that New England's trade be limited to Britain and the British West Indies.
Last edition:
Showing posts with label Colonial North America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colonial North America. Show all posts
Sunday, March 30, 2025
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Monday, March 27, 1775. Choosing Jefferson as an alternate.
The Second Virginia Convention named Thomas Jefferson as an alternate delegate to the Second Continental Congress, replacing Peyton Randolph, who was then presiding over the Virginia House of Burgesses.
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Friday, March 24, 1775. Rushing toward war.
Monday, March 24, 2025
Sunday, March 23, 2025
Thursday, March 23, 1775. Give me liberty. . .
Patrick Henry delivered his famous speech in favor of independence at the Second Virginian Convention. He stated:
No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve. This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House. Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation; the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us: they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer upon the subject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free-- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!
This stands in stark contrast, of course, with Edmund Burke's speech delivered in parliament the day prior.
Of note, Donald Trump has proclaimed this day "as a day in celebration of the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s speech to the Second Virginia Convention", and many of his supporters naively believe that they stand for the same propositions those who took the American Colonies into Revolution do, when in fact, they stand for the opposite. You can find just such an example on the Campus issues blog that we link in here. Today's MAGA populists are direct heirs to Cromwell's Roundheads of the English Civil War, right down to following a radical Calvinist ideology, and even adopted the color, red, worn by what evolved out of the New Model Army.
Not that this is surprising. Retrograde reactionary forces in American public life have long attempted to claim the Revolution as their own, from the Southern traitors of 1860 to 1865, to modern Dixiecrats.
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Wednesday, March 22, 1775. Speech on Conciliation with America
Saturday, March 22, 2025
Wednesday, March 22, 1775. Speech on Conciliation with America
To restore order and repose to an empire so great and so distracted as ours is, merely in the attempt, an undertaking that would ennoble the flights of the highest genius, and obtain pardon for the efforts of the meanest understanding. Struggling a good while with these thoughts, by degrees I felt myself more firm. I derived, at length, some confidence from what in other circumstances usually produces timidity. I grew less anxious, even from the idea of my own insignificance. For, judging of what you are by what you ought to be, I persuaded myself that you would not reject a reasonable proposition because it had nothing but its reason to recommend it.
The proposition is peace. Not peace through the medium of war; not peace to be hunted through the labyrinth of intricate and endless negotiations; not peace to arise out of universal discord, fomented from principle, in all parts of the empire; not peace to depend on the juridical determination of perplexing questions, or the precise marking the shadowy boundaries of a complex government. It is simple peace, sought in its natural course and in its ordinary haunts.
Let the colonies always keep the idea of their civil rights associated with your government-they will cling and grapple to you, and no force under heaven will be of power to tear them from their allegiance. But let it be once understood that your government may be one thing and their privileges another, that these two things may exist without any mutual relation – the cement is gone, the cohesion is loosened, and everything hastens to decay and dissolution. As long as you have the wisdom to keep the sovereign authority of this country as the sanctuary of liberty, the sacred temple consecrated to our common faith, wherever the chosen race and sons of England worship freedom, they will turn their faces towards you. The more they multiply, the more friends you will have, the more ardently they love liberty, the more perfect will be their obedience. Slavery they can have anywhere. It is a weed that grows in every soil. They may have it from Spain, they may have it from Prussia. But until you become lost to all feeling of your true interest and your natural dignity, freedom they can have from none but you. This is the commodity of price, of which you have the monopoly. This is the true Act of Navigation, which binds to you the commerce of the -colonies, and through them secures to you the wealth of the world. Deny them this participation of freedom, and you break that sole bond which originally made, and must still preserve, the unity of the empire. Do not entertain so weak an imagination as that your registers and your bonds, your affidavits and your sufferances, your cockets and your clearances, are what form the great securities of your commerce. Do not dream that your Letters of office, and your instructions, and your suspending clauses are the things that hold together the great contexture of this mysterious whole. These things do not make your government. Dead instruments, passive tools as they are, it is the spirit of the English communion that gives all their life and efficacy to them. It is the spirit of the English constitution which, infused through the mighty mass, pervades, feeds, unites, invigorates, vivffles every part of the empire, even down to the minutest member.
