governor and two of the Assistants were in favor of granting this request while ten deputies and the rest of the Assistants were opposed, "whereupon no record was entered because there were not six assistants in the vote as the patent required." Undoubtedly, there were numerous controversies which led to the final division, and that, after all, is the important thing.
Establishment of Royal Government
James II, by the appointment of Dudley as Governor, organized the first Royal government of Massachusetts in 1685. Dudley was succeeded the next year by Andros. The Crown gradually took over all colonial governments, both proprietary and charter, except those of Pennsylvania and Maryland on the one hand, and of Rhode Island and Connecticut on the other, though declaring a right to take these as well. From 1684 to 1691 the Massachusetts colony was governed exclusively by these agents of the King, and representative government for the time being ceased to exist.
The Province Charter
In the year 1691 a new charter was granted the colony by William and Mary. This is commonly known as the Province Charter.[1] Strange to say, it was much less liberal in its terms than the original one granted by Charles I, who was supposed to typify despotic power. The new charter, for instance, took away the right of the colonists to elect their governor, and provided that there should be a Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and secretary appointed by the Crown. It also provided that "in the framing and passing of all such orders, laws, statutes and ordinances and in all
- ↑ This may be found in William Macdonald's Documentary Source Book of American History, pp. 84–90.
