Suffolk Resolves
When the Boston Port was closed by the Boston Port Act, Bostonians did not sit idly by or acquiesce to Parliament’s
demands. One of their first actions was to call for the First Continental Congress. The Congress convened at Carpenter’s
Hall in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774 with 55 participants representing 12 of the 13 colonies. Georgia, embroiled in
problems with the local Indian population and dependent on protection by British troops did not think it was in their best
interest to participate. Among those who did attend were George Washington, Samuel and John Adams, Patrick Henry,
Richard Henry Lee, John Dickinson and John Jay.
The first order of business was the consideration of a plan of reconciliation presented by Pennsylvania loyalist Joseph
Galloway. His plan called for an American Parliament acting in cooperation with the English Parliament. On matters relating
to the governing of the colonies, each would have veto power over the others actions. Opinion was sharply divided in the
group, and while they were debating the proposal, Paul Revere rode in with results from another meeting in Suffolk. The
proposal brought by Revere, is known as the Suffolk Resolves. It was anything but conciliatory, setting off a heated debate
among Congress members. The Suffolk Resolves declared the Coercive Acts to be unconstitutional and void; they also
resolved that;
Many members of the Congress thought the Suffolk Resolves were too radical and amounted to an invitation to war.
Nevertheless, the Congress rejected the Galloway proposals and approved the Suffolk Resolves.
Another consequence of the Boston Tea Party and its aftermath, was a re-emphasis on the establishment and training of
militia companies. The frequency and quality of training was increased and special units were formed called “minutemen”.
The minutemen received more extensive and specialized training, and were intended to be used for rapid deployment and
special duty. They were equipped and trained in the use of rifles instead of the muskets used by British soldiers and regular
militias. Regular troops used muskets because of the speed with which they could be reloaded. Minutemen used rifles
because of their greater range and improved accuracy. In normal combat they would fight alongside regular militiamen who
would provide “cover” for them as they took longer to reload after firing.
Another important action was to establish a system of “alarm riders” and improve their methods of communication and
intelligence gathering.
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
Just as the prelude to the Boston Massacre was the riot following the seizure of Hancock’s Liberty two year before, the
prelude to the battles of Lexington and Concord was a British munitions raid on the town of Salem. The Intolerable Acts of
1774 had closed the port of Boston and dissolved the Massachusetts Legislature. In response, the Massachusetts Provincial
Congress had been organized in Salem, in direct defiance of General Gage. The Massachusetts Congress was to be its
governing body until the establishment of a new government after Independence was declared.
In February 1775 General Gage learned the Salem militia had 19 cannons in its possession and were building carriages to
transport them, possibly for use against the British. On February 25, he sent 250 men to Salem to destroy the armaments.
The landing of the troops at Marblehead was seen by the alarm riders however, and they warned the militia at Salem. By the
time the British arrived, the cannons were moved and the troops returned to Boston without success. Although no shots were
fired and no harm was done, the Militias now knew of the British desire to disarm them, and the effectiveness of the patriot’s
intelligence and alarm systems were demonstrated. The event also provided a drill for the militia that proved encouraging.
Militia from surrounding towns arrived quickly to reinforce those at Salem, although no action proved necessary.
The British had occupied Boston for the past seven years, but still had no control over Massachusetts outside of Boston. In
hopes of minimizing future problems, British authorities devised a plan to disarm the colonists by conducting quick, secret
raids on their ammunition stores. On April 14,1775 General Gage received orders to destroy arms allegedly stored in the town
of Concord. He also had orders to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were rumored to be staying at a house in
Lexington after returning from the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Although, Gen. Gage attempted to maintain
secrecy by not issuing orders to his officers until the last minute, his plans were well known by the Massachusetts militia.
