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About 250 Years Ago … Battle of Kings Mountain

The Battle of Kings Mountain took place on October 7, 1780. The “mountain” is a sixteen-mile ridge that crosses the border of North and South Carolina.

About five miles from the battle is the town of Kings Mountain, in North Carolina. The town was named in honor of the revolutionary battle, which was a Patriot victory.

It was not only a Patriot victory, but an important turning point in the American Revolution.

However, this battle (like Moore’s Creek Bridge early in the war) was a fight between Patriots and Loyalists—a civil war, if you will. The only British soldier was Major Patrick Ferguson, the commander, who died in the conflict.

Major Patrick Ferguson, a respected and twice-wounded commander, had been tapped to go into the Carolinas, guarding the left flank of General Cornwallis’s army as it moved northwest.

The “Overmountain” militias (men from the west side of the Appalachians, located in what is now Tennessee and Kentucky as well as the Carolinas) were led by capable commanders such as Isaac Shelby and John Sevier. They decided to take on Ferguson’s troops.

Some of their soldiers were 100 miles away when the army was being gathered, but they rode overnight to reach the other Patriots.

They were farmers and hunters who used rifles rather than the muskets typically used by the British army.

Joined by Virginians as they responded to the call for Patriot soldiers, the militias added more soldiers as they crossed the mountains.

William S. Powell writes that when he heard about the Overmountain men, “Ferguson laughed at this ragtag band, which he pretended to despise—he called it ‘a set of mongrels.’”

The Battle of Kings Mountain ended a string of British wins as the British moved through the Carolinas. Making the battle a success for the Patriots. (Information here is from North Carolina History, the video is Kings Mountain: The Revolutionary War in Four Minutes posted on YouTube by American Battlefield Trust.)

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About 250 Years Ago … Benedict Arnold

In the early years of the Revolutionary War, Benedict Arnold was one of George Washington’s most accomplished field generals.

His legacy today is quite different, with Arnold branded the most notorious traitor in American history, after a failed gambit to trade the vital American outpost at West Point for cash resulted in his defection to the British side.

A pharmacist by trade, he was short, solidly built (one acquaintance remembered that “there wasn’t any wasted timber in him”) and blessed with almost superhuman energy and endurance. He was handsome and charismatic, with black hair, gray eyes and an aquiline nose, and he carried himself with the lissome elegance of a natural athlete.

He was born in 1741. The first Benedict Arnold had been one of the colony’s founders, and subsequent generations had helped to establish the Arnolds as solid and respected citizens.

But Arnold’s father, who had settled in Norwich, Connecticut, proved to be a drunkard; only after his son moved to New Haven could he begin to free himself from the ignominy of his childhood. By his mid-30s he had had enough success as an apothecary and a seagoing merchant to begin building one of the finest homes in town.

From the first, he distinguished himself as one of New Haven’s more vocal and combative patriots. On hearing of the Boston Massacre, he thundered, “Good God, are the Americans all asleep and tamely giving up their glorious liberties?”

When in April 1775 he learned of the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, he seized a portion of New Haven’s gunpowder supply and marched north with a company of volunteers. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, he convinced Dr. Joseph Warren and the Massachusetts Committee of Safety to authorize an expedition to capture Fort Ticonderoga in New York State and its 80 or more cannons. (Smithsonian)

Benedict Arnold was part of the command (with Ethan Allen) of the Green Mountain Boys.  He created a navy for Lake Champlain, battled the British at Valcour Island, and burned the boats in what is now Arnold Bay during retreat from that battle, effectively stopping the British from gaining a foothold in the area.

Arnold’s forces eventually clashed with the British at Fort Ticonderoga – nestled along the shores of Lake Champlain in northern New York – capturing valuable artillery stores. He achieved this with relative ease, providing the Continental Army with its first victory of the war and a desperately needed boost of confidence.

The heavy cannons taken by Arnold proved instrumental in ending the Siege of Boston the following year. His exploits, however, were not without cost; he suffered the first of two serious leg injuries during a failed attack on British-occupied Quebec, Canada.

