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http://www.gunstonhall.org/documents/resolves.html
Fairfax County Resolves
(July 18, 1774)
At a general Meeting of the Freeholders and Inhabitants of the County
of Fairfax on Monday the 18th day of July 1774, at the Court House,
George Washington Esquire Chairman, and Robert Harrison Gent. Clerk
of the said Meeting--
1. Resolved that this Colony and Dominion of Virginia can not be
considered as a conquered Country; and if it was, that the present
Inhabitants are the Descendants not of the Conquered, but of the
Conquerors.
That the same was not setled at the national Expence of England, but
at the private Expence of the Adventurers, our Ancestors, by solemn
Compact with, and under the Auspices and Protection of the British
Crown; upon which we are in every Respect as dependant, as the People
of Great Britain, and in the same Manner subject to all his Majesty's
just, legal, and constitutional Prerogatives. That our Ancestors,
when they left their native Land, and setled in America, brought with
them (even if the same had not been confirmed by Charters) the Civil-
Constitution and Form of Government of the Country they came from;
and were by the Laws of Nature and Nations, entitled to all it's
Privileges, Immunities and Advantages; which have descended to us
their Posterity, and ought of Right to be as fully enjoyed, as if we
had still continued within the Realm of England.
2. Resolved that the most important and valuable Part of the British
Constitution, upon which it's very Existence depends, is the
fundamental Principle of the People's being governed by no Laws, to
which they have not given their Consent, by Representatives freely
chosen by themselves; who are affected by the Laws they enact equally
with their Constituents; to whom they are accountable, and whose
Burthens they share; in which consists the Safety and Happiness of
the Community: for if this Part of the Constitution was taken away,
or materially altered, the Government must degenerate either into an
absolute and despotic Monarchy, or a tyrannical Aristocracy, and the
Freedom of the People be annihilated.
3. Resolved therefore, as the Inhabitants of the american Colonies
are not, and from their situation can not be represented in the
British Parliament, that the legislative Power here can of Right be
exercised only by {our} own Provincial Assemblys or Parliaments,
subject to the Assent or Negative of the British Crown, to be
declared within some proper limited Time. But as it was thought just
and reasonable that the People of Great Britain shou'd reap
Advantages from these Colonies adequate to the Protection they
afforded them, the British Parliament have claimed and exercised the
Power of regulating our Trade and Commerce, so as to restrain our
importing from foreign Countrys, such Articles as they cou'd furnish
us with, of their own Growth or Manufacture, or exporting to foreign
Countrys such Articles and Portions of our Produce, as Great Britain
stood in Need of, for her won Consumption or Manufactures. Such a
Power directed with Wisdom and Moderation, seems necessary for the
general Good of that great Body-politic of which we are a Part;
altho' in some Degree repugnant to the Principles of the
Constitution. Under this Idea our Ancestors submitted to it: the
Experience of more than a Century, during the government of the
reciprocal Benefits flowing from it produced mutual uninterrupted
Harmony and Good- Will, between the Inhabitants of Great Britain and
her Colonies; who during that long Period, always considered
themselves as one and same People: and tho' such a Power is capable
of Abuse, and in some Instances hath been stretched beyond the
original Design and Institution. Yet to avoid Strife and Contention
with our fellow-Subjects, and strongly impressed with the Experience
of mutual Benefits, we always Chearfully acquiesced in it, while the
entire Regulation of our internal Policy, and giving and granting our
own Money were preserved to our own provincial Legislatures.
4. Resolved that it is the Duty of these Colonies, on all
Emergencies, to contribute, in Proportion to their Abilities,
Situation and Circumstances, to the necessary Charge of supporting
and defending the British Empire, of which they are Part; that while
we are treated upon an equal Footing with our fellow Subjects, the
Motives of Self-Interest and Preservation will be a sufficient
Obligation; as was evident thro' the Course of the last War; and that
no Argument can be fairly applyed to the British Parliament's taxing
us, upon a Presumption that we shou'd refuse a just and reasonable
Contribution, but will equally operate in Justification of the
Executive-Power taxing the People of England, upon a Supposition of
their Representatives refusing to grant the necessary Supplies.