A group of minutemen led by Dr. Joseph Warren were given the task of monitoring Gage’s troop movement and alerting the
militia. Alarm rider and minuteman, Paul Revere crossed the forge to Charleston and awaited a signal from the Old North
Church in Boston. The church sexton, Robert Newman and Captain John Pulling were stationed in the church with signal
lanterns. Just before midnight, Revere saw the signal from two lanterns, indicating that the British troops were crossing the
forge at Charlestown rather than taking the longer land route off the peninsular. He immediately rode for Lexington to warn
Adams and Hancock. Another alarm rider, William Dawes took the longer land route. The hope was that if one was captured,
the other would get through. Along the way they alerted other militia members.
After warning Adams and Hancock, Revere rode on to Concord to alert the militia there. Most of the arms stored at the
arsenal in Concord were moved to a safer location before the arrival of the British. When the British troops entered
Lexington at sunrise on April 19th, they were confronted by the Lexington Militia under the command of Captain John
Parker. As the two armies faced each other on the Lexington green, a shot was fired by an unknown soldier. At least one
historian suggests that the first shot was fired by British Major Pitcairn from his pistol as a warning shot. The exact shooter
was never identified. After a brief battle there, the militia, greatly outnumbered, retreated.
When the British arrived at Concord, the militiamen from Concord and Lincoln were mustered there. Again, they were
outnumbered having only about 250 men compared to almost 700 on the British side. Militia Colonel James Barrett
surrendered the town and withdrew his men to a hillside about a mile north, where he could watch the activity going on in
town. The British troops searched Concord and several farms destroying what arms they could find. They then began their
march back to Boston. Minutemen and militia continued to arrive and by this time the colonial troops had swelled to five full
companies of minutemen and five full companies of militiamen from the surrounding countryside.
Siege of Boston
Major Pitcairn’s troops marched back to Boston under continuous fire from Minutemen and Militia along the way. By the
time they reached the safety of Charlestown, his men had suffered almost 300 casualties compared to around 90 for the
colonials. The next morning General Gage awoke to find Boston surrounded by between 15,000 and 20,000 colonial militia.
The militia cut off land access to Boston forcing the British to rely on what supplies they could get from the sea. As the siege
wore on, the colonials were somewhat successful in establishing a blockade of sorts with cruisers and privateers.
The siege of Boston lasted from April 19, 1775 to March 17, 1776. In June of ‘75, the British seized Bunker Hill and Breeds
Hill on the Charlestown Peninsular but their casualties were so great they were unable to break out. Both sides were short of
ammunition and other supplies and the eleven months siege was relatively uneventful. The Second Continental Congress met
in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775 and voted to form the colonial militia at Boston into the Continental Army. They appointed
George Washington as Commander, who arrived at Boston in July to take command.
In November, Washington sent Henry Knox to bring heavy artillery captured earlier at Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. The large
cannons arrived in the Boston area in January 1776. Some of them were used in March to fortify Dorchester Heights, located
on another peninsular Southeast of Boston, overlooking both Boston and its harbor, making re-supply by sea hazardous and
difficult. Realizing that he could no longer hold the city, Howe offered to abandon it, and agreed not to burn the city in return
for being allowed to evacuate with his troops and other personnel unmolested. The British fleet sat in the harbor for a week
while residents loyal to the Crown and Howe’s soldiers were loaded aboard. There were no attempts on the part of
Washington’s army to fire on them.
On March 17th, with favorable winds, the fleet departed. All ships were underway by 9 o’clock in the morning. All total
there were 120 ships with more than 11,000 people aboard, including 9,906 British troops, 667 women and 553 children.
Many Massachusetts loyalists left Boston with the British ships. Some returned to England, others chose to stay in Nova
Scotia. After the war some of the former loyalists returned to America and attempted to reestablish their lives there.
When the Boston Port was closed by the Boston Port Act, Bostonians did not sit idly by or acquiesce to Parliament’s
demands. One of their first actions was to call for the First Continental Congress. The Congress convened at Carpenter’s
Hall in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774 with 55 participants representing 12 of the 13 colonies. Georgia, embroiled in
problems with the local Indian population and dependent on protection by British troops did not think it was in their best
interest to participate. Among those who did attend were George Washington, Samuel and John Adams, Patrick Henry,
Richard Henry Lee, John Dickinson and John Jay.
