Declaration and Resolves

may be appointed, either by their respective houses of Burgesses, or representatives, or by convention, or by the committees of correspondence appointed by the respective houses of Assembly, in the city of Philadelphia, or any other place that shall be judged most suitable by the Committee, on the first day of September next; & that the Speaker of the House be directed, in a letter to the speakers of the houses of Burgesses or representatives in the several Colonies, to inform them of the substance of these Resolves.1 On September 5th the delegates of all but three colonies met. On the 14th those of North Carolina appeared. The Congress organized with Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, as President. On September 7th a committee, consisting of two members from each colony, was appointed "to State the rights of the Colonies in general, the several instances in which those rights are violated or infringed, and the means most proper to be pursued for obtaining a restoration of them." And it was decided" that the Congress do confine themselves, at present, to the consideration of such rights only as have been infringed by acts of the British parliament since the year 1763." 2

In this the colonists were well advised, for 1763 marked an epoch in the relations between America and Great Britain. Before that date the colonies had been looked upon as separate and distinct plantations, to be protected, if need be, against the aggression of France from the north in Canada and the west in Louisiana. The conquest of Canada, in which the colonies participated, and its cession by the treaty of 1763 to Great Britain, the cession of Louisiana to Spain and the recognition of the Mississippi as the boundary, caused the Crown and its advisers, apparently for the first time, to consider the colonies as a unit and to govern them as such, and, in pursuance of this policy, to pass the various statutes whereof the colonists complained.

They therefore adopted a declaration. On October 14th a report on the rights and grievances of the colonies was adopted, known as the Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress.3

The declaration consists of eleven resolutions framed by representatives of "the good people of the several Colonies" with the exception of Georgia which, however, was later to be represented in the Congress. The first ten of the resolutions state the rights of the colonies as their respective representatives believed them to be on the eve of the Revolution, and the eleventh is an enumeration of the acts of parliament which they considered to be inconsistent with the declaration of rights and which therefore should be repealed “in order to restore harmony between Great Britain and the American colonies." The preamble asserts that Parliament has claimed "a power of right to bind the people of America, by statute in all cases whatsoever," that Parliament

1 Journals of the Continental Congress (1904–), Vol. i, pp. 15-16. For documents and correspondence relating to proceedings of the Continental Congress and the Colonial Congresses, see also Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, 1837.

2 Ibid., p. 42.

3 Ibid., pp. 63-73.

had "in some acts expressly imposed taxes on them," and that Parliament “under various pretences, but in fact for the purpose of raising a revenue,” had "imposed rates and duties payable in these colonies." Because of this action on the part of Great Britain, the colonies deemed it essential to set forth their rights in the premises. Therefore they declared:

That they were "entitled to life, liberty, & property," and that they had never renounced the right to dispose thereof to any foreign power without their consent;

That their ancestors were, at the time of their emigration, "entitled to all the rights, liberties, and immunities of free and natural-born subjects, within the realm of England;"

That these rights were not lost by emigration and that their descendants were therefore "entitled to the exercise and enjoyment of all such of them, as their local and other circumstances enable them to exercise and enjoy;"

That the inhabitants of the colonies could not, because of local conditions, be properly represented in Parliament, but only in their local legislatures, where by their representatives, they consented to taxation; recognizing, however, the right of the British Parliament to regulate their "external commerce, for the purpose of securing the commercial advantages of the whole empire to the mother country, and the commercial benefits of its respective members; excluding every idea of taxation, internal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects, in America, without their consent; "

That the colonies were entitled "to the common law of England," and more especially to the " inestimable privilege" of trial by jury;

That they were "entitled to the benefits of such of the English statutes. as existed at the time of their colonization," and which had been found applicable to local conditions;

That they were entitled to "all the immunities and privileges granted & confirmed to them by royal charters, or secured by their several codes of provincial laws;

That they possessed the right, and without restraint, peaceably to assemble, to consider their grievances, and to petition the king for a redress thereof; That the maintenance of a standing army in the colonies in times of peace without the consent of the colonial legislatures was against law;

That the branches of the legislature should be independent of each other; and therefore that the exercise of legislative power by a council appointed by the Crown and serving during its pleasure, "is unconstitutional, dangerous, and destructive to the freedom of American legislation; "

And finally, that these "their indubitable rights and liberties" could not be "legally taken from them, altered or abridged by any power whatever, without their own consent, by their representatives in their several provincial legislatures."