By early 1777, Arnold was back in the field, leading his troops in a blocking action against a British advance in Connecticut. The enemy force, commanded by William Tryon, the British Governor of New York and recently appointed general, was acting on intelligence from a British spy about a suspected Continental Army weapons depot.

The British achieved their objectives but at great cost, suffering twice as many casualties as the Americans in the ensuing skirmish. Arnold narrowly escaped death, having two horses shot out from under him on the battlefield.

Arnold was also instrumental in the historic American triumph at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. By virtue of his bravery and exceptional leadership, his men prevailed against a formidable army commanded by one of England’s brashest generals.

The lopsided victory at Saratoga, resulting in the surrender of thousands of British soldiers, was a turning point in the Revolutionary War, emboldening France to formally enter the war and strike a decisive alliance with America.

Arnold did not escape the battle unharmed, suffering a severe wound in the same leg he injured earlier. To facilitate his recuperation, Washington appointed him Military Governor of Philadelphia.

Brewing Troubles

Arnold’s patriotism and battlefield exploits earned him little reward. Though the British surrender at Saratoga was hailed throughout the colonies, other officers took credit for Arnold’s tactical success and diminished his role.

As a further insult, Congress refused to promote Arnold in rank, elevating several junior officers above him.

It is not clear when 37-year-old Benedict Arnold first met 18-year-old Peggy Shippen; however, on September 25, 1778, he wrote her a love letter—much of it an exact copy of one he’d sent to another woman six months before.

But in September 1778 he did not yet have the money he needed to maintain Peggy in the style to which she was accustomed.

There was also the matter of the Shippens’ politics.  They might not be outright loyalists, but they had a decided distaste for the radical patriots who were waging an undeclared war on Philadelphia’s upper classes now that the British had gone.

Given Arnold’s interest in Edward Shippen’s daughter and his lifelong desire to acquire the wealth his bankrupt father had denied him, it is not surprising that he embraced the city’s marginalized nobility with a vengeance. (Smithsonian)

As Arnold gradually became more disaffected, his wife, Margaret “Peggy” Shippen, was immersing herself in lavish spending, deeply indebting the general. Adding to the swirl of troubles, Arnold faced a court-martial on charges of misconduct and financial impropriety.

Though he was largely exonerated, he received a stinging rebuke from Washington, fanning a deep-seated resentment. Bitter, indignant, and desperate for money, Arnold decided to turn away from his country, brokering a secret agreement to begin spying for the British.

In 1780, Washington summoned Arnold to rejoin the Army as a top commander, but the disillusioned general had other plans. He requested and was granted command of the American defenses along the Hudson River at West Point. The fortified outpost held much strategic value, controlling lines of communication and transportation between New England and the rest of the country.

Arnold is usually credited with coming up with the idea himself, but there are reasons to think the decision to turn traitor originated with Peggy. Certainly the timing is suspect, following so soon after their marriage.

Arnold was bitter, but even he had to admit that the Revolution had catapulted him from the fringes of respectability in New Haven to the national stage. Peggy, on the other hand, regarded the Revolution as a disaster from the start.

By marrying Peggy, Arnold had attached himself to a woman who knew how to get what she wanted. When her father had initially refused to allow her to marry Arnold, she had used her seeming frailty – her fits, her hysteria, whatever you wanted to call it – to manipulate him into agreeing to the engagement for fear that she might otherwise suffer irreparable harm. Now she would get her way with her equally indulgent husband.

On September 21, 1780, Revolutionary War hero Benedict Arnold turned his back on his country in a secret meeting with a top British official.

Arnold proposed to turn over West Point in exchange for a large payment. For the revolutionaries, holding West Point meant preventing the British from controlling the Hudson River and dividing the colonies in two.

He offered an additional lure, the potential capture of George Washington during a planned visit. The British readily agreed.

Arnold’s Treachery Discovered

Arnold began discreetly weakening the stronghold while surreptitiously reporting to André on troop strength, planned movements, and defensive positions. After returning from one of their secret meetings, André was captured and searched by local American militia, who discovered documents implicating Arnold.

