Paul Spring
November 21st, 2005, 08:47 PM
I've been pretty inactive for a couple of weeks - things have been pretty busy at times and I've been a bit lazy at other times, but I started work on a new timeline -
HISTORY OF THE GREAT AMERICAN COMMONWEALTH
1620 – English separatist Calvinists establish a settlement at Plymouth
1630 – English Puritan Calvinists establish settlements at Charles Town and Boston, form Massachusetts Bay Colony
1630s – Growth of Massachusetts Bay Colony as a result of groups of English Puritans migrating across the Atlantic to found new communities that they hope will be more “Godly” than those of the England that they left behind
1637 – Pequod Indians defeated by English colonists and their Indian allies, and cease to exist as a major native nation.
1642 – Rising tensions between King Charles I of England and Scotland and the English Parliament (especially the Puritan-dominated Commons) result in the outbreak of open hostilities. Charles leaves London and goes north to raise a loyal army and rally support, while Parliament raises forces in southern and eastern England. Parliament’s forces do not do very well in early skirmishes, especially the cavalry. At the Battle of Edgehill the King’s forces smash the main Parliamentary army, and then march east toward London, which they capture after fierce fighting against city militia and remnants of the Parliamentary forces. Scattered Parliamentary forces fight until early 1643, but there will be no more large battles.
1642 – 43 The “Exodus from Bondage” – tens of thousands of English supporters of Parliament, mostly Calvinist, flee from England before the ports are all taken by the King’s forces. Some go to the Netherlands, German principalities, Scotland, or Denmark, but the largest number go to the New England colonies, where quite a few of them have family connections or were considering settling in earlier. Many of these refugees are well armed, and a number of English warships whose captains and crews had supported Parliament go with them to North America.
1643-44 Charles I summons a new session of Parliament, packed almost totally with his supporters, often called the “King’s Parliament”. This Parliament reinstitutes the Laudian “High Church” style of Anglicanism as the official religion for all in England, and prescribes strong penalties for those who refuse to worship at the official church or speak out against it. Royal prerogatives in the collecting of taxes and duties and prosecution of political opponents are confirmed. All who played any significant role in supporting Parliament in 1642-43 and have fled are condemned for treason by Bill of Attainder.
The small English settlements in Maine agree to accept the authority of Massachusetts Bay (with considerable reluctance, since the largest of the Maine settlements was sponsored by Ferdinando Gorges, a strong supporter of Charles I.
1643 – ca. 1665 – Rapid growth of the economy of the Puritan colonies. Fish, timber, shipbuilding, furs become major commercial activities
1645 - The Colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven, and Rhode Island send representatives to a joint assembly in Boston. There, they declare that they do not recognize the authority of Charles I, and will not recognize him or any other King of England as their sovereign unless he rules in a “Godly and Lawful” manner. They form a government as the “United Counties of New-England”.
1646 - A fleet is sent from England to assert Charles’ authority over the Maine settlements, and if possible, to go on and subdue the rebellious New Englanders. It is met and defeated in two engagements by the fleet of New England, which is based around the old Parliamentary warships backed by smaller ships made locally.
1648 - Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years’ War on the European continent. France and Sweden are confirmed as major powers in Europe. Spain at last formally recognizes the independence of the Netherlands. The Holy Roman Empire is irrevocably fragmented.
A larger naval force sent from England fights a bloody but inconclusive engagement with the fleet of New England. Informal agreement reached between New England and the Dutch colony of New Netherland just to the west to cooperate against the French, Native Americans, and pro-French Stuart forces.
1649 onward - Charles I begins to draw increasingly close to France.
1650-51 - “Second Bishops’ War” - Charles I re-imposes Book of Common Prayer and other aspects of Anglicanism on Scotland. This triggers a rebellion by the Presbyterian Covenanters, which is defeated by Charles’ armies after heavy fighting.
