The Glorious Revolution
             For years the colonies had considered themselves self-ruled. In fact, very few of the colonies had been established as royal colonies, most of them were founded under propriety share holders or by groups of people trying to escape persecutions. The colony of Plymouth had been founded by the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims set down their own laws and ruled over their own affairs, all of this done with out a charter approving it. They followed the Mayflower Compact, the rules that they had set before, they had agreed to rule equally and peaceably. The rule of the time was that basically, the king would grant a charter ensuring that the free men would have a voice in the legislation affecting them. Many colonies would then have elected representatives? rule the affairs. Many colonies also held town meetings in which the people could speak of their own concerns. The government of England was distracted by other affairs of the country to deal with this until 1660 when King Charles II took the throne. However, even now, the colonies were left largely undisturbed.
             It wasn't until around the 1670's that things started change for the colonists. The Lords of Trade and Plantation (a group dedicated to the enforcement of the mercantile system in the colonies) tried to revoke the Massachusetts Bay charter because of their refusal to follow the system. In 1685 King James II replaced King Charles II. One of King James? first acts as king was to unite New England into 1 colony called the Dominion of New England. King James was already under suspicion for being a Catholic and this did nothing to make him popular with the largely Puritan population in the colonies. Having all of New England under 1 governor helped to keep control. King James appointed Edmund Andros as governor in 1686, a decision the colonists abhorred. Governor Andros had permission to raise and lower taxes a...