Edmund Andros

Overview

Edmund Andros was an English noble who played a key role in American History by serving as the Governor of New York, the Dominion of New England, and Virginia at various times during the Colonial Era. Andros played an important role in easing tensions with Native American Indians and helped establish the Covenant Chain with the Iroquois Confederacy. However, he also earned a reputation for oppression and was overthrown during the Boston Revolt in 1689.

Personal Facts

• Born: December 6, 1637, on the Island of Guernsey in the English Channel.
• Parents: Amice Andros and Elizabeth Stone.
• Died: February 24, 1714, London, England.
• Buried: St. Anne’s Church, London.

Biography

Sir Edmund Andros is best known to American History as a colonial Governor, having served first as the Duke’s appointee in New York, then as Royal Governor of the consolidated northern colonies, known as the Dominion of New England, and finally as the Governor of Virginia. 

His military training and experience made him a valuable leader during a time when the defense of the colonies was one of England’s main concerns. However, his aristocratic background made him arrogant and gave him a sense of superiority, which often created friction with the colonists whom he looked down on.

• Andros held governorships in New York, the Dominion of New England, and Virginia.
• He worked to increase Crown control over the colonies and the English Empire.
• Andros was frequently opposed by colonists who saw his governance as self-serving and harmful to their interests.

Early Administrative and Military Experience

Andros was born in December 1637 on the island of Guernsey in the English Channel, but very little is known about his early life and education. He was the son of  Amice Andros and Elizabeth Stone, who belonged to the feudal aristocratic class of Guernsey, where the family held various positions of authority. Upon his father’s death in 1674, he became Bailiff of Guernsey and Lord of the Seigneurie of Sausmarez. A few years later, he added the island of Alderney to his estates.

• Guernsey — The second largest of the Channel Islands, which are located in the English Channel, off the coast of France.
• Seigneurie of Sausmarez — A manor on the island of Guernsey, which was controlled by the Andros family for more than 200 years.
• Alderney — An island on the north end of the Channel Islands.

Before 1675, Andros gained experience holding offices on Guernsey and serving as an officer in colonial regiments. He started his military career during the Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667). He served as a Major in Sir Tobias Bridge’s regiment of foot, which was sent to the West Indies in 1666 to protect the islands against the Dutch.

• Second Anglo-Dutch War (1665–1667) — Fought between England and the Dutch Republic over trade disputes. During the conflict, English forces were able to capture New Netherland, the main Dutch colony in North America, including New Amsterdam (New York City). This was significant because it expanded British resources in North America and added an established port city.
• Sir Tobias Bridge — Bridge fought in the English Civil Wars, serving under Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector. Following the Stuart Restoration, he served King Charles II.
• West Indies — Caribbean islands that were central to European colonial expansion starting in the 16th Century. They were important because of the production of sugar, tobacco, and other cash crops, which relied heavily on enslaved African labor. They were essential to the Triangular Trade System.

With the help of William Craven, the 1st Earl of Craven, and a relative of his wife, Andros was made landgrave in Carolina in 1672 under the Fundamental Constitutions. He received four baronies and an estate of about 48,000 acres of land, but he appears to have shown no further interest in the colony. 

• William Craven (1608–1697) — An English nobleman and soldier. He was one of the Lords Proprietors of Carolina and a recipient of the charter.
• Landgrave — A nobleman with jurisdiction over a territory.
• Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina — A set of governing guidelines drafted in 1669 by Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, with input from John Locke, for the Province of Carolina. These constitutions intended to establish a hierarchical, feudal-style society by creating titles of nobility, defining land ownership, and outlining a structured government system. They were never fully implemented in the colony.

Governor of New York

Andros was a friend of James, the Duke of York, and the brother of King Charles II. Following the Stuart Restoration, Charles granted his brother territory in America that included the Dutch colony of New Netherland. The Dutch surrendered the colony, which was firmly under English control by 1674. Afterward, Andros was appointed Governor of the Province of New York on July 1, 1674, and Captain of a company of 100 soldiers. 

During his tenure in New York, the colony was faced with threats from the French and their Native American Indian allies. Andros helped form the Covenant Chain, an alliance between the English and the Iroquois Confederation.

• Iroquois Confederacy — The Iroquois Confederacy — or the Haudenosaunee Confederacy — was a league made up of six distinct Native American Indian nations that spoke the same language. The Confederacy is most well-known for its role in the Fur Trade and the major wars that shaped the American Colonies.
• Covenant Chain — A treaty, represented by a wampum belt, that allied the Iroquois Confederacy with the English Colonies in North America.