5. Resolved that the Claim lately assumed and exercised by the
British Parliament, of making all such Laws as they think fit, to
govern the People of these Colonies, and to extort from us our Money
with out our Consent, is not only diametrically contrary to the first
Principles of the Constitution, and the original Compacts by which we
are dependant upon the British Crown and Government; but is totally
incompatible with the Privileges of a free People, and the natural
Rights of Mankind; will render our own Legislatures merely nominal
and nugatory, and is calculated to reduce us from a State of Freedom
and Happiness to Slavery and Misery.
6. Resolved that Taxation and Representation are in their Nature
inseperable; that the Right of withholding, or of giving and granting
their own Money is the only effectual Security to a free People,
against the Incroachments of Despotism and Tyranny; and that whenever
they yield the One, they must quickly fall a Prey to the other.
7. Resolved that the Powers over the People of America now claimed by
the British House of Commons, in whose Election we have no Share, on
whose Determinations we can have no Influence, whose Information mush
be always defective and often false, who in many Instances may have a
seperate, and in some an opposite Interest to ours, and who are
removed from those Impressions of tenderness and compassion arising
from personal intercourse and Connections, which soften the Rigours
of the most despotic Governments, must if continued, establish the
most grievous and intollerable Species of Tyranny and Oppression,
that ever was inflicted upon Mankind.
8. Resolved that it is our greatest Wish and Inclination, as well as
Interest, to continue our Connection with, and Dependance upon the
British Government; but tho' we are it's Subjects, we will use every
Means which Heaven hath given us to prevent our becoming it's Slaves.
9. Resolved that there is a premeditated Design and System, formed
and pursued by the British Ministry, to introduce an arbitrary
Government into his Majesty's American Diminions; to which End they
are artfully prejudicing our Sovereign, and inflaming the Minds of
our fellow-Subjects in Great Britain, by propagating the most
malevolent Falsehoods; particularly that there is an Intention in the
American Colonies to set up for independant States; endeavouring at
the same Time, by various Acts of Violence and Oppression, by sudden
and repeated Dissolutions of our Assemblies, whenever they presume to
examine the Illegality of ministerial Mandates, or deliberate on the
violated Rights of their Constituents, and by breaking in upon the
American Charters, to reduce us to a State of Desperation, and
dissolve the original Compacts by which our Ancestors bound
themselves and their Posterity to remain dependant upon the British
Crown: which Measures, unless effectually counteracted, will end in
the Ruin both of Great Britain and her Colonies.
10. Resolved that the several Acts of Parliament for raising a
Revenue upon the People of America without their Consent, the
creating new and dangerous Jurisdictions here, the taking away our
Trials by Jurys, the ordering Persons upon Criminal Accusations, to
be tried in another Country than that in which the Fact is charged to
have been committed, the Act inflicting ministerial Vengeance upon
the Town of Boston, and the two Bills lately brought into Parliament
for abrogating the Charter of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and
for the Protection and Encouragement of Murderers in the said
Province, are Part of the above mentioned iniquitous System. That the
Inhabitants of the Town of Boston are now suffering in the common
Cause of all British America, and are justly entitled to it's Support
and Assistance; and therefore that a Subscription ought imediatly to
be opened, and proper Persons appointed, in every County of this
Colony to purchase Provisions, and consign them to some Gentleman of
Character in Boston, to be distributed among the poorer Sort of
People there.
