After his father died in 1674, Edmund Andros acquired
Sausmarez Manor which added to his family's already substantial landholdings in Guernsey that included the fief of Anneville (from 1659) and several other fiefs. He was then appointed as the Bailiff of Guernsey, succeeding his father. This appointment was for life and came with the authority to appoint a lieutenant bailiff, a position he filled with his uncle, Charles Andros,
seigneur of the fief d'Anneville. This allowed Edmund Andros to travel to America. He was appointed by
James, Duke of York, to be the first
Proprietary Governor of the
Province of New York. The province's territory included the former territories of
New Netherland, ceded to England by the
Treaty of Westminster, including all of present-day
New Jersey, the Dutch holdings on the
Hudson River from
New Amsterdam (renamed
New York City) to
Albany, as well as
Long Island,
Martha's Vineyard, and
Nantucket. In 1664, Charles II granted James all of this territory, as well as all of the land in present-day
Maine between the
Kennebec and
St. Croix Rivers, but with the intervening Dutch retaking of the territory, Charles issued a new patent to James. Andros arrived in New York harbor in late October and negotiated the handover of the Dutch territories with local representatives and Dutch Governor
Anthony Colve, which took place on 10 November 1674. Andros agreed to confirm the existing property holdings and allow the territory's Dutch inhabitants to maintain their Protestant religion.
Connecticut boundary dispute Andros was also involved in boundary disputes with the neighboring
Connecticut Colony. Dutch claims had initially extended as far east as the
Connecticut River, but these claims had been ceded in the 1650
Treaty of Hartford and reduced to a boundary line east of the Hudson in 1664. York's territorial claim did not acknowledge these, and Andros announced to Connecticut authorities his intentions to reclaim that territory (which included Connecticut's capital,
Hartford) in early 1675. Connecticut leaders pointed out the later revisions to Connecticut's boundaries, but Andros pressed his claim, arguing that York's grant had superseded those revisions. Andros used the outbreak of
King Philip's War in July 1675 as an excuse to go by ship to Connecticut with a small military force to establish the duke's claim. When he arrived at
Saybrook at the mouth of the river on 8 July, he found the fort there occupied by Connecticut militia, who were flying the English flag. Andros came ashore, had a brief conversation with the fort commander, read his commission, and returned to New York City. This was the full extent of Andros's attempt to claim the territory, but it would be remembered in Connecticut when later attempts were made to assert New York authority.
King Philip's War Following his Connecticut expedition, Andros traveled into
Iroquois country to establish relations. He was well received and agreed to continue the Dutch practice of supplying firearms to the Iroquois. This action successfully blunted French diplomatic successes with the Iroquois. It also led to charges in New England that Andros provided arms to Indians allied to King Philip (as the
Wampanoag leader
Metacom was known to the English); in fact, Andros provided gunpowder to
Rhode Island that was used in the
Great Swamp Fight against the
Narragansetts in December 1675, and specifically outlawed the sale of munitions to tribes known to be allied to Philip. The charges poisoned the atmosphere between Andros and Massachusetts leaders, even though Andros's conduct met with approval in London. drawn by
Paul Revere In the meeting with the Iroquois, Andros was given the name
Corlaer, a name historically used by the Iroquois to refer to the Dutch governor in New Netherland and continued when the English took over the colony and renamed it New York (in the same way the French governor was dubbed
Onontio). One other consequence was the establishment at Albany of a colonial department for Indian affairs, with
Robert Livingston as its first head. Philip was known to be in the
Berkshires in western Massachusetts that winter and New Englanders accused Andros of sheltering him. Historian
John Fiske suggests that Philip's purpose was not to draw the Iroquois into the conflict but instead to draw the
Mahicans into the conflict to attack Albany. An offer by Andros to send New York troops into Massachusetts to attack Philip was rebuffed based on the idea that it was a covert ploy to assert authority over the Connecticut River again. Instead, Mohawks from the Albany area did battle with Philip, driving him eastward. When Connecticut authorities later appealed to Andros for assistance, Andros replied that it was "strange" that they would do so, considering their previous behavior, and refused to help. In July 1676, Andros established a haven for the Mahicans and other Indian war refugees at
Schaghticoke. Although the conflict came to an end in southern New England in 1676, there continued to be friction between the
Abenakis of northern New England and New England settlers. These prompted Andros to send a force to the duke's territory in Maine, where they established a fort at Pemaquid (present-day
Bristol). Andros annoyed Massachusetts fishermen by restricting their use of the duke's land for drying fish. In November 1677, Andros departed for England, where he would spend the following year. During this visit, he was knighted as a reward for his performance as governor, and he sat in on meetings of the
Lords of Trade in which agents for Massachusetts Bay defended its charter, and gave detailed accounts of the state of his colony.