Is it not the same virtue which does every thing for us here in England? Do you imagine, then, that-it is the Land-Tax Act which raises your revenue? that it is the annual vote in the Committee of Supply, which gives you your army? or that it is the Mutiny Bill which inspires it with bravery and discipline? No! surely, no! It is the love of the people; it is their attachment to their government, from the sense of the deep stake they have in such a glorious institution, which gives you your army and your navy, and infuses into both that liberal obedience without which your army would be a base rabble and your navy nothing but rotten timber.
All this, I know well enough, will sound wild and chimerical to the profane herd of those vulgar and mechanical politicians who have no place among us: a sort of people who think that nothing exists but what is gross and material, and who, therefore, far from being qualified to be directors of the great movement of empire, are not fit to turn a wheel in the machine. But to men truly initiated and rightly taught, these ruling and master principles, which in the opinion of such men as I have mentioned have no substantial existence, are in truth everything, and all in all. Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wisdom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together. If we are conscious of our situation, and glow with zeal to fill our places as becomes our station and ourselves, we ought to auspicate all our public proceedings on America with the old warning of the Church, Sursum corda! We ought to elevate our minds to the greatness of that trust to which the order of Providence has called us. By adverting to the dignity of this high calling, our ancestors have turned a savage wilderness into a glorious empire, and have made the most extensive and the only honorable conquests, not by destroying, but by promoting the wealth, the number, the happiness of the human race. Let us get an American revenue as we have got an American empire. English privileges have made it all that it is; English privileges alone will make it all it can be.
Edmund Burke
Wednesday, March 5, 2025
Sunday, March 5, 1775. The Boston Massacre.
In Boston, a young wigmaker's apprentice began a pestering British sentry about an allegedly unpaid barber bill, although the bill was paid in fact and the officer produced a receipt. Applying a universal rule about harassing people with guns being a bad idea, sort of like at Kent State many years later, a British soldier tired of the event and butted the kid was his musket.
A crowed soon gathered, somebody yelled "Fire", perhaps because Church Bells were ringing which was a fire alarm, and the troops fired their muskets, killing five. This is also reminiscent of Kent State.
The troops went on to be defended in a trial by John Adams.
Last edition:
Friday, March 3, 1775. A British ship.
Monday, March 3, 2025
Friday, March 3, 1775. A British ship.
The Virginia Gazette alerted the citizens of James City County, Virginia that an armed British ship was at the ferry landing at Kingsmill.
And, by the way, Lent had already started in 1775, so those few Catholics in the country, and those Anglicans observing Lent, were in the Lenten season.
Last edition:
Thursday, March 2, 1775. Raising a stench.
Sunday, March 2, 2025
Thursday, March 2, 1775. Raising a stench.
The women of Providence, Rhode Island, gathered at the town's market place and burned tea.
Last edition:
Sunday, February 26, 1775 Salem Gunpowder Raid
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Sunday, February 26, 1775 Salem Gunpowder Raid
The 64th British Regiment of the Line landed at Marblehead from Castle William in Boston Harbor and marched to Salem to search for military stores that where held there. A standoff ensued and they withdrew upon agreement that nothing was found.
Last edition:
Wednesday, February 22, 1775. The Augusta Resolves.
Saturday, February 22, 2025
Wednesday, February 22, 1775. The Augusta Resolves.
The Augusta Resolves were passed by the representatives of August County, Colony of Virginia, expressing support for the resistance to the Intolerable Acts.
Last edition:
Wednesday, February 1, 1775. Memorandum on Chatham’s Plan of Conciliation, [on or after 1 February 1775]
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Thursday, February 9, 1775. Privileged shortsightedness, then and now.