The first order of business was the consideration of a plan of reconciliation presented by Pennsylvania loyalist Joseph
Galloway. His plan called for an American Parliament acting in cooperation with the English Parliament. On matters relating
to the governing of the colonies, each would have veto power over the others actions. Opinion was sharply divided in the
group, and while they were debating the proposal, Paul Revere rode in with results from another meeting in Suffolk. The
proposal brought by Revere, is known as the Suffolk Resolves. It was anything but conciliatory, setting off a heated debate
among Congress members. The Suffolk Resolves declared the Coercive Acts to be unconstitutional and void; they also
resolved that;
- officers appointed by the crown for enforcing them should be asked to resign or be considered as “enemies of the
country”; - urged the establishment of Massachusetts as a free state until the Acts were repealed;
- resolved that any taxes collected should be retained by the government of the new state and not passed on to British
officials; - called for a boycott of all British goods;
- called for the development of more manufactures in America;
- suggested that all current militia officers be asked to resign to be replaced by others elected by each county or town;
- resolved that any political arrests made by British officials would result in the detention of the arresting officers until
the release of said political prisoners; - and they declared that subjects do not owe loyalty to a King who violates their rights.
Many members of the Congress thought the Suffolk Resolves were too radical and amounted to an invitation to war.
Nevertheless, the Congress rejected the Galloway proposals and approved the Suffolk Resolves.
Another consequence of the Boston Tea Party and its aftermath, was a re-emphasis on the establishment and training of
militia companies. The frequency and quality of training was increased and special units were formed called “minutemen”.
The minutemen received more extensive and specialized training, and were intended to be used for rapid deployment and
special duty. They were equipped and trained in the use of rifles instead of the muskets used by British soldiers and regular
militias. Regular troops used muskets because of the speed with which they could be reloaded. Minutemen used rifles
because of their greater range and improved accuracy. In normal combat they would fight alongside regular militiamen who
would provide “cover” for them as they took longer to reload after firing.
Another important action was to establish a system of “alarm riders” and improve their methods of communication and
intelligence gathering.
The Battles of Lexington and Concord
Just as the prelude to the Boston Massacre was the riot following the seizure of Hancock’s Liberty two year before, the
prelude to the battles of Lexington and Concord was a British munitions raid on the town of Salem. The Intolerable Acts of
1774 had closed the port of Boston and dissolved the Massachusetts Legislature. In response, the Massachusetts Provincial
Congress had been organized in Salem, in direct defiance of General Gage. The Massachusetts Congress was to be its
governing body until the establishment of a new government after Independence was declared.
In February 1775 General Gage learned the Salem militia had 19 cannons in its possession and were building carriages to
transport them, possibly for use against the British. On February 25, he sent 250 men to Salem to destroy the armaments.
The landing of the troops at Marblehead was seen by the alarm riders however, and they warned the militia at Salem. By the
time the British arrived, the cannons were moved and the troops returned to Boston without success. Although no shots were
fired and no harm was done, the Militias now knew of the British desire to disarm them, and the effectiveness of the patriot’s
intelligence and alarm systems were demonstrated. The event also provided a drill for the militia that proved encouraging.
Militia from surrounding towns arrived quickly to reinforce those at Salem, although no action proved necessary.
The British had occupied Boston for the past seven years, but still had no control over Massachusetts outside of Boston. In
hopes of minimizing future problems, British authorities devised a plan to disarm the colonists by conducting quick, secret
raids on their ammunition stores. On April 14,1775 General Gage received orders to destroy arms allegedly stored in the town
of Concord. He also had orders to arrest Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were rumored to be staying at a house in
Lexington after returning from the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Although, Gen. Gage attempted to maintain
secrecy by not issuing orders to his officers until the last minute, his plans were well known by the Massachusetts militia.
