Charles II died in 1685. Charles successor, James II who was also his brother, began to strengthen royal control over the colonist. The belief was that the colonies were growing too powerful and they needed to be brought in line. James ruled with a harsh hand and did not allow the colonies any say over their laws or taxes. James was also a practicing Catholic, leading a mostly Protestant people. He added to the colonist’s anger by placing Catholics into high positions of power. When a royal son was born to Charles in 1688 the people were fearful of a Catholic dynasty. Parliament leaders deposed James and replaced him with his Daughter Mary who was Protestant. When Mary and her Husband William of Orange were prevented from landing in England, James fled to France and the Glorious Revolution took place. The revolution brought about a constitutional equality between Parliament and the Crown of England. In North America the revolution began many rebellions against authority that had been put in place by King James. In London, careful monitoring of the uprisings was done. William and Mary consented to breaking up the Dominion of New England and terminating proprietary rule in Maryland. The colonies quickly gathered their assemblies and went back to self-governing. The changes affected the colonies in many different ways: adopting religious freedom and practices; colonies entertained the ideas of free speech and free press, and when they began to see that England was not the powerful, presence in America, the colonies began to gain a sense of their own independence.
Reference
Armitage, S. H., Buhle, M. J., Czitrom, D., & Faragher, J. M. (2009). Out of many: A history of the American people, Vol. I (5th ed.). Upper