A joint resolution of Parliament declared:
We find, that a part of your Majesty's subjects in the province of the Massachusetts Bay have proceeded so far to resist the authority of the supreme legislature, that a rebellion at this time actually exists within the said province; and we see, with the utmost concern, that they have been countenanced and encouraged by unlawful combinations and engagements, entered into by your Majesty's subjects in several of the other colonies, to the injury and oppression of many of their innocent fellow-subjects resident within the kingdom of Great Britain, and the rest of your Majesty's dominions
February must be the month for deliberative bodies declaring dumbass things. Goodness knows that the Wyoming Legislature's SJ 2 does. Ironically, those making aristocratic decisions either believe themselves, or in some cases pretend themselves, to be heirs to the American Revolutionaries, when in fact, in some instances at least, they're heirs to the British landed aristocracy. But, in reality, at least some of those voting for SJ2 are much like the House of Lords. Landed gentry benefiting from the good fortune of their forbearers believing in their own superiority, or that they somehow worked for their position.
Up the Revolution!
La tierra es de quien la trabaja. Some of you ought to remember that. . .
Related threads:
Wyoming Senate demands Congress hand over federal land, including Grand Teton
Saturday, February 4, 1775. Logan's Lament published by the Virginia Gazette.
Last edition:
Saturday, February 4, 1775. Logan's Lament published by the Virginia Gazette.
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Saturday, February 4, 1775. Logan's Lament published by the Virginia Gazette.
I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, Logan is the friend of the white men. I have even thought to live with you but for the injuries of one man. Col. Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This has called on me for revenge. I have sought it: I have killed many: I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one.
Tachnechtoris, or John Logan, or Logan the Orator, after Lord Dunmore's War.
Last edition:
Wednesday, February 1, 1775. Memorandum on Chatham’s Plan of Conciliation, [on or after 1 February 1775]
Monday, January 20, 2025
Friday, January 20, 1775. The Fincastle Resolutions.
The Fincastle Resolutions were adopted by the fifteen elected representatives of Fincastle County, Virginia, which was on the frontier at that time.
Fincastle, Jan. 20, 1775
In obedience to the resolves of the Continental Congress, a meeting of the freeholders of this county was held this day, who, after approving of the association framed by that august body in behalf of all the colonies, and subscribing thereto, proceeded to the election of a committee, to see the same carried punctually into execution, when the following Gentlemen were nominated: Reverend Charles Cummings, Colonel William Preston, Colonel William Christian, Captain Stephen Trigg, Major Arthur Camp-bell, Major William Inglis, Captain Walter Crockett, Captain John Mont-gomery, Captain James McGavock, Captain William Campbell, Captain Thomas Madison, Captain Daniel Smith, Captain William Russell, Cap-tain Evan Shelby and Lieutenant William Edmondson. After the election the committee made choice of Colonel WILLIAM CHRISTIAN for their chairman, and appointed Mr. David Campbell to be clerk. The following address was then unanimously agreed to by the people of the county, and is as follows.
To the Honorable Peyton Randolph, Esq; Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, junior, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton, Esquires, the Delegates from this colony who at-tended the Continental Congress held at Philadelphia: Gentlemen, Had it not been for our remote situation, and the Indian war which we were lately engaged in, to chastise those cruel and savage people for the many murders and depredations they have committed against us (now happily terminated, under the auspices of our present worthy Governour, his Excellency the Right Honourable the Earl of Dunmore) we should before this time have made known to you our thankfulness for the very important services you have rendered to your country, in conjunction with the worthy Delegates from the other provinces. Your noble efforts for reconciling the Mother Country and the Colonies, on rational and constitutional principles, and your pacifick, steady, and uniform conduct in that arduous work, entitle you to the esteem of all British America, and will immortalize you in the annals of your country. We heartily concur in your resolutions, and shall, in every instance, strictly and invariably adhere thereto.