A group of minutemen led by Dr. Joseph Warren were given the task of monitoring Gage’s troop movement and alerting the
militia. Alarm rider and minuteman, Paul Revere crossed the forge to Charleston and awaited a signal from the Old North
Church in Boston. The church sexton, Robert Newman and Captain John Pulling were stationed in the church with signal
lanterns. Just before midnight, Revere saw the signal from two lanterns, indicating that the British troops were crossing the
forge at Charlestown rather than taking the longer land route off the peninsular. He immediately rode for Lexington to warn
Adams and Hancock. Another alarm rider, William Dawes took the longer land route. The hope was that if one was captured,
the other would get through. Along the way they alerted other militia members.
After warning Adams and Hancock, Revere rode on to Concord to alert the militia there. Most of the arms stored at the
arsenal in Concord were moved to a safer location before the arrival of the British. When the British troops entered
Lexington at sunrise on April 19th, they were confronted by the Lexington Militia under the command of Captain John
Parker. As the two armies faced each other on the Lexington green, a shot was fired by an unknown soldier. At least one
historian suggests that the first shot was fired by British Major Pitcairn from his pistol as a warning shot. The exact shooter
was never identified. After a brief battle there, the militia, greatly outnumbered, retreated.
When the British arrived at Concord, the militiamen from Concord and Lincoln were mustered there. Again, they were
outnumbered having only about 250 men compared to almost 700 on the British side. Militia Colonel James Barrett
surrendered the town and withdrew his men to a hillside about a mile north, where he could watch the activity going on in
town. The British troops searched Concord and several farms destroying what arms they could find. They then began their
march back to Boston. Minutemen and militia continued to arrive and by this time the colonial troops had swelled to five full
companies of minutemen and five full companies of militiamen from the surrounding countryside.
Siege of Boston
Major Pitcairn’s troops marched back to Boston under continuous fire from Minutemen and Militia along the way. By the
time they reached the safety of Charlestown, his men had suffered almost 300 casualties compared to around 90 for the
colonials. The next morning General Gage awoke to find Boston surrounded by between 15,000 and 20,000 colonial militia.
The militia cut off land access to Boston forcing the British to rely on what supplies they could get from the sea. As the siege
wore on, the colonials were somewhat successful in establishing a blockade of sorts with cruisers and privateers.
The siege of Boston lasted from April 19, 1775 to March 17, 1776. In June of ‘75, the British seized Bunker Hill and Breeds
Hill on the Charlestown Peninsular but their casualties were so great they were unable to break out. Both sides were short of
ammunition and other supplies and the eleven months siege was relatively uneventful. The Second Continental Congress met
in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775 and voted to form the colonial militia at Boston into the Continental Army. They appointed
George Washington as Commander, who arrived at Boston in July to take command.
In November, Washington sent Henry Knox to bring heavy artillery captured earlier at Fort Ticonderoga to Boston. The large
cannons arrived in the Boston area in January 1776. Some of them were used in March to fortify Dorchester Heights, located
on another peninsular Southeast of Boston, overlooking both Boston and its harbor, making re-supply by sea hazardous and
difficult. Realizing that he could no longer hold the city, Howe offered to abandon it, and agreed not to burn the city in return
for being allowed to evacuate with his troops and other personnel unmolested. The British fleet sat in the harbor for a week
while residents loyal to the Crown and Howe’s soldiers were loaded aboard. There were no attempts on the part of
Washington’s army to fire on them.
On March 17th, with favorable winds, the fleet departed. All ships were underway by 9 o’clock in the morning. All total
there were 120 ships with more than 11,000 people aboard, including 9,906 British troops, 667 women and 553 children.
Many Massachusetts loyalists left Boston with the British ships. Some returned to England, others chose to stay in Nova
Scotia. After the war some of the former loyalists returned to America and attempted to reestablish their lives there.
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E-mail address
jfm@illinoisconservative.com
jfm@illinoisconservative.com
| Philosophy of Evil Socialism in America "The struggle of History is not between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat; it is between government and the governed." Jerry McDaniel |
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