An

Asso

ciation

This document, which would have justified in itself the call and the meeting of the Congress, does not, however, stand alone; for the representatives of the colonies did not content themselves with a statement of grievances but considered "the means most proper to be used for the restoration" of colonial rights.

Sharing, no doubt, the view of John Adams that the various Navigation Acts and Acts of Trade were the cause of strained relations leading in the end to revolution, the members of Congress were of the opinion that "a NonImportation, Non-Consumption, and Non-Exportation Agreement, faithfully adhered to," would prove " the most speedy, effectual, and peaceable measure." Therefore a report, advocating an association to cut off all trade between the colonies, Great Britain and its other possessions, was reported on the 12th, agreed to on the 18th and signed on October 20, 1774, by fifty-three members of the Congress, by which they solemnly bound themselves and their constituents to adhere to the Association until the grievances whereof they complained were redressed; and they recommended it “to the provincial conventions, and to the committees in the respective colonies, to establish such farther regulations as they may think proper, for carrying into execution this association." Whereupon, the Congress adjourned on October 26th, having invited all the colonies to send delegates to another Congress, to meet on the 10th day of May, 1775, unless their grievances had been redressed in the meantime.

It is to be observed that, although no union, an association of the colonies was formed which was rapidly to develop into a union in law as well as in fact. On April 19, 1775, the British forces in Boston deemed it advisable to seize and destroy some powder magazines at Concord in the province of Massachusetts. The intention of the British commander became known and, when his troops entered the little town of Lexington at day-break, on the way to Concord, they found drawn up a small body of provincials, which they quickly dispersed and continued their march to Concord, where they indeed effected their purpose, but found larger bodies of provincials drawn up to resist them. Blood had been drawn at Lexington; it was freely shed at Concord, and before" the embattled farmers" the British troops hurriedly fell back to avoid the capture which threatened them.

When, therefore, the second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775, it was composed of representatives of all the thirteen colonies including those of Georgia, which by this time had made up its mind to cast its lot with the other colonies. Peyton Randolph was again elected President, but, absenting himself in Virginia to attend to matters of the province, he was, on May 24, 1775, succeeded by John Hancock of Massachusetts.

Finding themselves in the midst of war, the colonies in Congress accepted 1 Journals of the Continental Congress, Vol. i, p. 80.

the gauge of battle by electing on June 15th, by unanimous ballot, one of their members, George Washington, to be commander-in-chief of the armies raised. and to be raised in order that "the liberties of the country receive no detriment."

Petition

The Congress, recognizing the importance of this action, adopted on July Declaration 6, 1775, a carefully prepared and moderate "Declaration of the Causes and and a Necessity of Taking up Arms," which was " to be published by General Washington upon his arrival at the camp before Boston," in which city the British army was then besieged by the provincial troops and volunteers already pouring in from the adjoining colonies. At the same time, every effort was made by the Congress to effect a reconciliation with the mother country, and the declaration of the 6th was accompanied on the 8th by a petition to the King, each drafted by the patriotic yet cautious and conciliatory Dickinson.

In the interval between the first and second Congress, Lord North, then Prime Minister of Great Britain, held out the olive branch in the form of a Conciliatory Resolution of February 27, 1775, by the terms of which the Imperial Parliament declared its intention to abstain from internal taxation, and only to regulate commerce, provided each colony or province should contribute its portion "to the common defence," and "engage to make provision also for the support of the Civil Government, and the Administration of Justice, in such Province or Colony." 2 The conciliatory act was meant to be a concession, not a surrender, and it was shortly followed by the New England Restraining Act of March 30, 1775, cutting off all trade between the

1 On June 16, 1775

The president from the chair informed Geo: Washington esq. that he had the order of the Congress to acq[ain]t him, that the Congress had by a unanimous vote made choice of him to be general and commander in chief to take the supreme command of the forces raised and to be raised, in defence of American Liberty, and desired his acceptance of it. Whereupon Colonel Washington, standing in his place, spoke as follows:

"Mr. President,

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Tho' I am truly sensible of the high Honour done me, in this Appointment, yet I feel great distress, from a consciousness that my abilities and military experience may not be equal to the extensive and important Trust: However, as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service, and for support of the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their approbation.

