser., VII, 160. 334 Resettlement I 335 accompanied the Glorious Revolution in England, the Crown's role in imperial matters was not altered officially. The American colonies were still the King's business and would remain so theoretically, at least, until 1776. To most Englishmen, imperial affairs remained about the same whether James or William ruled. While several colonies underwent severe jolts in the spring and summer of 1689, followed by a trying period of anxiety and confusion, imperial responsibilities in the hands of men like William Blathwayt continued under the new government in England without much of a hitch. Revenues, including customs duties, were toted up and continued for the new King; colonial shipping was carefully allotted owing to the hazards of war on the high seas. Experts published essays on the American trade; entrepreneurs petitioned the King for commercial charters and monopolies. And Edward Randolph, first in Boston and then in England, continued to report violations of the Acts of Trade and to lay plans for a tighter colonial administration.2 William was a very busy king in the early months of his reign. With pressing demands upon his time in England, Ireland, and on the Continent , he was slow to bring about a settlement of the colonies which had overturned their governments. The delay, of course, added substantially to the instability which characterized their interim regimes. News of England was scarce in Boston and New York and often misleading . Hungry for accurate accounts of what had occurred, and particularly for acceptance of what they had done, colonists were frustrated by instructions and odd bits of news which managed to cross the Atlantic, information often unrelated to their immediate, sometimes acute needs. One wonders what John Coode's reaction while chasing Catholics was to the King's circular letter which asked colonial governors to help in obtaining a variety of plants and shrubs for the royal gardens. Or what Jacob Leisler, beset by countless problems in New York and desperate for confirmation of his government, made of the news that the Bishop of London was scurrying about the city looking for Anglican priests to fill the pulpits at Newtown and Esopus, besides an "ingenious Schoolmaster" for the city of New York. In the 2. A Paper Setting forth the Publick Revenue . . . payable to their Majesties from the 25th of March 1689 . . . , Harleian Manuscripts, 1898, ff. 1-lb, B.M.; Petition from Merchants Trading to New England, Sept. 1690, C.O. 1/68/7; C.O. 324/5, p. 150; H.M.C. 17: 13th Report, App. V, House of Lords, 1690-1691, pp. 73-74; Sir Dudley North, Discourses upon Trade [London, 1691], ed. by Jacob H. Hollander (Baltimore, 1907); Daniel Cox, Petition to King for Patent to develop area . . . , Apr. 24, 1690, C.O. 5/855, #87. For Randolph, see ibid., #110. J. H. Plumb discusses the continuity in administration during the Revolution . The Origins of Political Stability: England, 1675-1725 (Boston, 1967), ch. I. 336 The Glorious Revolutionin America midst of their turmoil the King charged New Yorkers with the promotion of the Indian trade while encouraging Massachusetts people to convert Negroes and Indians to Christianity.3 These were difficult times in all the colonies but particularly so where temporary government...