Leisler's Rebellion

Leisler's Rebellion
Statue of Jacob Leisler in New Rochelle, New York
Date	May 31, 1689 (May 31, 1689) – March 21, 1691 (March 21, 1691)
Location	Province of New York
Result	Lieutenant Governor Francis Nicholas leaves for England Leisler takes effective control of the Provincial government Henry Sloughter commissioned Governor by King William removes and executes Leisler
Parties to the civil conflict
Pro-Leislerians Anti-Leislerians
Lead figures
Jacob Leisler   Jacob Milborne   Charles Lodewick Jost Stoll Francis Nicholson Nicholas Bayard Stephanus Van Cortlandt Frederick Philipse Henry Sloughter Richard Ingoldesby

Leisler's Rebellion was an uprising in late 17th century colonial New York, in which German American merchant and militia captain Jacob Leisler seized control of the colony's south and ruled it from 1689 to 1691. The uprising took place in the aftermath of Britain's Glorious Revolution and the 1689 Boston revolt in the Dominion of New England, which had included New York. The rebellion reflected colonial resentment against the policies of the deposed King James II.

Royal authority was not restored until 1691, when English troops and a new governor were sent to New York. Leisler was arrested by these forces, who tried and convicted him of treason. Leisler was executed, but the revolt left the colony polarized, bitterly split into two rival factions.

After English forces took control of New Netherland in 1664, King Charles II gave the territory to his brother James, then Duke of York, to rule as he pleased. James partitioned off East and West Jersey to other proprietors, and established an essentially autocratic government, with a strong governor and council, but no elected legislature.

James succeeded his brother to the throne in 1685, and established the Dominion of New England the following year. In May 1688 he added New York and the Jerseys to the dominion. Its governor, Sir Edmund Andros, came to New York that summer to establish his authority and install Francis Nicholson, a captain in the British Army, to administer those colonies as his lieutenant governor. Nicholson's rule, in which he was assisted by a local council but no legislative assembly, was seen by many New Yorkers as the next in a line of royal governors who "had in a most arbitrary way subverted our ancient privileges". Nicholson justified his rule by stating that the colonists were "a conquered people, and therefore ... could not so much [as] claim rights and priviledges as Englishmen".