During King William's War in the 1690s Nicholson asked the House of Burgesses to appropriate money for New York's defense, since it was threatened from New France and acted as a buffer to protect Virginia. The Burgesses refused, even after Nicholson appealed to London. When Queen Anne's War broke out in 1702, Nicholson lent New York £900 of his own money, with the expectation that it would be repaid from Virginia's quit rents (it was not). The publicity of this scheme increased dislike of him in Virginia, and may have played a role in his recall. Virginia was not militarily affected by the war. These efforts by Nicholson to gain broader colonial support for the war were followed by larger proposals to London, suggesting, for example, that all of the colonies be joined under a single viceroy, who would have power of taxation and control of a standing army. According to historian John Fiske, Nicholson was one of the first people to propose uniting all of the North American colonies in this way.