Alerted that André had been captured, Arnold fled West Point and managed to reach the HMS Vulture, a British warship nearby. He wrote to Washington, requesting safe passage to Philadelphia for his wife. Washington acquiesced, unaware of her involvement in Arnold’s scheming.

As for André, Washington ordered the captured British officer hanged as a spy. This came after an offer from Washington, proposing to exchange André for Arnold, was rejected by his British counterpart.

Arnold was soon rewarded by the British with a commission as a brigadier general. After clashing with redcoats for years, he would soon be leading them against his former comrades.

In the aftermath of the betrayal, Washington ordered his cavalry commander, Major Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee (the father of future Confederate commander Robert E. Lee) to plan the capture of Arnold from New York City.

Weeks after Arnold’s flight, the handpicked John Champe, Lee’s Sergeant Major, posed as a defecting Continental soldier and joined British forces in New York. From there, aided by local spies, he planned to abduct Arnold and return him to American lines.  A last-minute transfer saved Arnold, allowing the turncoat to elude Champe, who eventually returned to the American lines.

Three months later, Arnold led 1,600 men of the American Legion – mostly Loyalist troops and Continental Army deserters – to Richmond, Virginia’s capital, which was defended by only a small handful of volunteers.

After being chased off by Arnold’s men, Governor Thomas Jefferson offered a bounty of 5,000 gold coins for the capture of the former American general.

Arnold survived the war and moved with his wife Peggy to England, where he lived out the remainder of his life, mistrusted even by the British and consigned to relative obscurity. He died in London in 1801. (National Intelligence)

Click the following link to a general summary about Benedict Arnold:

Click to access Benedict-Arnold.pdf

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … Battles of Saratoga

The failure of the American invasion of Canada in 1775–76 left a large surplus of British troops along the St. Lawrence River. In 1777 these troops were to move south for an attack on Albany, New York.

In 1777, British strategy called for a three-pronged attack seeking to gain military control of the strategically important Hudson River Valley, with three separate groups converging near Albany.

By August, British General John Burgoyne had captured Fort Ticonderoga, defeated fleeing American troops at Hubbardton (Vermont) and occupied Fort Edward, on the edge of the Hudson River. After a contingent of Burgoyne’s troops was defeated in the Battle of Bennington, his reduced forces marched south toward Saratoga in early September.

To disrupt the British advance south, Gates had his troops erect defenses on the crest of Bemis Heights, a series of bluffs from which both the Hudson River and the road can be seen. From there, American artillery had the range to hit both the river and the road.

The Americans also erected a fortified wall a little less than a mile from Bemis Heights. The wall extended about three-quarters of a mile, creating a line shaped like a large “L”. Twenty-two cannons were placed behind this defense, providing the Americans with artillery cover.

The two armies engaged in combat at Freeman’s Farm on September 19. While the British held off the Americans, their losses were great. Burgoyne’s battered forces dug trenches and waited for reinforcements, but none came.

Following intense fighting with the Continental Army in September, at Freeman’s Farm, the British Army fortified themselves behind two defensive redoubts (protective barriers) – the larger, better-defended Balcarres Redoubt and the weaker Breymann Redoubt. American forces, led by General Benedict Arnold, managed to take the Breymann Redoubt, which gave them a strong position behind the British lines.

Benedict Arnold galloped into the fray and rallied the Americans in the attack on the Breymann Redoubt. A fellow officer in the Continental Line said that Arnold “behaved more like a madman than a cool and discreet officer.” During this engagement, he sustained a serious wound in his left leg.

By early evening, the Americans secured possession of the Breymann Redoubt and gained a tactical advantage, as it was the far right flank of the British lines.

From here the Americans could easily get behind British lines. Realizing their plight, the British pulled back into their Great Redoubt near the river and held out for several weeks. (Battlefields)

On October 7, Burgoyne launched a second, unsuccessful attack on the Americans at Bemis Heights.  On the morning of October 8, General John Burgoyne’s army attempted to escape north, but a cold, hard rain forced them to stop and encamp near the town of Saratoga. Cold, hungry and weary, they dug in and prepared to defend themselves, but within two days the Americans had them surrounded.