1651-53 - Flight of thousands of Scots Presbyterians who will not accept defeat – some go to the Netherlands or Protestant portion of Germany, but most go to New England with a smaller number going to New Netherland. Many of them settle in OTL New Hampshire and southern Maine, which by 1660 are already informally being called “New Scotland”. Others settle on the central and eastern portions of Long Island, which becomes predominantly Scottish.
1655 – Dutch seize the small Swedish colony along the Delaware River and incorporate it into New Netherland, allowing the Swedish settlers to remain with some self-government
1655 – 1670 – English authorities in the colonies of Virginia and Maryland increase discrimination against Puritans and Presbyterians who have settled in those colonies, while attempting to restrict further immigration to Anglicans and Catholics. Many of the Puritans and Presbyterians relocate to New England and New Netherland.
1657 – 1660 – “Great Indian War” – rapid expansion of settlement in New England caused by massive influx of English and Scots leads to the native Wampanoag, Narragansett, Massachusett, Nipmuc, and several other native nations rapidly losing their land. Violence explodes in 1657, leading to a war lasting 3 years that spreads to parts of New Netherland as well. The Iroquois confederacy, already on friendly terms with the New England and New Netherland authorities, provide some assistance to the colonists against the hostile natives. The English also get some support from Indians who have been converted to Christianity, and from a portion of the Mohegan nation of Connecticut. In the end, the Native American nations fighting the colonists, with a population reduced by disease and already badly outnumbered by the settlers, are totally defeated. Many are killed, shipped to the West Indies as slaves, or taken as indentured servants. Others flee north to French territory. Others live on marginal lands left to them. Those who helped the colonists often fare somewhat better, getting to keep some land. Oliver Cromwell and Benjamin Church emerge as two of the most skilled leaders of colonial and allied native forces.
1662 – 1665 – War erupts in Europe between France and England on the one side and the Netherlands and Spain on the other side. France annexes a substantial portion of the Spanish Netherlands, and gets right to send troops through Spanish Netherlands, English and French fleets fight the Dutch to a standstill. After this war, the Netherlands has a difficult time maintaining a powerful fleet and army at the same time.
New England seizes a couple of French trading posts in Acadia and encourages more settlement in that area.
1667 – Oliver Cromwell is elected Governor of New England. He supports a policy of close cooperation between New England and New Netherlands against all enemies.
1668 – Charles I dies, he is succeeded as king of England, Scotland, and Ireland by his son as Charles II.
1669 – Five Nations of the Iroquois reach a new agreement with New Netherlands and New England.
1671 – 1676 – The “War of the Netherlands” in Europe. France attacks the Netherlands by land, England and France by sea. Spain remains neutral, Austria declares war on France in 1673 but is unable to give effective aid to the Dutch. After years of fierce fighting, the Netherlands is worn down and has to sue for peace on any terms that they can get. Under the Treaty of Antwerp that follows, the Netherlands loses very little land but is required to dismantle most of its fleet and fortifications. It effectively becomes a satellite to France, and to a lesser extent Stuart England.
At the same time, New England declares war on France and England in 1672 in support of the Netherlands and is able to occupy most of Acadia. A seaborne expedition against Quebec fails to take the reinforced French city in 1674, and separate land expedition against Montreal also falls short. New England refuses to end the war with the treaty of Antwerp. The treaty provides that New Netherland – the whole area of OTL New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware – is to be divided between the French in the north and the English in the south. Instead, the government of New Netherland refuses to recognize the authority of the treaty or the government that signed it, and asks to join New England. This leads to the …
1676-1679 – “New Netherland War” French and English forces operating out of Quebec and Virginia attempt to retake New Netherland and crush New England. They fail completely, apart from getting some very minor border concessions at the northern and southern ends of what used to be New Netherland. The Iroquois prove themselves to be very valuable allies against the French.
1680 – Meeting in New Amsterdam results in the formation of the ‘United American Commonwealth of New-England, New-Netherland, and New-Scotland”. By the 18th century this entity will most commonly be called the “United American Commonwealth”, the “American Commonwealth”, or simply “The Commonwealth”. The government provides for the assemblies of the several colonies and provinces to elect members of a General Council, which in turn selects a smaller Ministerial Council, which selects one of its own members as the Head Governor (so-called because the individual colonies also keep their own governors).