Southern border disputes The southernmost territories of the duke, roughly encompassing northern
Delaware, were desired by
Charles Calvert, Baron Baltimore, who sought to extend the reach of his proprietary
Province of Maryland into the area. At the same time, Calvert was seeking an end to a frontier war with the Iroquois to the north, having persuaded the intervening
Susquehannocks to move to the
Potomac River, well within Maryland territory. Furthermore, the
Lenape, who dominated
Delaware Bay, were unhappy with seizures of their lands by Virginia and Maryland settlers, and war between these groups had been imminent in 1673 when the Dutch
retook New York. When Andros came to New York, he moved to stabilize the situation. He befriended the Lenape
sachems (chiefs), convincing them to act as mediators between the English and other tribes. Peace appeared to be imminent when
Bacon's Rebellion broke out in Virginia, resulting in an attack on the Susquehannock fort on the Potomac. The surviving Susquehannocks sneaked out of the fort one night, some making their way east toward Delaware Bay. In June 1676, Andros offered, in exchange for their moving into his jurisdiction, to protect them from their enemies among the
Virginian and
Maryland settlers. He also extended an offer given by the Mohawk for the Susquehannocks to settle among them. These offers were well received, but Maryland authorities could not convince their Indian allies to accept Andros's offered peace terms, organizing them to march toward the Delaware to fulfill the goal of strengthening the Maryland claim to the area. Andros responded by urging the Susquehannocks to retreat into New York, where they would be beyond Maryland's reach, and delivering a strongly worded threat to Maryland, that it would either have to acknowledge his sovereignty over the Susquehannocks, or they would have to take them back peaceably. He also offered his services as a mediator, pointing out that the absence of the Susquehannocks now left Maryland settlements open to direct attack by the Iroquois. In a council held at the Lenape village of
Shackamaxon (site of present-day
Philadelphia) in February and March 1677, all of the major parties met; still, no final agreements were reached, and Andros ordered the Susquehannocks remaining with the Lenape to disperse to other parts of New York in April. Maryland sent Henry Coursey to New York to engage Andros and eventually the Iroquois in peace talks, while at the same time, they sent surveyors to lay out plots on land also claimed by New York on Delaware Bay. Coursey was instructed to offer Andros what was, in essence, a £100 bribe that an Indian peace might be reached in exchange for that land. Andros refused the bribe, and Coursey ended up being compelled to negotiate further through Andros and the Mohawk in Albany. The peace agreed upon in negotiations that followed in Albany in the summer of 1677 is considered one of the foundations of the set of alliances and treaties called the
Covenant Chain. Although Andros could not prevent Baltimore from granting some land on the Delaware, he successfully blunted the Maryland leader's attempt to control an even greater portion of land. The duke eventually deeded those lands to William Penn, and they became part of the state of
Delaware.
Control of the Jerseys , proprietor of East Jersey The governance of the Jerseys also created problems for Andros. James had awarded the territory west of the Hudson River to proprietors
John Berkeley and
George Carteret, and Berkeley had then deeded the western portion (which became known as
West Jersey) to a partnership of
Quakers. Berkeley had not transferred his proprietary rights to this group, and the exact nature of the rights James had given both Berkeley and Carteret was disputed, in part, because James believed that the second patent granted to him in 1674 overrode the earlier grants he had made to Berkeley and Carteret. This resulted in conflict when Andros attempted to extend his government over
East Jersey, the territory governed on behalf of Carteret by the latter's cousin
Philip. Possibly based on orders given to him during his visit to England, Andros began to assert New York authority over East Jersey after George Carteret's death in 1680. Despite a friendly personal relationship between Andros and Governor Carteret, the governance issue eventually prompted Andros to have Carteret arrested. In a dispute centering on the collection of customs duties in ports on the Jersey side of the Hudson, Andros, in 1680, sent a company of soldiers to Philip Carteret's home in
Elizabethtown. According to Carteret's account of the incident, he was beaten by the troops, who jailed him in New York. A jury acquitted Carteret on all charges in a trial over which Andros presided. Carteret returned to New Jersey, but injuries he sustained in the arrest affected his health, and he died in 1682. In the aftermath of the incident, the Duke of York surrendered his claims to East Jersey to the Carterets. Andros acquired in 1683, from the widow of Carteret, for £200, the Patent to the Lordship of
Alderney. A less contentious standoff also occurred when settlers sent by
William Penn sought to establish what is now
Burlington, New Jersey. Andros insisted they had no right to settle there without the duke's permission. Still, he agreed to allow their settlement after they agreed to receive commissions falling under the authority of the New York gubernatorial administration. This situation was permanently resolved in 1680 when York renounced in favor of Penn his remaining claims to West Jersey.
Recall and analysis The political opponents of Andros in the colony brought several charges against him to the Duke of York. Among them were accusations of favoritism toward Dutch business owners and engaging in business for private gain rather than that of the duke. Statements were also made to the duke that claimed that his revenues were lower than they should have been; this, in addition to the other complaints, led the duke to order Andros back to England to explain the situation. Andros left the province in January 1681, charging
Anthony Brockholls with the administration of the New York government. Expecting a short visit to England, his wife remained in New York. During his time in New York, he was thought to have demonstrated good administrative abilities. Still, his manner was considered imperious by his opponents among the colonists, and he made numerous enemies during his tenure as governor. ==Dominion of New England==