11. Resolved that we will cordially join with our Friends and
Brethren of this and the other Colonies, in such Measures as shall be
judged most effectual for procuring Redress of our Grievances, and
that upon obtaining such Redress if the Destruction of the Tea at
Boston be regarded as an Invasion of private Property, we shall be
willing to contribute towards paying the East India Company the
Value: but as we consider the said Company as the Tools and
Instrument of Oppression in the Hands of Government and the Cause of
our present Distress, it is the Opinion of this Meeting that the
People of these Colonies shou'd forbear all further Dealings with
them, by refusing to purchase their Merchandize, until that Peace
Safety and Good- order, which they have disturbed, be perfectly
restored. And that all Tea now in this Colony, or which shall be
imported into it shiped before the first Day of September next,
shou'd be deposited in some Store-house to be appointed by the
respective Committees of each County, until a sufficient Sum of Money
be raised by Subscription to reimburse the Owners the Value, and then
to be publickly burn'd and destroyed; and if the same is not paid for
and destroyed as aforesaid, that it remain in the Custody of the said
Committees, at the Risque of the Owners, until the Act of Parliament
imposing a Duty upon Tea for raising a Revenue in America be
repealed; and imediatly afterwards be delivered unto the several
Proprietors thereof, their Agents or Attorneys.
12. Resolved that Nothing will so much contribute to defeat the
pernicious Designs of the common Enemies of Great Britain and her
Colonies as a firm Union of the latter; who ought to regard every Act
of Violence or Oppression inflicted upon any one of them, as aimed at
all; and to effect this desireable Purpose, that a Congress shou'd be
appointed, to consist of Deputies from all the Colonies, to concert a
general and uniform Plan for the Defence and Preservation of our
common Rights, and continueing the Connection and Dependance of the
said Colonies upon Great Britain under a just, lenient, permanent,
and constitutional Form of Government.
13. Resolved that our most sincere and cordial Thanks be given to the
Patrons and Friends of Liberty in Great Britain, for their spirited
and patriotick Conduct in Support of our constitutional Rights and
Privileges, and their generous Efforts to prevent the present
Distress and Calamity of America.
14. Resolved that every little jarring Interest and Dispute, which
has ever happened between these Colonies, shou'd be buried in eternal
Oblivion; that all Manner of Luxury and Extravagance ought imediatly
to be laid aside, as totally inconsistent with the threatening and
gloomy Prospect before us; that it is the indispensable Duty of all
the Gentlemen and Men of Fortune to set Examples of Temperance,
Fortitude, Frugality and Industry; and give every Encouragement in
their Power, particularly by Subscriptions and Premiums, to the
Improvement of Arts and Manufactures in America; that great Care and
Attention shou'd be had to the Cultivation of Flax, Cotton, and other
Materials for Manufactures; and we recommend it to such of the
Inhabitants who have large Stocks of Sheep, to sell to their
Neighbors at a moderate Price, as the most certain Means of speedily
increasing our Breed of Sheep, and Quantity of Wool.
15. Resolved that until American Grievances be redressed, by
Restoration of our just Rights and Privileges, no Goods or
Merchandize whatsoever ought to be imported into this Colony, which
shall be shiped from Great Britain or Ireland after the first Day of
September next, except Linnens not exceeding fifteen Pence {per}
yard, coarse woolen Cloth, not exceeding two Shillings sterling {per}
Yard, Nails Wire, and Wire-Cards, Needles & Pins, Paper, Salt Petre,
and Medecines; which may {which three Articles only may} be imported
until the first Day of September, one thousand seven hundred and
seventy six; and if any Goods or Merchandize, othe[r] than those
hereby excepted, shou'd be ship'd from Great Britain, {or Ireland}
after the time aforesaid, to this Colony, that the same, immediately
upon their Arrival, shou'd either be sent back again, by the Owners
their Agents or Attorn[ey]s, or stored and deposited in some Ware-
house, to be appointed by the Committee for each respective County,
and there kept, at the Risque and Charge of the Owners, to be
delivered to them, when a free Importation of Goods hither shall
again take Place. And that the Merchants and Venders of Goods and
Merchandize within this Colony ought not to take Advantage of our
present Distress b[u]t continue to sell the Goods and Merchandize
which they now have, or which may be shiped to them before the first
Day of September next, at the same Rates and Prices they have been
accustomed to do, within one Year last past; and if any Person shall
sell such Goods on any other Terms than above expressed, that no
Inhabitant of this Colony shou'd at any time, for ever thereafter,
deal with him, his Agent, Factor, or Store keepers for any Commodity
whatsoever.