We assure you, Gentlemen, and all our countrymen, that we are a people whose hearts overflow with love and duty to our lawful sovereign George III, whose illustrious house, for several successive reigns, have been the guardians of the civil and religious rights and liberties of British sub-jects, as settled at the glorious Revolution; that we are willing to risk our lives in the service of his Majesty, for the support of the Protestant religion, and the rights and liberties of his subjects, as they have been established by the compact, law, and ancient charters.
We are heartily grieved at the differences which now subsist between the parent state and the colonies, and most ardently wish to see harmony restored, on an equitable basis, and by the most lenient measures that can be devised by the heart of man.
Many of us, and our forefathers, left our native land, considering it as a kingdom subjected to inordinate power, and greatly abridged of its liberties. We crossed the Atlantick, and explored this then uncultivated wilderness, bordering on many nations of savages, and surrounded by mountains almost inaccessible to any but those very savages, who have incessantly been committing barbarities and depredations on us since our first seating the country. These fatigue and dangers we patiently encountered, supported by the pleasing hope of enjoying those rights and liberties which had been granted to Virginians and were denied us in our native country, and of transmitting them inviolate to our posterity. But even to these remote regions the hand of unlimited and unconstitutional power hath pursued us, to strip us of that liberty and property with which God, nature, and the rights of humanity, have vested us. We are ready and willing to contribute all in our power for the support of his Majesty's government, if applied to constitutionally, and when the grants are made by our own representatives; but cannot think of submitting our liberty or property to the power of a venal British parliament, or to the will of a corrupt Ministry.
We by no means desire to shake off our duty or allegiance to our lawful sovereign, but on the contrary shall ever glory in being loyal subjects of a Protestant prince, descended from such illustrious progenitors, so long as we can enjoy the free exercise of our religion, as Protestants, and our liberties and properties, as British subjects.
But if no pacifick measures shall be proposed or adopted by Great Britain, and our enemies will attempt to dragoon us out of these inestimable privileges which we are entitled to as subjects, and to reduce us to a state of slavery, we declare, that we are deliberately and resolutely determined never to surrender them to any power upon earth, but at the expense of our lives.
These are our real, though unpolished sentiments, of liberty and loyalty, and in them we are resolved to live and die.
We are, Gentlemen, with the most perfect esteem and regard, your most obedient servant.
The resolutions interestingly expressed love for the Crown, while obviously drafted in the spirt of defiance against it.
Last edition:
Tuesday, January 17, 1775. Diligent attention in the use of arms.
Friday, January 17, 2025
Tuesday, January 17, 1775. Diligent attention in the use of arms.
The South Carolina Provincial Congress resolved; "that the inhabitants be diligently attentive in learning the use of arms; and that their officers be requested to train and exercise them at least once a fortnight."
Last edition:
Friday, January 13, 1775. Governor Franklin urges New Jersey to remain loyal.
Monday, January 13, 2025
Friday, January 13, 1775. Governor Franklin urges New Jersey to remain loyal.
Royal Governor of New Jersey, William Franklin, appeared in front of the New Jersey Legislature and urged the body to remain loyal to the Crown.
Governor Franklin was the acknowledged illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. It is not clear who his mother was, and he was raised by his father and his father's "common law wife" Deborah Read. He'd remain loyal to the Crown for the remainder of his life.
Last edition:
Thursday, January 12, 1775. Sliding towards and preparing for war.
Labels: 1640s, 1645, 1770s, 1775, American Colonial Militia, American Revolution, Colonial North America, Georgia, National Guard
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Thursday, January 12, 1775. Sliding towards and preparing for war.
Concord Massachusetts militia, i.e., Minute Men, signed their muster rolls as an organized militia for the first time.
This is deceptive, we'd note, in that a militia obligation dated back to the founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony and was imposed on all men from ages 16 to 60 (meaning I'd now be beyond my militia duty). Rapid deployment units were formed first in 1645 and the term "minute men" had existed for quite some time as an official inter militia designation.
