Final answer:
The English Crown created the Dominion of New England to centralize control over the colonies, especially due to Massachusetts Bay's various acts of defiance, including ignoring Navigation Acts, and asserting autonomy from English legal authority. This move was not primarily about religious conversion of local tribes but was driven by political and economic factors, seeking to tighten the Crown's grip on colonial administration and trade.
Step-by-step explanation:
Why the King Controlled the New England Colonies
The establishment of the Dominion of New England was a move by the English Crown to strengthen royal control over the colonies. King James II aimed to create a centralized administrative authority, which led to the consolidation of the New England colonies and others into a single entity. This was in response to multiple provocations by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, such as refusal to obey the Navigation Acts, not allowing appeals to English courts, purchasing Maine without permission, and asserting that English laws did not apply in America. The revocation of the Massachusetts Bay Charter and the imposition of a royal colony status was a significant method of regaining control and enforcing Crown policies. Moreover, Sir Edmund Andros' administration enforced the Navigation Acts and challenged local land titles, which caused unrest and dissatisfaction among the colonists.
The claim that the Dominion of New England was in part created to punish Massachusetts Bay for not converting local Indians isn't strongly supported by the historical record, which points more towards political and economic reasons for the control. The creation of the Dominion was viewed as necessary to administer the colonies more effectively from the Crown's perspective, particularly concerning trade regulations. This consolidation also ended the autonomy enjoyed by colonies like Massachusetts, which had formed their own New England Confederation without the Crown's permission, exemplifying their independent spirit and resistance to direct English control.