16. Resolved that it is the Opinion of this Meeting, that the
Merchants and Venders of Goods and Merchandize within this Colony
shou'd take an Oath, not to sell or dispose of any Goods or
Merchandize whatsoever, which may be shiped from Great Britain {or
Ireland} after the first Day of September next as aforesaid, except
the {three} Articles before excepted, and that they will, upon
Receipt of such prohibited Goods, either send the same back again by
the first Opportunity, or deliver them to the Committees in the
respective Countys, to be deposited in some Warehouse, at the Risque
and Charge of the Owners, until they, their Agents or Factors be
permitted to take them away by the said Committees: the Names of
those who refuse to take such Oath to be advertized by the respective
Committees in the Countys wherein they reside., And to the End that
the Inhabitants of this Colony may know what Merchants, and Venders
of Goods and Merchandize have taken such Oath, that the respective
Committees shou'd grant a Certificate thereof to every such Person
who shall take the same.
17. Resolved that it is the Opinion of this Meeting, that during our
present Difficulties and Distress, no Slaves ought to be imported
into any of the British Colonies on this Continent; and we take this
Opportunity of declaring our most earnest Wishes to see an entire
Stop for ever put to such a wicked cruel and unnatural Trade.
18. Resolved that no kind of Lumber shou'd be exported from this
Colony to the West Indies, until America be restored to her
constitutional Rights and Liberties if the other Colonies will accede
to a like Resolution; and that it be recommended to the general
Congress to appoint as early a Day as possible for stopping such Export.
19. Resolved that it is the Opinion of this Meeting, if American
Grievances be not redressed before the first Day of November one
thousand seven hundred and seventy five, that all Exports of Produce
from the several Colonies to Great Britain {or Ireland} shou'd cease;
and to carry the said Resolution more effectually into Execution,
that we will not plant or cultivate any Tobacco, after the Crop now
growing; provided the same Measure shall be adopted by the other
Colonies on this Continent, as well those who have heretofore made
Tobacco, as those who have n[o]t. And it is our Opinion also, if the
Congress of Deputies from the several Colonies shall adopt the
Measure of Non- exportation to Great Britain, as the People will be
thereby disabled from paying their Debts, that no Judgements shou'd
be rendered by the Courts in the said Colonies for any Debt, after
Information of the said Measure's being determined upon.
20. Resolved that it is the Opinion of this Meeting that a solemn
Covenant and Association shou'd be entered into by the Inhabitants of
all the Colonies upon Oath, that they will not, after the Times which
shall be respectively agreed on at the general Congress, export any
Manner of Lumber to the West Indies, nor any of their Produce to
Great Britain {or Ireland}, or sell or dispose of the same to any
Person who shall not have entered into the said Covenant and
Association; and also that they will no import or receive any Goods
or Merchandize which shall be ship'd from Great Britain {or Ireland}
after the first Day of September next, other than the before
enumerated Articles, nor buy or purchase any Goods, except as before
excepted, of any Person whatsoever, who shall not have taken the Oath
herein before recommended to be taken by the Merchants and Venders of
Goods nor buy or purchase any Slaves hereafter imported into any Part
of this Continent until a free Exportation and Importation be again
resolved on by a Majority of the Representatives or Deputies of the
Colonies. And that the respective Committees of the Countys, in each
Colony so soon as the Covenant and Association becomes general,
publich by Advertisements in their several Counties {and Gazettes of
their Colonies}, a List of the Names of those (if any such there be)
who will not accede thereto; that such Traitors to their Country may
be publickly known and detested.