Darien Georgia adopted the following resolution.
In the Darien Committee, Thursday, January 12, 1775.
When the most valuable privileges of a people are invaded, not only by open violence, but by every kind of fraud, sophistry, and cunning, it behoves every individual to be upon his guard, and every member of society, like beacons in a country surrounded by enemies, to give the alarm, not only when their liberties in general are attacked, but separately, least a precedent in one may affect the whole; and to enable the collective wisdom of such people to judge of its consequence, and how far their respective grievances concerns all, or should be opposed to preserve their necessary union. Every laudable attempt of this kind by the good people of this Colony, in a constitutional manner, hath been hitherto frustrated, by the influence and authority of men in office, and their numerous dependants, and in every other natural and just way, by the various arts they have put in practice. We, therefore, the Representatives of the extensive District of Darien, in the Colony of Georgia, being now assembled in Congress, by the authority and free choice of the inhabitants of the said District, now feed from their fetters, do Resolve,
1st. That the unparalleled moderation, the decent, but firm and manly conduct of the loyal and brave people of Boston and Massachusetts Bay, to preserve their liberty, deserves not only the applause and thanks of all America, but also, the imitation of all mankind. But, to avoid needless repetitions, we acquiesce and join in all the Resolutions passed by the Grand American Congress in Philadelphia last October. We thank them for their sage counsel and advice, and most heartily and cheerfully accede to the Association entered into by them, as the wisest and most moderate measure that could be adopted in our present circumstances to reconcile and firmly unite Great Britain and the Colonies, so indispensably necessary to each other, by the surest and best basis — mutual interest. But as the wisest Councils upon earth are liable to the errours of humanity, and notwithstanding our reverence and partiality for that august Assembly, we beg leave to differ in opinion from them, in charging the unjust measures of the present and preceding Ministry, to a person qualified rather for a private than a publick station; and as the resentment of his countrymen, on a former occasion, was raised by the illiberal and unjust abuse of them, indiscriminately, for the faults of that man, we humbly presume the renewing it at this time, on so little foundation, at least impolitick; being confident that every Member of that late, wise, patriotick, and truly honourable Congress, from a principle of candour and justice, will rather commend than blame our honest and well meant freedom.
2d. That in shutting up the Land Offices, with the intention of raising our quit-rents, and setting up our Lands at publick sale representations of the Crown tract have not been duly considered (and attended to) in all its consequences to this vast continent: That it is a principal part of the unjust system of politicks adopted by the present Ministry, to subject and enslave us, and evidently proceeds from an ungenerous jealousy of the Colonies, to prevent as much as possible the population of America, and the relief of the poor and distressed in Britain and elsewhere, for whom a kind Providence has opened a new world from their merciless oppressor, when the old is overrun with such monsters: That monopolizing our Lands into few hands, is forming and encouraging petty tyrants to lord it over us, or reside in any other part of the world in extravagance, luxury, and folly, by the fruit of our labour and industry — such oppressions, neither we nor our fathers were able to bear, and it drove us to the wilderness: And that all encouragement should be given to the poor of every Nation by every generous American.
3d. That Ministerial Mandates, under the name of Instructions, preventing the legal Representatives of the people to enact laws suiting their own respective situation and circumstances, are a general grievance, and more especially in this young Colony, where our internal police is not yet well settled; and as a proof of the intention of these restrictions, when time and opportunity offers, we point out particularly, amongst many others of like nature, the not suffering us to limit the term of our Assembly, or passing a quit-rent law, to ascertain and fix the most valuable part of our property.
