The Dominion of New England was the name of a short-lived administrative union of English colonies in the New England region of North America. It comprised the five New England colonies, plus the Province of New York, East Jersey, and West Jersey. The union was decreed in 1686 by King James II as a measure to enforce the Navigation Acts and to coordinate the mutual defense of colonies against the French and hostile Native Americans. In 1687, the colonies of New York and New Jersey were added to the dominion.

The use of the word "dominion" in the title is unrelated to its use in the later Dominion of Canada.

Although the New England colonists had previously sought a loose voluntary association in the New England Confederation, the imposition of a centralized authority from England was highly unpopular. The actions of dominion governor Edmund Andros in promoting the Church of England, and well as the behaviors of English soldiers garrisoned at Boston, greatly angered many loyalists in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Following the overthrow of James II in the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the Dominion ceased to exist.

Presidents of the Dominion of New England

When the Dominion was dissolved in 1689, Simon Bradstreet served as Governor of Massachusetts until William Phips arrived as Royal Governor in 1692.

References

• Alan Taylor, American Colonies: the Settling of North America, part of The Penguin History of the United States series, Eric Fonor, Editor, Penguin Books, 2001.
• Dominion of New England 1686-1689 from U-S-History.com

Pre-revolutionary history of the United States | History of New England | Dominion of New England | 1686 establishments | 1689 disestablishments