21. Resolved that it is the Opinion of this Meeting, that this and
the other associating Colonies shou'd break off all Trade,
Intercourse, and Dealings, with that Colony Province or Town which
shall decline or refuse to agree to the Plan which shall be adopted
by the general Congress.
22. Resolved that shou'd the Town of Boston be forced to submit to
the late cruel and oppressive Measures of Government, that we shall
not hold the same to be binding upon us, but will, notwithstanding ,
religiously maintain, and inviolably adhere to such Measures as shall
be concerted by the general Congress, for the preservation of our
Lives Liberties and Fortunes.
23. Resolved that it be recommended to the Deputies of the general
Congress to draw up and transmit an humble and dutiful Petition and
Remonstrance to his Majesty, asserting with decent Firmness our just
and constitutional Rights and Privileg[es,] lamenting the fatal
Necessity of being compelled to enter into Measur[es] disgusting to
his Majesty and his Parliament, or injurious to our fellow Subjects
in Great Britain; declaring, in the strongest Terms, ou[r] Duty and
Affection to his Majesty's Person, Family [an]d Government, and our
Desire to continue our Dependance upon Great Bri[tai]n; and most
humbly conjuring and besecching his Majesty, not to reduce his
faithful Subjects of America to a State of desperation, and to
reflect, that from our Sovereign there can be but one Appeal. And it
is the Opinion of this Meeting, that after such Petition and
Remonstrance shall have been presented to his Majesty, the same
shou'd be printed in the public Papers, in all the principal Towns in
Great Britain.
24. Resolved that George Washington Esquire, and George Broadwater
Gent. lately elected our Representatives to serve in the general
Assembly, be appointed to attend the Convention at Williamsburg on
the first Day of August next, and present these Resolves, as the
Sense of the People of this County, upon the Measures proper to be
taken in the present alarming and dangerous Situation of America.
=====
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1238.html
Colonial America
Fairfax Resolves
July 1774
The seemingly more genteel Southern colonies had long regarded
Massachusetts as the home of sharp Yankee traders, sanctimonious
religious zealots and intemperate political radicals. Those
perceptions were changed in early 1774 when Parliament began imposing
the Coercive Acts as punishment for the Boston Tea Party and other
acts of defiance. With the Bay Colony singled out for stern
treatment, many of its neighbors adopted a much more sympathetic view.
George Mason
One such response occurred in Virginia. On July 17, 1774, George
Mason and Patrick Henry visited George Washington at Mount Vernon to
discuss the emerging American plight. A statement was drafted,
largely the work of Mason, that became known as the Fairfax Resolves.
This short document provided the following:
* a concise summary of American constitutional concerns on such
issues as taxation, representation, judicial power, military matters
and the colonial economy
* a proposal for the creation of a nonimportation effort to be
levied against British goods
* a call for a general congress of the colonies to convene for
the purpose of preserving the Americans’ rights as Englishmen
* a condemnation of the practice of importing slaves as an
“unnatural trade;” its termination was urged
* a veiled threat was aired in the reminder that the colonists
were “Descendants not of the Conquered, but of the Conquerors.”
On the following day, July 18, the Resolves were endorsed by a
Fairfax County convention, a public protest meeting staged at the
local courthouse with Washington presiding. In short order the
resolutions were taken on to the House of Burgesses and the
Continental Congress.
The Fairfax Resolves summarized the feelings of many colonists in
mid-1774 — a conviction that their constitutional rights were being
violated by British policies, but no mention of independence was made
and only a hint of support for armed resistance was offered. The
Resolves also marked a step forward in inter-colonial cooperation as
more Americans began to realize that a threat against one colony was
a threat against all. Finally, political rivalries in Virginia were
muted to some degree, allowing such figures as Washington and Mason
to work productively with the more radical Henry, Richard Henry Lee
and others.=
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