Bostonians overthrow Dominion governor

On April 18, 1689, Boston militia officers, town leaders, and ordinary citizens arrested Governor Edmund Andros after news of the Glorious Revolution reached Massachusetts. Simon Bradstreet, Increase Mather's allies, and other former Massachusetts Bay leaders reemerged as the old Dominion government collapsed in Boston. The uprising also seized Dominion officials such as Edward Randolph and restored local control over the town and harbor.

The overthrow of Andros answered a specific constitutional grievance in New England: James II had replaced charter government with the Dominion of New England and had enforced the Navigation Acts through appointed officials rather than representative assemblies. Boston merchants, ministers, and magistrates resented Andros for restricting town meetings, challenging land titles, and favoring Anglican worship in Puritan New England. The April 1689 revolt therefore tied the English Revolution of William and Mary directly to New England's defense of charter rights and local institutions.

The Boston revolt destroyed the Dominion of New England and reopened the question of how Massachusetts would be governed under William III and Mary II. The crisis led to the 1691 Massachusetts charter, which restored an elected assembly but replaced the old charter with a royal governor and a more direct imperial constitution.