With no means of escape, Burgoyne eventually surrendered to Gates on October 17. (Battlefields)

Why was it important?

American troops battled and beat a British invasion force, marking the first time in world history that a British Army ever surrendered. (NPS)  It was one of the most decisive American battles of the Revolutionary War.

Saratoga was unquestionably the greatest victory yet won by the Continental Army in terms of prisoners and captured arms and equipment. Nearly 6,000 enemy soldiers were taken, along with 42 cannon and massive quantities of stores. (Army-mil)

Following the American victory, morale among American troops was high. With Burgoyne’s surrender of his entire army to Gates, the Americans scored a decisive victory that finally persuaded the French to sign a treaty allying with the United States against Britain, France’s traditional enemy.

The entrance of France into the war, along with its financial and military support, in particular its navy, was in the end crucial to Washington’s victory at the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781, which effectively ended the war.

But the French were not alone in supporting the Americans following the Battle of Saratoga. The Spanish and later the Dutch provided support as well, eager to seize the opportunity to weaken their British rival.

It also had a direct impact on the career of General George Washington.  Without the victory at Saratoga, American forces would likely not have received critical assistance from the French, and faith in the war effort would have been weakened.

On a personal side note, I am a descendant of Israel Moseley (he is my 4th Great Grandfather).  Israel Moseley was a Patriot who fought in the American Revolution.  Born in 1743, Israel graduated from Yale in 1766.

He served as a private in Captain Daniel Sacket’s company, Colonel Woodbridge’s regiment from August 20 to October 23, 1777 in the Northern department.  He fought in the Battles of Saratoga.

Click the following links to general summaries about the Battles of Saratoga:

Click to access Battles-of-Saratoga-1777-SAR-RT.pdf

Click to access Battles-of-Saratoga.pdf

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … US Constitution

The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the first constitution of the United States, on November 15, 1777.

The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the functions of the national government of the United States after it declared independence from Great Britain. It established a weak central government that mostly, but not entirely, prevented the individual states from conducting their own foreign diplomacy.

Congress sent the Articles to the states for ratification at the end of November. Most delegates realized that the Articles were a flawed compromise, but believed that it was better than an absence of formal national government.

On December 16, 1777, Virginia was the first state to ratify. Other states ratified during the early months of 1778.  The Maryland legislature was the last to ratify the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781.

The weakness of this confederation became increasingly apparent when the War for Independence was over and the staggering debt repayment, which Congress under the Articles could proportionally assess but not directly collect, became a point of conflict between the states and a source of intense domestic strife within several of the states.  (Williams)

Congress Tried to Revise the Articles of Confederation

The states’ disputes over territory, war pensions, taxation, and trade threatened to tear the young country apart. Alexander Hamilton helped convince Congress to organize a Constitutional Convention.

The Constitutional Convention assembled in Philadelphia in May of 1787. The delegates shuttered the windows of the State House and swore secrecy so they could speak freely.

Although they had gathered to revise the Articles of Confederation, by mid-June they had decided to completely redesign the government. There was little agreement about what form it would take.

One of the fiercest arguments was over congressional representation – should it be based on population or divided equally among the states? The framers compromised by giving each state one representative for every 30,000 people in the House of Representatives and two representatives in the Senate.

On July 26, 1787, after two months of fierce debate over the structure and powers of a new federal government, the Constitutional Convention was ready to commit its resolutions to writing. Appointing a “committee of detail” to draft a written constitution, the Convention adjourned until August 6.

After five weeks of debate over the committee of detail’s draft Constitution, the Constitutional Convention appointed a committee of style to prepare a final version; Gouverneur Morris, later known as the “penman of the Constitution,” did most of the work.

The state delegates approved the draft of the Constitution on September 15, 1787. The signing was set for the very next Monday.