4th. That an over proportion of Officers, for the number of inhabitants, and paying their salaries from Britain, so much cast up to us by Court parasites, and for which we are so often charged with ingratitude, are in truth real and great grievances, rendering them insolent, and regardless of their conduct, being independent of the people who should support them according to their usefulness and behaviour, and for whose benefit and conveniency alone they were originally intended. That besides these exorbitant salaries, which enables them all to act by Deputies, whilst they wallow in luxury themselves, their combining to raise their exorbitant and illegal fees and perquisites, by various arts upon the subject, to an alarming height, are more dangerous to our liberties than a regular Army; having the means of corruption so much in their power, the danger of which is imminently exemplified in the present unhappy state of our brethren and fellow-subjects in Britain, and even in the late conduct of this Colony. To prevent therefore as much as in us lies these direful effects, we do resolve never to choose any person in publick office, his Deputy, Deputy' s Deputy, or any expectant, to represent us in Assembly, or any other publick place, in our election, hoping the example will be followed throughout this Colony, and all America.
5. To show the world that we are not influenced by any contracted or interested motives, but a general philanthropy for all mankind, of whatever climate, language, or complexion, we hereby declare our disapprobation and abhorrence of the unnatural practice of Slavery in America, (however the uncultivated state of our country, or other specious arguments may plead for it,) a practice founded in injustice and cruelty, and highly dangerous to our liberties, (as well as lives,) debasing part of our fellow-creatures below men, and corrupting the virtue and morals of the rest; and is laying the basis of that liberty we content for (and which we pray the Almighty to continue to the latest posterity) upon a very wrong foundation. We therefore resolve, at all times to use our utmost endeavours for the manumission of our Slaves in this Colony, upon the most safe and equitable footing for the masters and themselves.
6th. That we do hereby choose Messrs˙ ******* to represent us for this District, in the Provincial Congress at Savannah, the 18th instant, or at any other time and place appointed hereafter, for the space of one year from this day, and that a copy of these our Resolutions be given them as expressing the sense of this District of publick grievances, which will serve for their direction and instructions; and it is further our desire, that our said Deputies shall use their endeavours to send two Delegates from this Colony to the General Continental Congress, to be held at Philadelphia next May.
Last edition:
Wednesday, January 11, 1775. Francis Salvador takes his seat.
Monday, January 6, 2025
Saturday, January 6, 1725. Peter the Great gets sick, again, and instructs Vitus Bearing.
The mysterious disease that afflicted Czar Peter the Great returned, with a cold bringing it on.
In spite of the affliction, on the same day he issued instructions to Vitus Bering to prove definitely that Siberia was separated from North America and to find the nearest European settlement in the New World.
Last edition:
Wednesday, October 11, 1724. Fort Drummer attacked.
Labels: 1720s, 1724, Abenaki people, American Colonial Militia, Colonial North America, Grey Locks' War, Indian Wars, Native Americans, Vermont
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Thursday, December 22, 1724. The Greenwich Tea Party
The last of the "tea parties" occurred on this day in Greenwich, Cumberland County, New Jersey. It involved the usual tea dumping and dressing as Native Americans.
Last edition:
Tuesday, December 13, 1774. Taking Fort William and Mary.
Friday, December 13, 2024
Tuesday, December 13, 1774. Taking Fort William and Mary.
Paul Revere made a 60-mile gallop from Boston along the Old Bay Road to warn the citizens of Portsmouth that British troops may be landing to secure British munitions at Fort William and Mary at New Castle.
It proved to be a false rumor, but local patriots stormed Fort William and Mary, New Hampshire, guarding the mouth of the seaport.
The fort had a six man garrison.
Last edition:
Tuesday, December 6, 1774. Powers of the Crown.
Labels: 1770s, 1774, 2020s, Commentary, fishing, hunting, Massachusetts, Monarchy, Public Land, Spain, Wyoming
Monday, November 18, 2024
Friday, November 18, 1774. Ellis and his island.
Samuel Ellis, residing at 1 Greenwich Street in Manhattan, bought Oyster Island, where he built a tavern and collected the oysters.
Today, the island is known as Ellis Island.
Last edition:
Thursday, November 17, 1774. First City Troop.
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