The Glorious Revolution Of 1688: The Bloodless Revolution

The Glorious Revolution of 1688 known as “The Bloodless Revolution” impacted British North America greatly. To prove this, this paper will provide details of the events that started the Glorious Revolution. This paper will also consider what Catholicism had to do with it. To this end, this paper will demonstrate how the Dominion of New England affected this.
The Glorious Revolution took place from 1688 to about 1689. This event was where Parliament dethroned of King James II, a Catholic, in England and was replaced by his daughter Mary and her Dutch-born husband William of Orange. The new Queen, Mary, and King, William III, were both Protestants (Brooks, New England). This event was called “The Bloodless Revolution” due to achieving the goal without any bloodshed (Brooks, New England). King James II used his religion, Catholicism, to impose power on Parliament. Once King James II was removed, King William III and Queen Mary got rid of the
Catholicism monarchy and imposed religious tolerance. The Dominion of New England is a time period where King James II tries to combine all of the New England colonies into one larger colony to tighten his power over them.
By attempting this he is taking the rights of the people and restricting colonial trade due to the lack of say in the government (Brooks, New England). King James II appointed Sir Edmund Andros to be, “our Captain Generall and Governor in Chief in and over all that part our territory and dominion of New England in America”. Kings James II ordered Sir Edmund Andros to “execute all powers belonging to the place and office of Vice Admirall of and in all the seas and coasts about your Government” (Commission of Sir Edmund Andros). Sir Edmund Andros gained control over colonies and eliminated town meetings, press, schools, and taxed without the consent of the governor (Brooks, New England). In 1689, the Dominion of England ended when the word of the removal of King James II arrived in the colonies, which also disrupted the Navigation Acts (Brooks, New
England). With Sir Edmund Andros gone no one is in power in the American Colonies so the Council of Safety was established until return of charters and guidance from William III. In 1691, Massachusetts Bay became a Royal Colony with new royal governor Sir William Phipps (Brooks, New England). With the new governor of Massachusetts, Sir William Phipps in charged; religious tolerance is recognized. Because of Phipps, people were judged and qualified based on money, property, and land rather than what religion they were. This gave the American Colonies sense of individualism. (Brooks, Week 2 Discussion).