Leisler’s Rebellion took place in New York in 1689. New York had only become an English colony in 1664 during the reign of James II. It previously had the name New Amsterdam and was part of the Dutch colony New Netherlands. After the Director-General Peter Stuyvesant surrendered to English troops, the Dutch residents were permitted to remain in the colony and were granted religious freedom. The Dutch briefly regained the colony in 1673, but it became English again under the Treaty of Westminster, which ended the third Anglo-Dutch war. The governor of the colony of New York wasn’t keen to allow an elected representative assembly, instead letting it effectively be ruled by an oligarchy of wealthy merchants. In 1688 New York became a part of the Dominion of New England, governed by Sir Edmond Andros, who governed in an autocratically with no elected legislature.
Amidst growing anti-Catholic sentiment in the colony, the population feared that Lieutenant Governor Nicholson, who was responsible for New York, was a Catholic sympathiser. In addition, King William’s War had broken out in 1688, meaning there was the constant fear of a French attack. Nicholson’s rule was arbitrary and autocratic, treating the colonists like a conquered people, even reportedly saying: “I rather would see the Towne on fire than to be commanded by you” on learning that the militia had taken over. He had passed anti-sedition laws and is said to have refused to recognize King William III and Queen Mary II, who had taken over from James II after the Glorious Revolution had deposed him. On the other hand, Nicholoson was possibly being cautious and awaiting confirmation from the Crown. Problems arose when the merchants were unwilling to pay duties imposed on them to improve the defences of the colony, and it didn’t help matters that some tax collectors were Catholic. The rebellion has often been described as being one of the poor against the wealthy, and although Leisler’s supporters did tend to be lower class artisans rather than well-off merchants this is a rather simplified view of events. It has also been claimed that it was a rebellion of the Dutch against the English, and while it is true that many Dutch immigrants supported Leisler, many New Englanders and Hudson River Valley farmers also supported the rebellion. Leisler, the leader of the rebels, became a wealthy merchant and landowner, marrying a wealthy widow, although he came from a poorer background.
The outbreak of rebellion
The fear of Catholicism, the French, and the recent establishment of the Dominion of New England by King James II, as well as the dominance of English merchants over the economy in New York all fuelled the fires of a rebellion. The British regulars were off fighting the French-Indian forces in Maine after France had declared war in England in November 1688, leaving only the militia to defend the colony. The revolt broke out on May 30th after a dispute between governor Nicholson and one of the militia officers. The whole militia defected to the rebels, electing Leisler as their leader. Jacob Leisler was a merchant of Calvinist German origin, who had arrived in New York when it was still governed by the Dutch and was known as New Amsterdam. He had served as a soldier in the Dutch West India company and was later became a New York militia captain. The governor was forced to surrender the strategic Fort James to the militia, eventually also handing over the keys to the powder magazine. Fort James, which had been built by the Dutch in 1625, was located on Manhattan Island at the confluence of the Hudson River and the East River. Controlling the fort gave the rebels control over the harbour. They seized the southern part of New York colony and held it from 1689 to 1691. This all occurred not long after there had been a revolt in Boston against the unpopular Governor Andros.
Leisler’s regime
The control and support that Leisler had was limited and he was often forced to make use of the militia to intimidate, round up, or drive out opponents. Governor Nicholson fled to England on 10th June. On June 26th, a convention composed of delegates from a number of communities from lower New York and East Jersey established a committee of safety to oversee affairs. Leisler also formed the association of protestants to counter the perceived danger from wealthy catholic merchants who had been appointed to govern by catholic James II. Leisler’s regime became increasingly unpopular for raising taxes to improve defence of the colony, augmenting this resentment by having his opponents arrested. He became increasingly unable to maintain law and order in the colony, especially after the expensive failure of the 1690 Quebec Campaign against the French. In addition to all that, he was unable to keep his own supporters in check.
