Henceforth her position was to be
like that of the other colonies with royal governors. But her history
did not thereby lose its interest or significance, though it became,
like the history of most of the colonies, a dismal record of
irrepressible bickerings between the governor appointed by the crown and
the legislature elected by the people. In the period that began in 1692
and ended in 1776, the movements of Massachusetts, while restricted
and hampered, were at the same time forced into a wider orbit. She was
brought into political sympathy with Virginia. While two generations
of men were passing across the scene, the political problems of
Massachusetts were assimilated to those of Virginia. In spite of all
the other differences, great as they were, there was a likeness in the
struggles between the popular legislature and the royal governor which
subordinated them all. It was this similarity of experience, during
the eighteenth century, that brought these two foremost colonies into
cordial alliance during the struggle against George III., and thus made
it possible to cement all the colonies together in the mighty nation
whose very name is fraught with so high and earnest a lesson to
mankind,--the UNITED STATES! [Sidenote: Massachusetts becomes a royal
province]
For such a far-reaching result, the temporary humiliation of
Massachusetts was a small price to pay.
Pages:
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334