Jacob Shallus, the assistant clerk for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, agreed to engross (copy in a fine, clear hand) the document. Over the course of about 40 hours, he created an accurate transcription of the draft. He was paid $30 for his efforts. On September 17, the document was ready for signing.

Thirty-nine of the 42 men present signed the Constitution. George Washington was first, followed by each state delegation descending from north to south.  (George Reed signed for John Dickinson of Delaware, who was absent.)

George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, and Edmund Randolph refused to sign because the Constitution lacked a bill of rights. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams did not sign because they were on diplomatic missions in Europe during the convention, bringing the total number of signatures to 39.

The founders set the terms for ratifying the Constitution. They bypassed the state legislatures, reasoning that their members would be reluctant to give up power to a national government. Instead, they called for special ratifying conventions in each state. Ratification by 9 of the 13 states enacted the new government. But at the time, only 6 of 13 states reported a pro-Constitution majority.

The Continental Congress Institutes a New Government

By the summer of 1788, enough states had ratified the Constitution, and the Confederation delegates who were preoccupied in their home states came back to New York for the last few months of the government under the first Constitution, the Articles of Confederation.

There was much haggling that summer over whether Congress should admit Kentucky as a state or leave that issue to the new government. They debated incessantly over the seat of the First Congress, a question left for the new federal Congress itself to resolve.

They even debated whether another constitutional convention should be called to address the question of a bill of rights and other amendments, with both New York and Virginia calling for such a convention.

On July 2, 1788, Congress received the momentous news that New Hampshire had just become the ninth state to ratify the new Constitution, making it the law of the land.

Congress responded by appointing a committee to schedule the first federal elections and fix the date when the new government would begin operation in New York City. This was the last major act of the Continental Congress.

James Madison, George Washington, and other Federalists resolved to win the first federal elections to ensure that their vision of the new Constitution would have a fighting chance to succeed.

George Washington hoped the First Congress would find a way to deal with the proposed constitutional amendments “without overturning the whole system.” He concluded: “I earnestly pray that the Omnipotent Being who hath not deserted the cause of America in the hour of its extremest hazard, will never yield so fair a heritage of freedom a prey to anarchy or despotism.”

Only thirteen House members, representing five of the eleven states that had ratified the Constitution by March 4, showed up for the opening session. The Senate, too, failed to achieve a quorum. Both bodies adjourned in less than an hour, and the guns sounded again and the crowds cheered again, but the members themselves were disappointed in the anticlimax of their first day under the new Constitution.

What Does the Constitution Say?

The Constitution of the United States contains a preamble and seven articles that describe the way the government is structured and how it operates.

The preamble sets the stage for the Constitution. It clearly communicates the intentions of the framers and the purpose of the document. The preamble is an introduction to the highest law of the land; it is not the law. It does not define government powers or individual rights.

Establish Justice is the first of five objectives outlined in the 52-word paragraph that the Framers drafted in six weeks during the hot Philadelphia summer of 1787. They found a way to agree on the following basic principles:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

The first three articles establish the three branches of government and their powers: Legislative (Congress), Executive (office of the President,) and Judicial (Federal court system). A system of checks and balances prevents any one of these separate powers from becoming dominant.

Article I assigns the responsibility for making laws to the Legislative Branch (Congress). Congress is divided into two parts, or “Houses,” the House of Representatives and the Senate. The bicameral Congress was a compromise between the large states, which wanted representation based on population, and the small ones, which wanted the states to have equal representation.

Article II details the Executive Branch and the offices of the President and Vice President. It lays down rules for electing the President (through the Electoral College), eligibility (must be a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old), and term length. The 12th and 25th Amendments modified some of these rules.

Article III establishes the Judicial Branch with the U.S. Supreme Court as the federal court system’s highest court. It specifies that Federal judges be appointed for life unless they commit a serious crime. This article is shorter than Articles I and II. The Federal Convention left much of the work of planning the court system to the First Congress. The 1789 Judiciary Act created the three-tiered court system in place today.