Some significant events took place in Colonial America while Andros was Governor of New York, including King Philip’s War (1675–1678) in New England and Bacon’s Rebellion (1676–1677) in Virginia.

Andros showed his skill as a politician, effectively handling the main problems of government — defense, boundary disputes with Connecticut, and post-war political issues. However, he gained a reputation among the people of New York for governing in a self-serving fashion.

• He governed along with his Governor’s Council, but its members relied on privileges he granted them.
• Andros often arrested Dutch and English political leaders who opposed his policies. He also seized their property.

Andros tried to extend his control to East Jersey, which was governed by Philip Carteret. Andros wanted to enforce the collection of customs duties on the Jersey side of the Hudson River, but Carteret resisted. Andros went so far as to have Carteret arrested and tried in New York and warned him not to resume control of the colony. Carteret was acquitted of the charges against him and returned to East Jersey.

Eventually, discrepancies in his financial reports led the Duke of York to send over a special commission to investigate his administration. Andros returned to England, where he was cleared of the accusations against him.

• Andros was knighted around 1681.
• He was made a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to the King in 1683
• In 1685, Andros was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the Princess of Denmark’s Regiment of Horse, under the command of the Earl of Scarsdale.

Governor of the Dominion of New England

Meanwhile, James, the Duke of York, had succeeded his brother on the throne and become King James II. While James had his own agenda, he continued with a policy his brother had been trying to implement: consolidating the New England Colonies into one Royal Colony. This was done for three reasons:

1. To gain tighter control of Massachusetts Bay, which continued to resist Crown control. King Charles II revoked the Massachusetts charter in October 1684 due to violations of his orders.
2. To improve the defenses of the New England Colonies.
3. To increase the revenue collected from the New England Colonies through enforcement of the Navigation Acts.

By this time, France and England both sought control of the Fur Trade in North America, especially with the Iroquois Confederacy, who dominated the New York frontier. While both nations were reluctant to go to war, English officials believed a unified New England was in a better position to defend the region than separate colonies. 

In 1686, the Dominion of New England was established with the following territories:

• Massachusetts Bay.
• Maine, which was once the property of the Massachusetts Bay Company.
• New Hampshire, a Royal Province.
• Plymouth, which was an independent colony without a charter.
• A portion of Rhode Island that was known as the “King’s Province” or the “old Narragansett Country.”

The Dominion was initially governed by Joseph Dudley, a Massachusetts native who was named President of the Council of New England. However, this was only temporary. King James II wanted someone in charge with military experience and the ability to defend the region against French aggression. He settled on Andros, who had recently led cavalry forces against English rebels during Monmouth’s Rebellion. Andros was appointed to replace Dudley in June 1686, and he arrived in Boston on December 20, 1686, on board the Rose, which also carried a company of British troops.

• Joseph Dudley (1647–1720) — A colonial administrator and native of Roxbury, Massachusetts. He served several terms as Governor of Massachusetts.
• Monmouth’s Rebellion (1685) — An unsuccessful uprising in England led by James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, against King James II. Monmouth was the illegitimate son of King Charles II and a Protestant. He sought to remove James, a Catholic, take the throne, and restore the Protestant line of succession.

In the meantime, Rhode Island and Connecticut were added to the Dominion on September 9, 1686. These two New England Colonies were initially excluded due to issues with their charters. However, English officials found ways to circumvent the charters, and both colonies agreed to their inclusion.

• Andros famously tried to seize the Connecticut charter, which was hidden from him in an old oak tree. The tree became known as the “Charter Oak” and stood until 1856 when it was blown down in a windstorm.

In a typical colonial government, there was a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Governor’s Council, and General Assembly. With the elimination of the charters for the seven colonies in the Dominion, a new government was established, and the General Assemblies were eliminated.

The Dominion was effectively controlled by the Governor-General, Lieutenant Governor, and a Governor’s Council, which included appointees from each colony. Crown control was assured because each of these was appointed by the King.

The Dominion’s government was given the authority to levy taxes on the colonists to pay for the defense of the region. However, Andros also used taxes to pay his £1,200 salary and those of his officials. This was done against the advice of his council and contributed to a backlash against Andros and his Lieutenant Governor, Francis Nicholson.

The taxes were met with outrage, especially from those who supported the old charters and the legal system that was established by the English Constitution. This led to a protest in Ipswich, Massachusetts, in August 1687. Andros responded by arresting the leaders, placing heavy fines on them, and seizing their property.

