- Orangetown Resolutions
-
The Orangetown Resolutions were adopted on July 4, 1774, exactly two years prior to the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence. The resolutions were part of a widespread movement of town and county protests of the Intolerable Acts passed by the British Parliament in 1774.
The Resolutions were adopted at the home and inn of Yoast Mabie, a Dutch colonial house in Tappan, New York in Rockland County. In 1780, "Mabie's Inn" was the place of confinement of British Major John André, conspirator with American General Benedict Arnold to surrender West Point to the British. The house is still standing and is operating daily as the The Old 76 House restaurant.
At a meeting of the Freeholders and inhabitants of Orangetown and Province of New York, on Monday, the fourth day of July,1774, at the house of Mr. Yoast Mabie in said town, the following resolves were agreed upon and passed, viz:
- 1st, That we are and ever wish to be, true and loyal subjects to his Majesty George the Third, king of Great Britain.
- 2nd, That we are most cordially disposed to support his majesty and defend his crown and dignity in every constitutional measure, as far as lies in our power.
- 3rd, That however well disposed we are towards his majesty, we cannot see the late acts of Parliament imposing duties upon us, and the act for shutting up the port of Boston, without declaring our abhorance of measures so unconstitutional and big with destruction.
- 4th, That we are in duty bound to use every just and lawful measure to obtain a repeal of acts, not only destructive to us, but which, of course, must distress thousands in the mother country.
- 5th, That it is our unanimous opinion that the stopping of all exportation and importation to and from Great Britain and the West Indies would be the most effectual method to obtain a speedy repeal.
- 6th, That it is our most ardent wish to see concord and harmony restored to England and her colonies.
- 7th, That the following gentlemen, to wit: Colonel Abraham Lent, John Haring, Esquire, Mr. Thomas Outwater, Mr. Gardner Jones, and Peter T. Haring, may be a committee for this town to correspond with the City of New York, and to conclude and agree upon such measures as they shall judge necessary in order to obtain a repeal of said acts.
Sources
External links
- Text of the Resolutions as published in the American Archives, presented online by the Northern Illinois University Libraries.
Origins of the American Revolution: writings American resolves, declarations, petitions, essays and pamphlets prior to the Declaration of Independence (July 1776)Following the
Stamp Act (1765)Virginia Resolves (May 1765) • Braintree Instructions (September 1765) • Declaration of Rights and Grievances (October 1765) • An Inquiry into the Rights of the British Colonies (1766)Following the
Townshend Acts (1767)Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767) • Massachusetts Circular Letter (February 1768) • Boston Pamphlet (1772) • Sheffield Declaration (January 1773)Following the
Coercive Acts (1774)Chestertown Resolves (May 1774) • Bush River Resolution (March 1775)Suffolk Resolves (September 1774)Orangetown Resolutions (July 1774)Mecklenburg Resolves or Declaration (May 1775) • Liberty Point Resolves (June 1775) • Tryon Resolves (August 1775) • Halifax Resolves (April 1776)Fairfax Resolves (July 1774) • Hanover Resolves (July 1774) • Fincastle Resolutions (January 1775) • Virginia Declaration of Rights (June 1776)Declaration and Resolves (October 1774) • Continental Association (October 1774) • Petition to the King (October 1774)Olive Branch Petition (July 1775) • Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (July 1775) • Lee Resolution (July 1776)Essays and pamphlets A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774) • Novanglus (1775) • Common Sense (1776) • Thoughts on Government (1776)Categories:- 1774 in the Thirteen Colonies
- Documents of the American Revolution
- New York in the American Revolution
- Rockland County, New York
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
