Edward Randolph and the American Colonies, 1676-1703

Publisher description: Edward Randolph was one of the most influential - and disliked - servants of the crown. Randolph began his career as a royal courier and rose to become surveyor general of His Majesty's customs in America and the oustanding governmental authority on the American colonies. When Randolph first sailed to Massachusetts, the colonies sprawled in disunion along the eastern seaboard; by the end of the century, they formed a continuous line of settlement from Maine to Carolina and had a more or less uniform pattern of government. Mr. Hall points out that the burgeoning empire in America came into existence before Britain had either the theory or the machinery for administering an empire, and that consequently, relatively minor figures played highly important roles in defining and implementing Britain's policy of administration in the colonies. Edward Randolph, whose career spanned a critical era in colonial government was one of these men, and Mr. Hall's detailed account of this arrogant, strong-willed personality and the role he played illuminates many of the major issues of the period.