thought representative assemblies are “of dangerous consequence [and]
prove destructive to, or very oft disturbe, the peace of the government,” he
agreed to let New York have one when the settlers on Long Island refused
to pay taxes unless he did. The first assembly of eighteen deputies met in
Manhattan on October 17, 1683, some sixty years after the first assembly in
Virginia, and passed a “constitution,” the Charter of Liberties and
Privileges, which remained in effect until 1686 when, as king, James II
formed the Dominion of New England.
The overthrow of James II and the accession of William and Mary did
not bring happiness to New York. In fact the people of New York did not
hear of the events in England for nearly three months after most of the
other colonies; and then they learned about them only from the insurrec-
tion in Massachusetts. Already agitated by local issues, the various commu-
nities along the Hudson and on Long Island projected their anxiety, anger,
and fear onto the acting governor. In New York, as in the other colonies,
one man took the leadership of discord.
Jacob Leisler was one of the oldest residents in the colony, having come
there as a soldier for the Dutch company in 1660. A German by birth, he
had become a rich merchant with a large following outside the established
Dutch elite. Never an easy man, he thrived on conflict and focused his
anger on the acting governor. With some 500 like-minded men, he seized
the fort to preempt a supposed plot by the governor to burn the town.
(Actually, there was no such plot.) Deserted by the militia, the governor
wisely if not bravely departed for England. Leisler then convoked a popular
assembly that duly proclaimed him “captain of the fort and commander-in-
chief.” With this authority, he declared the colony loyal to the monarchy of
William and Mary and established, as other colonies had, a “Committee of
Public Safety.” The danger, he said, came not so much from within the
colony as from the Indians.
Shortly thereafter, in seeming confirmation of Leisler’s prediction, an
Iroquois band led by Frenchmen wiped out the new village of Schenectady.
So shocking was this event to the settlers that even those who had opposed
Leisler rallied to his side. Unlike Bacon in Virginia, Leisler used his popu-
larity and power to rule New York more wisely and more humanely than
anyone had yet done, solving in his one year in office many of the problems
“Mother England” Loses Touch 141