Semiquincentennial

Originally settled by Puritans seeking to escape religious persecution in England under King Charles I the Massachusetts Bay colony was established so that they could be self-governed and freely practice their faith.

Charles issued a royal decree in1629 providing a unique charter allowing for the transfer of governing authority from England to the largely Puritan colony.  Unlike other colonial charters this one did not contain a clause requiring the the company to remain part of England.  This key omission allowed for Puritan founders, led by John Winthrop, to establish a New World governing structure.  Because the founders were Puritans the colonists sought to establish a theocratic government where only church members could settle.  This unique constitutional framework was a key step in the evolution of American democracy.  

Consequently, the Massachusetts Bay Colony operated with a broad degree of autonomy.  They openly traded with merchants from foreign countries, minted coinage with a pine tree design in lieu of the king's image, passed their own laws inconsistent with English civil and religious law including courts unanswerable to English courts.  Lastly, the colonists were openly intolerant of non-Puritans and created laws that discriminated against members of the Church of England.  Naturally, this uppity independent attitude and defiance of British rule strained relations with England and the crown became grumpy.  

In 1686, King James II revoked the original charter replacing self-governance with royal government.  The Massachusetts Bay Colony was merged with the Plymouth, New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and Jersey colonies into a single royal colony - the Dominion of New England.  King James appointed Sir Edmund Andros as royal governor to lord over the citizenry with an authoritarian hand.  

Town meetings and colonial assemblies were declared unlawful, family land titles were vacated and declared invalid, trade with other nations was forbidden, dissent became a treasonous offense and as a zealous Anglican Governor Andros' doom was likely sealed when he forced the Puritans to host Episcopalian services in their Old South Meeting House on Good Friday.  

After more than a half century of independence and self-rule the colonists were now grumpy.

Fortuitously, a revolt in 1688 replaced James II with William and Mary and when news eventually crossed the Atlantic the Boston Colonists took up arms and revolted in April 1689.  Militias from neighboring towns streamed into the city.  They arrested the captain of the British frigate The Rose anchored in Boston harbor and two thousand Massachusetts militia marched on Andros' garrison of redcoats.  Outnumbered he had no choice but to surrender.  Bostonians promptly restored their former government and after almost a year in prison Andros and other royal officials were exiled to England.

While the revolt led to the end of the Dominion of New England it did not lead to the restoration of the original charter.  The new English monarchs - William and Mary - issued a new charter in 1691 merging Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies into the royal Province of Massachusetts Bay, appointed a royal governor and required religious tolerance.

It would be another 85 years before independence would arrive; nevertheless, the seeds of revolution had been sown.