Articles four through seven describe the relationship of the states to the Federal Government, establish the Constitution as the supreme law of the land, and define the amendment and ratification processes.

Article IV outlines states’ powers in relationship to each other. States have the authority to create and enforce their own laws but must respect and help enforce the laws of other states. Congress may pass Federal laws regarding how states honor other states’ laws and records.

Article V explains the amendment process, which is different and more difficult than the process for making laws. When two-thirds of the Senate and two-thirds of the House of Representatives vote to change the Constitution, an amendment goes to the state legislatures for a vote. Alternatively, two-thirds of the state legislatures can submit an application to Congress, and then Congress calls a national convention at which states propose amendments. Three-fourths of the state legislatures or state conventions must vote in favor of an amendment to ratify it.

Article VI states that Federal law is supreme, or higher than, state and local laws. This means that if a state law conflicts with a Federal law, Federal law takes precedence.

Article VII describes the ratification process for the Constitution. It called for special state ratifying conventions. Nine states were required to enact the Constitution. Rhode Island became the 13th state to ratify the Constitution in 1790.

To date, the Constitution has been amended 27 times, most recently in 1992.

Click the following link to a general summary about the US Constitution:

Click to access US-Constitution.pdf

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

About 250 Years Ago … First Continental Congress

In 1774, the British Parliament passed a series of laws collectively known as the Intolerable Acts, with the intent to suppress unrest in colonial Boston by closing the port and placing it under martial law. In response, colonial protestors led by a group called the Sons of Liberty issued a call for a boycott.

Merchant communities were reluctant to participate in such a boycott unless there were mutually agreed upon terms and a means to enforce the boycott’s provisions.

Across North America, colonists rose in solidarity with the people of Massachusetts. Goods arrived in Massachusetts from as far south as Georgia, and by late spring 1774, nine of the colonies called for a continental congress. Virginia’s Committee of Correspondence is largely credited with originating the invitation.  The colony of Connecticut was the first to respond.

Colonial legislatures empowered delegates to attend a Continental Congress which would set terms for a boycott.  The colonies elected delegates to the First Continental Congress in various ways.  Some delegates were elected through their respective colonial legislatures or committees of correspondence.

The Congress first convened in Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 5, 1774, with delegates from each of the 13 colonies except Georgia.   (Georgia was facing a war with neighboring Native American tribes and the colony did not want to jeopardize British assistance.)

As delegates pondered the fate of Massachusetts, Joseph Warren and a committee of men from Suffolk County, Massachusetts, formulate a plan of resistance. Proposed on September 9, 1774 and, speaking with one voice, the delegates unanimously endorse the document on September 17, their first official act.

This plan encouraged Massachusetts to protest the Intolerable Acts by stockpiling military supplies, operating an independent government, boycotting British goods, and announcing no allegiance to Britain and a king who failed to consider the wishes of the colonists.

Reaction to these Resolves was mixed. While some supported such a bold proposal and felt it was an appropriate reaction to the British, others feared it would cause war.

Debate was later stalled for weeks while a statement of American rights was debated at length. Producing this statement required answering constitutional questions that had been asked for over a century.

The hardest constitutional question surrounded Britain’s right to regulate trade. Joseph Galloway, a conservative delegate from Pennsylvania, insisted on releasing a statement clarifying Britain’s right to regulate trade in the American colonies. However, other delegates were opposed to giving Britain explicit rights to colonial trade.

During this debate, Galloway introduced A Plan of Union between the American Colonies and Britain. The Plan of Union called for the creation of a Colonial Parliament that would work hand-in-hand with the British Parliament. The British monarch would appoint a President General and the colonial assemblies would appoint delegates for a three-year term. Galloway’s plan was defeated in a 6-5 vote.

On October 14, 1774, the First Continental Congress adopted their Declaration and Resolves.  This stated the group’s objections to the Coercive Acts, listed the rights of the colonists, and itemized objections to British rule beyond the Intolerable Acts.