HISTORY OF THE GREAT AMERICAN COMMONWEALTH
1620 – English separatist Calvinists establish a settlement at Plymouth
1630 – English Puritan Calvinists establish settlements at Charles Town and Boston, form Massachusetts Bay Colony
1630s – Growth of Massachusetts Bay Colony as a result of groups of English Puritans migrating across the Atlantic to found new communities that they hope will be more “Godly” than those of the England that they left behind
1637 – Pequod Indians defeated by English colonists and their Indian allies, and cease to exist as a major native nation.
1642 – Rising tensions between King Charles I of England and Scotland and the English Parliament (especially the Puritan-dominated Commons) result in the outbreak of open hostilities. Charles leaves London and goes north to raise a loyal army and rally support, while Parliament raises forces in southern and eastern England. Parliament’s forces do not do very well in early skirmishes, especially the cavalry. At the Battle of Edgehill the King’s forces smash the main Parliamentary army, and then march east toward London, which they capture after fierce fighting against city militia and remnants of the Parliamentary forces. Scattered Parliamentary forces fight until early 1643, but there will be no more large battles.
1642 – 43 The “Exodus from Bondage” – tens of thousands of English supporters of Parliament, mostly Calvinist, flee from England before the ports are all taken by the King’s forces. Some go to the Netherlands, German principalities, Scotland, or Denmark, but the largest number go to the New England colonies, where quite a few of them have family connections or were considering settling in earlier. Many of these refugees are well armed, and a number of English warships whose captains and crews had supported Parliament go with them to North America.
1643-44 Charles I summons a new session of Parliament, packed almost totally with his supporters, often called the “King’s Parliament”. This Parliament reinstitutes the Laudian “High Church” style of Anglicanism as the official religion for all in England, and prescribes strong penalties for those who refuse to worship at the official church or speak out against it. Royal prerogatives in the collecting of taxes and duties and prosecution of political opponents are confirmed. All who played any significant role in supporting Parliament in 1642-43 and have fled are condemned for treason by Bill of Attainder.
The small English settlements in Maine agree to accept the authority of Massachusetts Bay (with considerable reluctance, since the largest of the Maine settlements was sponsored by Ferdinando Gorges, a strong supporter of Charles I.
1643 – ca. 1665 – Rapid growth of the economy of the Puritan colonies. Fish, timber, shipbuilding, furs become major commercial activities
1645 - The Colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven, and Rhode Island send representatives to a joint assembly in Boston. There, they declare that they do not recognize the authority of Charles I, and will not recognize him or any other King of England as their sovereign unless he rules in a “Godly and Lawful” manner. They form a government as the “United Counties of New-England”.
1646 - A fleet is sent from England to assert Charles’ authority over the Maine settlements, and if possible, to go on and subdue the rebellious New Englanders. It is met and defeated in two engagements by the fleet of New England, which is based around the old Parliamentary warships backed by smaller ships made locally.
1648 - Peace of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years’ War on the European continent. France and Sweden are confirmed as major powers in Europe. Spain at last formally recognizes the independence of the Netherlands. The Holy Roman Empire is irrevocably fragmented.
A larger naval force sent from England fights a bloody but inconclusive engagement with the fleet of New England. Informal agreement reached between New England and the Dutch colony of New Netherland just to the west to cooperate against the French, Native Americans, and pro-French Stuart forces.
1649 onward - Charles I begins to draw increasingly close to France.
1650-51 - “Second Bishops’ War” - Charles I re-imposes Book of Common Prayer and other aspects of Anglicanism on Scotland. This triggers a rebellion by the Presbyterian Covenanters, which is defeated by Charles’ armies after heavy fighting.
1651-53 - Flight of thousands of Scots Presbyterians who will not accept defeat – some go to the Netherlands or Protestant portion of Germany, but most go to New England with a smaller number going to New Netherland. Many of them settle in OTL New Hampshire and southern Maine, which by 1660 are already informally being called “New Scotland”. Others settle on the central and eastern portions of Long Island, which becomes predominantly Scottish.
