English colonists took control of New Netherland in 1664, and the crown sent royal commissioners to New England from the new Province of New York to investigate the status of the government and legal system of the colonies. These commissioners were to bring the New England colonies into a stronger connection with England, including allowing the crown to nominate the governor of the colony. The New England colonists refused, claiming that the King had no right to "supervise" Massachusetts Bay's laws and courts, and saying that they ought to continue as they were so long as they remained within the legal rights and privileges of their charter. The Commissioners asked that the colony pay its obligated 20-percent of all gold and silver found in New England, but the colonists responded that they were "not obligated to the king but by civility".