When the Restoration happened, Barbados requested to be made a crown colony, thinking its rights would be better protected. In return for giving up his proprietary rights, Willoughby was made Barbados’s first royal governor. Suddenly, Barbadians were faced with the first real imposition to their self-government in well over a decade, and the conflict frustrated Read more about Barbados in the Restoration[…]
Charles II kept a stronger Parliament within England than his father could have imagined, and he expanded the Navigation Acts, kept the policy of transportation, and pushed the slave trade. When news of the new king’s planned policies reached Virginia, Berkeley rushed to ask that they be revoked or modified to avoid crushing his colony. Read more about Restoration 4: Meet the new boss[…]
A political fight in Maryland highlights the colony’s new state of affairs – Lord Baltimore may own the colony, but he has virtually no power there. Support this podcast on Patreon Buy me a Coffee for one-time donations Transcript After Cromwell’s death, Puritans made one last significant attempt to assert control over Maryland, and the Read more about Restoration 3: Fendall’s Rebellion[…]
After the Restoration prompted a bloody revolt by Thomas Venner’s Fifth Monarchist group in London, Charles II cast a wary eye on New England. Meanwhile, regicides Whalley and Goffe had escaped punishment in England to make their home in Massachusetts. The fallout would lead to the end of New Haven as a colony. Patreon BuyMeACoffee Read more about Restoration 2: hopes of paradise lost[…]
Overview A quick recap of everything that’s changed in America during the period of the English Civil Wars and Interregnum/Commonwealth, as well as problems colonists are facing going into the reign of King Charles II. By the way, I’ve got a patreon (for ongoing support) and Buy Me a Coffee (easier for one-time donations) now, Read more about Restoration 1: America in 1660[…]
In the final episode of our English Civil War series, we discuss the Restoration. After Cromwell died, there was chaos that could have erupted in yet another round of war. Instead, though, the return of Charles II to the throne of England occurred without bloodshed, which only intensified the excitement over his return. With the Read more about ECW 32: The Restoration[…]
While New England’s comfort generally increased in the Cromwell years, Rhode Island suffered from a lagging economy, political divisions and even issues with religious dissidents who worked to destabilize the already unstable colony. Plymouth’s prosperity also waned as trade came to dominate the New England economy. And in the United Colonies, the issue of infant Read more about ECW 31: Frustrations in Rhode Island[…]
Cromwell decides in favor of Baltimore’s proprietorship in Maryland, Virginia works to subvert English puritan leadership and reinstall a royalist government, Bermuda has its first slave revolt, and Barbados foreshadows Revolutionary War sentiments by opposing taxation without representation. Full Text While Independent Puritans tried to process and understand the course their revolution was taking, Royalists Read more about ECW 30: How long is this Cromwell thing going to last, anyway?[…]
The Western Design was England’s disastrous attempt to conquer Spanish America, starting with Hispaniola, Cuba, Puerto Rico and Cartagena. Instead, after an unspeakably bad defeat in Hispaniola, they ended up with Jamaica. Jamaica quickly became England’s bloodiest colony, and much of that blood came from Irish victims of transportation. It was a disaster, though, which Read more about ECW 29: The Western Design – Conquering Jamaica[…]
The Quaker movement had its origins in the deepest radicalism of Interregnum England. Characterized by the most extreme of religious and political thought, combined with outlandish and belligerent behavior, they were soon the most feared group in the English speaking world. This fear led to persecution which was even intense by the standards of the Read more about ECW 28: Mary Dyer and the earliest Quakers[…]