What was the glorious revolution in Massachusetts?
When news of the accession of William III and Queen Mary to the British throne in 1689—the so called Glorious Revolution—reached America, it was welcomed as a release from James’s arbitrary power, not just in England, but in the empire as well. The people of Massachusetts, hoping to reinstate their original charter, imprisoned Governor Andros and his close supporters. Rhode Island and Connecticut followed suit. In New York, Jacob Leisler, a merchant of German origin, led a rebellious group that brought down James’s local government. Leisler’s rebels carried on precariously under strong protest, hoping the new king would accept their rebellion. Led by John Coode, Maryland Protestants toppled the Catholic proprietary and begged King William to absorb Maryland as a royal colony. Throughout, these rebellions were both a struggle for equal rights and violent attempts to exploit England’s constitutional and religious crisis for colonial purposes.
