1688-1740: Skrælige, Massachusetts Bay

Dominion of New England: 1688-89

As of 1688, Skrælige was now administered as part of the Dominion of New England. Trade restrictions with other colonies and European powers had been enacted for some time, but enforcement stepped up dramatically. Agricultural taxation increased, and scrutiny of land records led to confiscation by English authorities. These factors led to a great deal of unrest in Skrælige - no open rioting occurred, but local authorities frequently stonewalled and resisted enforcement actions.

The start of the Dominion's fall began later that year with the Glorious Revolution in England, where William of Orange was invited to invade England to depose King James II (& VII) and become King William III (& II). News of the revolution reached some individuals in New England by late March 1689, and an organized mob revolted against the Dominion on the 18th of April, 1689. Governor Edmund Andros and other officials were arrested by the mob, which led to the de facto end of the Dominion. The New England colonies seized control and reverted to their previous governments.

Revolt spread to New York, where Jacob Leisler led a rebellion in May, forcing Lt. Governor Francis Nicholson to flee to England. With both the governor and lieutenant governors out of power, the Skræligen Þing declared all of Skrælige to be an independent colony under the English crown on the 3rd of July, 1689.

Independent Colony of Skrælige: 1689-92

King William III was busy in Europe due to the Nine Years' War, and so there was no immediate English reaction. While Skrælige still declared itself subject to the King, the declaration of independence from New York was done without permission of the crown, so the legality of the move was questionable. The Þing chose to elect a governor for the first time in its history, selecting Nikolai Ragnarsson*. Confiscated land was returned, trade restrictions removed, and laws were essentially reset to what they were 1688.

The independent government would remain in effect through 1691, when Governor Henry Sloughter was appointed to rule New York, and put down Leisler's Rebellion. At this point it was only a matter of time until English authority was reasserted. Then on the 7th of October, 1691, a new charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay was issued, combining the colonies of Massachusetts Bay & Plymouth, along with islands south of Cape Cod (including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket), the Skrælig Islands, and the present day territories of Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia (the last three heavily contested by New France). William Phips was appointed governor, and when he arrived in 1692, he ordered the exile of Governor Ragnarsson. This was a generous offer, considering that Jacob Leisler had been executed for his rebellion (a punishment which Phips found abhorrent), and so Ragnarsson and some of his loyalists escaped to Acadia.

Province of Massachusetts Bay

King William's War (1688-97)

During the autonomous Skræligen period and the beginning of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the Nine Years' War broke out in Europe between France and the Grand Alliance - basically every other major European power. This manifested in North America as King William's War, where war broke out between New France and the New England colonies. The Iroquois Confederacy was allied with the English, and had been in conflict with the French over the fur trade. The Wabanaki Confederacy was allied with the French to help fight off the encroaching English settlers.

This indirect conflict became direct in April 1688, when Governor Andros of New England plundered the home and village of Jean-Vincent d'Abbadie de Saint-Castin, a French officer and Abenaki chief, on Penobscot Bay to the northeast of Skrælige. In retaliation, Castin and the Wabanki Confederacy began raids along the border of New England and Acadia - while claims overlapped, in practice the border area was just to the north of Skrælige. This fighting escalated in 1689 with English raids on Acadia and further French & Abenaki raids on Maine. This led to the second razing of Northney in late August.

Attacks continued back and forth, including the Battle of Falmouth (present day Portland, ME) in 1690, leaving Maine nearly completely depopulated of English settlers, and the Battle of Port Royal (the capital of Acadia) later that year. Skrælige attempted to remain neutral throughout the conflict, but was brought into the fray once it was merged into Massachusetts Bay in 1691. Combined French and Abenaki forces (mostly from the continent) attacked and burned down Egilstead in February of 1692, and they continued down to Abenakiborough. After some fighting the fort still stood, but many villagers had been killed or captured, and the casualty count on the French & Abenaki side was high. The Skræligens did not have sufficient strength in their militia to launch any counteroffensives, but defenses were improved enough to ward off future raids.