The list of rights insisted that Colonists were “entitled to life, liberty, and property” and “that foundation of English liberty, and of all free government, is a right in the people to participate in their legislative council;”

Furthermore, the delegates promptly began drafting and discussing the Continental Association. This would become their most important policy outcome.  The Continental Association, adopted October 20, 1774, reaffirmed the Colonists’ British connections and allegiance to the King,

The Association called for an end to British imports starting in December 1774 and an end to exporting goods to Britain in September 1775. This policy would be enforced by local and colony-wide committees of inspection.

These committees would check ships that arrived in ports, force colonists to sign documents pledging loyalty to the Continental Association, and suppress mob violence. The committees of inspection even enforced frugality, going so far as to end lavish funeral services and parties. Many colonial leaders hoped these efforts would bond the colonies together economically.

Virginia secured the Continental Association’s delay in ending exports to Britain. Before the Continental Congress, Virginia had passed its own association that delayed ending exports to avoid hurting farmers with a sudden change in policy. The delegates from Virginia showed up to the Continental Congress united, and refused to waiver on the issue of delaying the ban on exports to Britain.

The idea of using non-importation as leverage was neither new nor unexpected. Prior to the Continental Congress, eight colonies had already endorsed the measure and merchants had been warned against placing any orders with Britain, as a ban on importation was likely to pass.

Some colonies had already created their own associations to ban importation and, in some cases, exportation. The Virginia Association had passed at the Virginia Convention with George Washington in attendance.

Washington’s support of using non-importation as leverage against the British can be traced back as far as 1769 in letters between him and George Mason. When the colonies first started publicly supporting non-importation, Bryan Fairfax, a longtime friend of Washington’s, wrote to him urging him to not support the Continental Association and to instead petition Parliament.

Many delegates felt that using the Continental Association as leverage would be impractical without explicit demands and a plan of redress. However, Congress struggled to come up with a list of rights, grievances, and demands.

Furthermore, to only repeal laws that were unfavorable to the delegates without a list of rights would be a temporary fix to the larger issue of continued British abuse. To address these issues, Congress formed a Grand Committee.

Finally, at the end of the First Continental Congress, the delegates adopted a Petition addressed to “The King’s Most Excellent Majesty” on October 26, 1774.  In noted, in part,

“Your majesty, we are confident, justly rejoices, that your title to the crown is thus founded on the title of your people to liberty; and therefore we doubt not but your royal wisdom must approve the sensibility that teaches your subjects anxiously to guard the blessing they received from divine providence, and thereby to prove the performance of that compact which elevated the illustrious house of Brunswick to the imperial dignity it now possesses. …”

“By giving this faithful information we do all in our power to promote the great objects of your royal cares, the tranquillity of your government and the welfare of your people. …”

“Yielding to no British subjects, in affectionate attachment to your majesty’s person, family, and government, we too dearly prize that privilege of expressing that attachment, by those proofs which are honourable to the prince who receives them, and to the people who give them, ever to resign it to any body of men upon earth. …”

“We ask but for peace, liberty and safety. We wish not a diminution of the prerogative, nor do we solicit the grant of any new right in our favour. Your royal authority over us and our connection with Great-Britain, we shall always carefully and zealously endeavour to support and maintain. …”

“We therefore most earnestly beseech your majesty, that your royal authority and interposition may be used for our relief, and that a gracious answer may be given to this petition.”

Many delegates were skeptical about changing the king’s attitude towards the colonies, but believed that every opportunity should be exhausted to de-escalate the conflict before taking more radical action.

They did not draft such a letter to the British Parliament as the colonists viewed the Parliament as the aggressor behind the recent Intolerable Acts. Not fully expecting the standoff in Massachusetts to explode into full-scale war, the Congress agreed to reconvene in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775.

By the time Congress met again, war was already underway, and thus the delegates to the Second Continental Congress formed the Continental Army and dispatched George Washington to Massachusetts as its commander.

Click the following link to a general summary about the First Continental Congress:

Click to access First-Continental-Congress-SAR-RT.pdf

Click to access First-Continental-Congress.pdf

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