"But, lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavourable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered, by every gentleman in the room, that I, this day, declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the Command I am honored with. . . ." Journals, Vol. ii, pp. 91-2.

On June 26th the New York Provincial Congress submitted an address to General Washington expressing satisfaction at his appointment. In the course of his reply he said:

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May your warmest wishes be realized in the success of America at this important and interesting period; and be assured that every exertion of my worthy colleagues and myself will be equally extended to the reestablishment of peace and harmony between the Mother Country and these Colonies, as to the fatal but necessary operations of war. When we assumed the soldier we did not lay aside the citizen; and we shall most sincerely rejoice with you in that happy hour when the establishment of American liberty, on the most firm and solid foundations, shall enable us to return to our private stations in the bosom of a free, peaceful, and happy Country." See Journal of New York Provincial Congress for June 26, 1775. Here reprinted from American Archives, Fourth Series, 1839, Vol. 2, p. 1322.

2 Archives, Fourth Series, 1837, Vol. 1, p. 1611.

colonies and foreign countries and restraining their trade to Great Britain. In April the southern colonies were likewise restrained, and these various measures were later superseded by the general act of December 22, 1775, prohibiting trade and intercourse with America.

On July 31, 1775, the Congress, in a report written by Thomas Jefferson, rejected Lord North's conciliatory resolution, which had been laid before that body in the month of May, 1775. On its part, Great Britain was not slow to take action. The battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19th and of Bunker Hill on June 17th, between British troops and the colonists, and the appointment of Washington as commander-in-chief, likewise convinced the British Government that war was on, and on August 23, 1775, it issued a proclamation of rebellion appropriately ending with "God Save the King." The resort was indeed made to conciliation, but the appeal had already been made to the sword. Too late for the American colonies on the Continent, it was not too late to save the other colonies which Great Britain then had or has since acquired, and which are now self-supporting dominions proud of their connection with the mother country. This was the famous Taxation of Colonies Act (18 Geo. III, c. 12) providing that Parliament "will not impose any duty, tax, or assessment whatever, payable in any of his Majesty's colonies, provinces, and plantations in North America or the West Indies; except only such duties as it may be expedient to impose for the regulation of commerce; the net produce of such duties to be always paid and applied to and for the use of the colony, province, or plantation, in which the same shall be respectively levied, in such manner as other duties collected by the authority of the respective general courts, or general assemblies, of such colonies, provinces, or plantations, are ordinarily paid and applied." Upon this act, caused by the revolt of the American colonies and the attitude of Great Britain toward its colonies of today, a competent British authority says: "This renunciation by the Imperial Parliament of the right to impose taxes upon a colony, whether a self-governing colony or not, has passed through two stages. Since 1783 taxation imposed by an Imperial Act has always been, even in the case of a Crown colony, imposed for the benefit of the colony, and the proceeds thereof have been paid to the colony. But until the repeal of the Navigation Laws in 1849 Parliament, in support of our whole navigation system, retained the practice of imposing duties on goods imported into the colonies, though the proceeds thereof were paid to the colonies so taxed. Since 1849 no Imperial Act has been passed for the taxation of any colony, and no colony is compelled by the Imperial Parliament to contribute anything in the way of taxation towards the cost of the government of the United Kingdom or towards the defence of the British Empire."

"1

No answer other than this proclamation and the prohibition of trade and 1 Albert Venn Dicey, Law of the Constitution, 1915 ed., p. xxvi, Note 2.