After a few years of an uneasy ceasefire on Skrælige, and continued fighting on the continent, the war in both Europe and North America came to a close with the Peace of Ryswick in 1697, declaring status quo ante bellum. Egilstead was rebuilt with a fort in 1697, and Northney was rebuilt (again) in 1698. The peace would barely last five years though, when a new conflict broke out in both Europe and North America...

Queen Anne's War (1702-13)

One question had been looming over Europe for the past decades - who is going to inherit the Spanish throne and its territories? King Charles II of Spain was in ill health throughout his life (possibly due to the high level of Hapsburg inbreeding), and lived for longer than most anticipated. Still, he died without children on the 1st of November, 1700, and the fight over his territories turned into the War of the Spanish Succession in July 1691.

The English and French wanted to keep their North American colonies neutral, but they had their own grievances with each other. The English population greatly outnumbered the French, and continued growth pushed them to encroach of Abenaki territory as well. The Peace of Ryswick hadn't actually dealt with anyone's conflicts with each other, and so the war spread to North America as Queen Anne's War.

As in the last war, the French encouraged many Native Americans to launch raids against the English colonies, including an infamous one on Deerfield, MA in 1704. Many settlers were captured as slaves, both for ransom and adoption into Mohawk families. These events shocked the English settlers, even if they were expected by some due to the war. The English settlers attempted to raid native settlements in revenge, but usually found them empty on arrival.

After three years of sporadic skirmishes and truces, the Massachusetts Bay government issued an ultimatum to the Abenaki on Skrælige: assimilate and recognize our sovereignty, leave the islands, or face capture or death. Most Abenaki chose to stay put - at this point, most of those who had any intention of assimilating into Skrælige had already done so. And so, a Massachusetts militia marched up the shores of the Siguan River towards the main Abenaki settlement north of Egilstead on the 14th of March, 1708. A bloody battle ensued, with high casualties on both sides. At the end of the day though, the Massachusetts forces had destroyed most of the village and forced the survivors to flee into the surrounding woods.

The forces established a new fort and settlement, named Bradstreet for the former governor. Some Abenaki continued to live up in the mountains and occasionally come into conflict with the Skræligens, but the loss of their main village was devastating. Many fled across Casco Bay to the continent, and the Abenaki would never recover from the disaster.

Queen Anne's War continued into 1712, and the peace was finalized in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. After capturing the southern portion of Acadia (renamed Nova Scotia), Britain was awarded Acadia, Hudson Bay, and Newfoundland. (France contested the specifics of the agreement, interpreting that Britain was only given the lower Acadian peninsula. They de facto retained control of the northern portion, modern day New Brunswick.) This treaty completely ignored any of the Native Americans, so Governor Dudley of Massachusetts Bay & New Hampshire (at this time they were separate colonies, but had the same governor) signed the Treaty of Portsmouth with the Eastern Abenakis on July 13th of 1713. One common underhanded "tactic" of British treaties at the time (and in much of their colonial history) was to hide some of the most disagreeable parts in just the English version. This treaty was no different, as the English version had the Abenaki ceding their sovereignty to the British Crown. However, the Abenaki later argued that this was not in the verbal translations given at the time. At any rate, the British failed to fulfill their obligations in the treaty (such as setting up official trading posts), and conflict would continue throughout the following decades, including Dummer's War from 1722-25.

New Buildings

Skrælige continued to grow in population during all this time, both in natural growth and immigration. While growth in Skrælingborough and the surrounding area was not as substantial as in Boston, for example, it was growing faster than at any point in its history. Combined with a more hands-on government, several new buildings and services were added.

Expansion of Skrælige

Census of 1740

The Þing commissioned another census in 1740 for the Skrælig Islands. Massachusetts as a whole was resistant to taking a census due to suspicion of British authorities, but Governor Jonathan Belcher (appointed by the Crown) was happy to allow a census of the islands. Massachusetts itself would not conduct a census until 1764.

Author's Notes