New England, Dominion of, was a group of English colonies in America united in 1686 by King James II of England. The colonies in the dominion were Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, East Jersey, West Jersey, New York, Plymouth, and Rhode Island. King James believed that if the colonies united under a single government, they would function better and could more easily defend themselves against England’s major military rival, France. But the colonists had no voice in the government, and most of them opposed the dominion. James was overthrown in England in 1688. The dominion broke up the next year.