• Ipswich Revolt (1687) — In August, colonists living in Ipswitch and surrounding towns gathered and resolved that “no taxes should be Levied upon the Subjects without consent of the Assembly chosen by the Freeholders.” Soon after, the leaders of the movement, including Reverend John Wise, were arrested and imprisoned in Boston.
• Francis Nicholson (1655–1728) — Nicholson was a colonial administrator who came to America with Andros in 1686 as one of his soldiers. He served as Deputy Governor of the Dominion of New England, was involved in Leisler’s Rebellion in New York, and later served separate terms as the governor of Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina.

Uprisings like this led English officials to abandon a plan to create a second Dominion, which would have included New York, East Jersey, West Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. However, the French and Indians continued to harass the New York frontier, so the Board of Trade added New York and the Jerseys to the Dominion in 1688.

• East and West Jersey — The two Jerseys were combined in 1702.

In response to the frontier raids, Andros led troops in several raids against French outposts, including an attack on St. Castin’s Trading House at present-day Castine, Maine, in April 1688. This was one of the early engagements that took place during King William’s War (1688–1697).

When Andros first took control of the Dominion, merchants and large landowners supported him because they expected him to implement policies that would help them thrive. However, Andros was loyal to the Crown and enforced the Navigation Acts. This led many of the merchants and landowners to turn against him. Andros also opposed land speculation, which was popular in America, and favored the English system of hereditary landholding.

• Andros strictly enforced the Navigation Acts, angering New England merchants.
• He challenged the legitimacy of land titles issued under old colonial charters.

In Massachusetts, Andros clashed with the Puritans over governance and religion. Due to Andros’s unpopular policies, the Puritans posed a greater threat to Andros than the French.

• To reduce Puritan influence, Andros replaced Puritan officials with people loyal to him.
• He limited town meetings to one session per year.
• Andros prohibited towns from using tax money to pay ministers’ salaries.
• He forced Boston to give one of its Puritan churches to the Anglican Church.

The loss of support from merchants and landowners contributed to the development of a plot to remove Andros from office and undermine the Dominion. Cotton Mather, Increase Mather, and other Puritan leaders are believed to have driven this scheme.

However, events in England led to the English Civil War, which culminated in the Glorious Revolution. King James II abandoned the throne, and Parliament replaced him with King William and Queen Mary, who agreed to implement the English Bill of Rights.

When the news reached America, the citizens of Boston revolted. Andros was arrested and removed from office. The Dominion was abolished, and each of the colonies restored their respective charters. Massachusetts also regained control of New Hampshire and Maine. The Boston Revolt was accompanied by Leisler’s Rebellion in New York and Coode’s Rebellion in Maryland.

Andros was eventually sent back to England. In April 1690, he was cleared of charges brought against him by leaders of Massachusetts.

Governor of Virginia

King William III and Queen Mary II appointed Andros as Captain General and Governor of Virginia in 1692. He sailed to Virginia and arrived on September 13, 1692, where he resided in Middle Plantation — present-day Williamsburg. 

In Virginia, Andros clashed with some members of the House of Burgesses, but more prominently with Commissary James Blair, an Anglican minister. Blair complained to London that Andros did not do enough to support the Anglican Church or the colony’s new college, William and Mary.

• Andros also clashed with members of the House of Burgesses.
• In 1697, he was accused of abusing his power.
• Facing recall, Andros resigned and returned to London.

Later Years and Death

In 1704, he was made Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey and continued in his role as Bailiff. Some of the judges on the island protested this appointment, arguing that giving Andros the “whole power” over the island was an “infringement of their Rights.”

Two years later, in 1706, Andros retired from office and moved to London, where he died in February 1714.

Accomplishments and Timeline

• 1637, December 6 — Edmund Andros was born.
• 1675 — Andros was appointed Governor of New York by James Stuart, the Duke of York.
• 1677 — He formed an alliance with the Iroquois Confederation, which is considered the beginning of the Covenant Chain.
• 1685 — Andros was named Governor-General of the Dominion of New England under King James II.
• 1687 — He put down the Ipswich Revolt by arresting its leaders.
• 1689 — Andros was overthrown and arrested in the Boston Revolt.
• 1692 — He was appointed Governor of Virginia by King William III.
• 1697 — Andros resigned as Virginia governor after accusations of abuse of power.
• 1704 — He was named Lieutenant-Governor of the Island of Guernsey.
• 1706 — Andros retired from public service.
• 1714, February 24 — He died in London.