1655 – Dutch seize the small Swedish colony along the Delaware River and incorporate it into New Netherland, allowing the Swedish settlers to remain with some self-government
1655 – 1670 – English authorities in the colonies of Virginia and Maryland increase discrimination against Puritans and Presbyterians who have settled in those colonies, while attempting to restrict further immigration to Anglicans and Catholics. Many of the Puritans and Presbyterians relocate to New England and New Netherland.
1657 – 1660 – “Great Indian War” – rapid expansion of settlement in New England caused by massive influx of English and Scots leads to the native Wampanoag, Narragansett, Massachusett, Nipmuc, and several other native nations rapidly losing their land. Violence explodes in 1657, leading to a war lasting 3 years that spreads to parts of New Netherland as well. The Iroquois confederacy, already on friendly terms with the New England and New Netherland authorities, provide some assistance to the colonists against the hostile natives. The English also get some support from Indians who have been converted to Christianity, and from a portion of the Mohegan nation of Connecticut. In the end, the Native American nations fighting the colonists, with a population reduced by disease and already badly outnumbered by the settlers, are totally defeated. Many are killed, shipped to the West Indies as slaves, or taken as indentured servants. Others flee north to French territory. Others live on marginal lands left to them. Those who helped the colonists often fare somewhat better, getting to keep some land. Oliver Cromwell and Benjamin Church emerge as two of the most skilled leaders of colonial and allied native forces.
1662 – 1665 – War erupts in Europe between France and England on the one side and the Netherlands and Spain on the other side. France annexes a substantial portion of the Spanish Netherlands, and gets right to send troops through Spanish Netherlands, English and French fleets fight the Dutch to a standstill. After this war, the Netherlands has a difficult time maintaining a powerful fleet and army at the same time.
New England seizes a couple of French trading posts in Acadia and encourages more settlement in that area.
1667 – Oliver Cromwell is elected Governor of New England. He supports a policy of close cooperation between New England and New Netherlands against all enemies.
1668 – Charles I dies, he is succeeded as king of England, Scotland, and Ireland by his son as Charles II.
1669 – Five Nations of the Iroquois reach a new agreement with New Netherlands and New England.
1671 – 1676 – The “War of the Netherlands” in Europe. France attacks the Netherlands by land, England and France by sea. Spain remains neutral, Austria declares war on France in 1673 but is unable to give effective aid to the Dutch. After years of fierce fighting, the Netherlands is worn down and has to sue for peace on any terms that they can get. Under the Treaty of Antwerp that follows, the Netherlands loses very little land but is required to dismantle most of its fleet and fortifications. It effectively becomes a satellite to France, and to a lesser extent Stuart England.
At the same time, New England declares war on France and England in 1672 in support of the Netherlands and is able to occupy most of Acadia. A seaborne expedition against Quebec fails to take the reinforced French city in 1674, and separate land expedition against Montreal also falls short. New England refuses to end the war with the treaty of Antwerp. The treaty provides that New Netherland – the whole area of OTL New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware – is to be divided between the French in the north and the English in the south. Instead, the government of New Netherland refuses to recognize the authority of the treaty or the government that signed it, and asks to join New England. This leads to the …
1676-1679 – “New Netherland War” French and English forces operating out of Quebec and Virginia attempt to retake New Netherland and crush New England. They fail completely, apart from getting some very minor border concessions at the northern and southern ends of what used to be New Netherland. The Iroquois prove themselves to be very valuable allies against the French.
1680 – Meeting in New Amsterdam results in the formation of the ‘United American Commonwealth of New-England, New-Netherland, and New-Scotland”. By the 18th century this entity will most commonly be called the “United American Commonwealth”, the “American Commonwealth”, or simply “The Commonwealth”. The government provides for the assemblies of the several colonies and provinces to elect members of a General Council, which in turn selects a smaller Ministerial Council, which selects one of its own members as the Head Governor (so-called because the individual colonies also keep their own governors).