Nicolls' Commission

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NICOLLS' COMMISSION

NICOLLS' COMMISSION. In 1664 King Charles II of England determined to seize New Netherland in order to eliminate the Dutch as an economic and political competitor in the region. He also intended to turn over the Dutch colony, once conquered, to his younger brother James Stuart, the duke of York, as a proprietary colony. To accomplish this he sent a military expedition comprised of four warships carrying three hundred soldiers. At the head of this expedition was Colonel Richard Nicolls. In anticipation of success the king also named Nicolls head of a commission of four to visit New England. This commission was to investigate boundary disputes, the state of defenses, laws passed during the Puritan revolution, attitude toward the recently enacted Navigation Acts, and was to report back on the general state of New England. As they moved from place to place, the commissioners were to hear complaints and appeals and to make such decisions as they deemed necessary. Their private instructions were to clear the way for a peaceful transition to English rule and to make it clear that freedom of conscience would be respected. The king also enjoined the commissioners to persuade those colonies to consent to the king's nominating or approving their governors. Although New England received the commissioners respectfully, the local authorities, particularly in Massachusetts, opposed them at every turn. In their final report they listed numerous irregularities occurring in Massachusetts and described a defiant and arrogant attitude that promised little hope of an amicable settlement of a unified and consistent colonial policy in New England.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Rink, Oliver. Holland on the Hudson: An Economic and Social History of Dutch New York. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1986.

Taylor, Alan. American Colonies. New York: Viking, 2001.

FarenSiminoff