Leisler’s opponents
Opponents to the rebellion set themselves up in Albany, about 150 miles to the north of New York, and although claimed to also support the newly crowned William and Mary, in whose name Liesler had seized control, they viewed Leisler as an usurper. Despite this, they later appealed to Leisler for help on receiving rumours that the French planned to attack from French Canada after the outbreak of King William’s War, finding themselves unable to agree to the rebels terms, they appealed to other nearby colonies instead. Albany came under the rebels’ control in 1690 after the capture of the settlement of Schenectady, which had exposed the weakness of Albany’s defences.
The Crown’s reaction
At first, the Crown did little, because the rebels didn’t appear to be a threat having declared themselves for William III, who himself had just overthrown James II in England. However, William couldn’t let rebels govern indefinitely, especially after complaints from wealthy English colonists reached his ears, so in 1690 he sent a new governor, Henry Sloughter, accompanied by several hundred soldiers to take over. Unfortunately for Sloughter, his ship was blown off course and his troops, commanded by Colonel Richard Ingoldsby, arrived in January 1691, about two months before he did. Ingoldsby demanded that Leisler step down immediately, but lacked any official documents to enforce this demand. There were minor skirmishes between the newly arrived soldiers and the militia, especially when Leisler’s Dutch supporters, driven by a rumoured Catholic take over, fired on them, killing one and injuring 17 others. Leisler claimed he would be prepared to step down when Sloughter did finally arrived, but wouldn’t give up the fort yet, refusing the soldiers any access to it. A stand-off ensued with the militia occupying the fort and Royal soldiers surrounding it. This tension put the town at risk of attack by the French.
The end of the rebellion
William Kidd, then a privateer captain and resident of New York, and his ship Antigua were recruited to help put down the rebellion, although he didn’t actually need to fire a shot, his mere presence intimidating the rebels in the fort. Leisler was considering surrendering the fort when Governor Sloughter arrived on HMS Archangel. To push him into making a quick decision, the new governor assembled the troops before the fort and sent Kidd and his ship to the rear of the structure. With Kidd at his back, Leisler had little choice but to surrender to the English troops there and then. Leisler together with seven members of his council were arrested and charged with treason. A special court was set up to try them, which was made up of many of Leisler’s opponents. During the trial Leisler maintained he was a loyalist, who had taken control to secure the colony in the name of King William, basing his defence on a letter from the King dated 1689, although it wasn’t directly addressed to him, but rather to Nicholson. Despite his claims, he had ordered his men to open fire on the King’s troops, which didn’t go down too well with the Crown. By the time of his surrender, he had become very unpopular in the town, although there were still those who regarded him as a martyr.
Leisler’s fate
Sloughter would have preferred to await instructions from England before acting, but Leisler’s enemies pushed him to go ahead quickly with the proceedings. He was quickly convicted by a court made up mainly of those he had previously imprisoned. Leisler and his son-in-law Jacob Milborne were convicted on 17th April to be hanged, drawn and quartered, and their estates confiscated. Those who were spared had their property confiscated instead. Some who were involved in the rising, such as militia leaders Abraham De Peyster and Charles Lodewick, were not even charged at all. Unlike the other, Leisler and Milborne had both made the situation worse for themselves by refusing to recognise the legitimacy of the court. They were both hanged on 16th May 1691 after the court refused to send them to England for appeal. It is said their corpses were cut down and decapitated and torn apart by their enemies. Ironically, Parliament overturned the sentence of the New York court and recognized the legitimacy of Leisler’s administration in 1695. In 1702, the New York Assembly approved a payment of £2,700 to his heirs as compensation. Governor Sloughter died of pneumonia in the summer of 1691, although there were those who claimed he was poisoned by Leisler’s supporters. Benjamin Fletcher became the new governor of the colony in 1692 and the control of the Crown and the wealthy merchant elite was once more asserted over the colony. Leisler’s Rebellion was the last of four significant rebellions that took place in the English Colonies during the 17th Century: Bacon’s Rebellion, Virginia (1676–1677); Culpeper’s Rebellion, North Carolina (1677–1678); Coode’s Rebellion, Maryland (1689–1698).