FREDERICK COUNTY RESOLVES 1774

On June 8, 2024 the James Wood II Chapter of the SAR Sons of the American Revolution will observe the Frederick County Resolves on the Loudoun Street walking mall . They could not observe this event at the 1840 Courthouse (now the Civil War Museum) where the original event occured in 1774 because the site was reserved for another activity.

Marc Robinson of the SAR begins reading the first part of the Frederick County Resolves.

Much like modern times of raising tariffs on China in 1774 we want to stop exports and imports with England. And much like modern times we can't hurt all trade because it would hurt ourselves. In 1774 we made exceptions for saltpeter (needed for blackpowder), spices and medicines.

And why these Frederick County Resolves?

It was one damn thing after another. The King and his Parliament thought they could take an accused colonist to England for punishment? That was a court case in Rhode Island. The colonists were accustomed to trying their own.

Now there are British taxes on top of colonial taxes? Taxes by the King on the colonies was new. The colonies felt they had provided blood and treasure to the French and Indian War effort. Now the King wants taxes on top of their own? The Stamp Act was one of those taxes. And the taxes on Tea led to that infamous dumping of tea in the Boston harbor.

The story is never as simple as we're told:

Little known to the masses, but known by the elites in every colony was the hard fact that colonial laws during the French and Indian War often kicked the can down the road. Most colonial taxes to pay for the war were kicking in now, just when the British were adding taxes on top of that. Virginia had set taxes in 1760 to be collected in 1767 and 1768, little knowing of Stamp Act coming in 1765 or other such British taxes.

Taxes without Representation?

But even still, taxes were raised by their own elected representatives. Should not the colonies have representation in this matter of taxes?

Again, the story is never as simple as we're told:

Some colonies thought that any feeble representation in Parliament would give only a pretense of representation and then give British taxes on the colonies a false legitimacy.

"The colony advocates ... tell us, that by refusing to accept our offer of representatives they ... mean to avoid giving Parliament a pretence for taxing them." - - - William Knox on American Taxation 1769

Still, the rebellion of the colonies' eventual independence led to an interesting written constiution that continues to dazzle.

Payback

The British Parliament and the King responded to this colonial defiance. The colonies had received British blood and treasure helping them defend themselves. The British provided the colonies their own soldiers. The British provided subsidies to the colonies. The colonies had recieved money to compensate for their expenditures. Why not have them pay that back in increments, such as taxes?

Virtual Representation

Some of the British supported the idea of Virtual Representation, that by British support of blood and treasure to the colonies constituted their representing colonial interests. William Pitt, who masterminded the winning of that French and Indian War that led to the phrase "the sun never set on the British Empire," supported the idea of colonial representation in the British Parliament.

And so the port of Boston was closed. This was ordered by an act of Parliament in England.

That was the last straw.

So on June 8, the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) will observe the Frederick County Resolves.

Resolutions condemning the action of Parliament and vowing American determination to import no English goods nor export any goods to England [except saltpetre, spices, and medicinal drugs] were drawn up and passed from one committee to another in the colonies. [ Shenandoah County Virginia then known as Dunmore County copied the Frederick Co VA resolves].

The crowd was so large it had to move from the courthouse to the church.

"In Winchester Virginia, a crowd of Frederick County patriots gathered on the evening of June 8, 1774, to take some action on the matter. The crowd was so large it had to move from the courthouse to the Established Church to hold its meeting. The meeting was chaired by the Reverend Charles Mynn Thruston, rector of the Frederick Parish and chairman of the revolutionary County Committee of Association."

An irony that is of going to a church that arose from the Church of England.

See sources below.

The event just described, happened here. The original courthouse was at this location. The Established Church was just around the corner.

Compiled by Jim Moyer researched first in 2016, updated 5/23/2024, 5/24/2024, 5/26/2024, 6/2/2024, 6/9/2024

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Read bits and pieces.

Timeline:

1765 Stamp Act

The [Stamp] Act was passed by the British Parliament on 22 March 1765 with an effective date of 1 November 1765. George Mercer formerly Captain in the Virginia Regiment and aide de camp to Colonel George Washington in the French and Indian War was appointed in England as a stamp collector. When he arrives 31 Oct 1765, to his horror, the colonists are burning an effigy of him.

1770 March 5 Boston Massacre

1770 Oct and Nov trials on that Boston Massacre

1770 Oct 5 to Dec 1 George Washington travels to the Ohio and Kanawha

1772 George Washington's earliest known portrait in a French and Indian War uniform

1773

1773 March 13 Virginia House of Burgesses investigates Great Britain's ""Principles and Authority" on which was constituted a Court of Enquiry said to have been lately held in the Colony of Rhode Island , with Powers to transport Persons accused of Offences committed in America , to Places beyond the Seas to be tried , together with an Authentic Copy of their Commission & Proceedings ." This problem arose from a Court Trial in Rhode Island.

1773 March 15 is the last meeting of the House of Burgesses until it resumes a new session over a year later on May 5, 1774. Governor Dunmore keeps delaying the next meeting of the House of Burgesses by a series of proclamations.

1773 December 16 Boston Tea Party

1774

1774 March British Parliament enacts the closing of the port of Boston

1774 May 25 House of Burgesses in its May 5 to May 26 session, reacts to that closing of Boston, but it is still handling its moral obligations to look at petitions. This petition is interesting to us since our focus is mostly on the French and Indian War. The widow Fraser is in need. Her husband was a big trader. His place was on Turtle Creek which he abandoned long before Braddock met his fate there in the Battle of the Monongahela near the mouth of Turtle Creek.

A Petition of Jane Fraser , Widow , and Adminiſtratrix of the Eſtate of John Fraser , deceased , was presented to the House , and read ; setting forth , that the said John Fraser , in his lifetime , on his way to Pennsylvania , the place of his Residence , from the River Ohio , where he had been concerned in Trade with the Indians , in June , 1754 , met with the Troops of his Colony , commanded by George Washington , Esquire , at the place called Fort Necessity , or the Great Meadows ; that Colonel Washington pressed several Horses of the said John Fraser , which were carrying in his Effects , and employed them in bringing Stores , a Party of Men , and Ammunition and Provisions , to the Camp , whereby the said John Fraser was detained , until the Battle happened at that Place ; when the Virginia Troops Capitulated , and all the said John Fraser's Goods were taken and plundered by the Enemy , for which loss the Petitioner cannot discover , that he ever received any Satisfaction ; and submitting the matter to the consideration of the House , and praying such an allowance as shall seem just .

1774 May 26

Lord Dunmore suddenly dissolves the House of Burgesses. The House of Burgesses do not meet until roughly a year later, June 1, 1775.

On May 26th, Purdie and Dixon’s Virginia

Gazette published the House of Burgesses resolution

and as ordered, broadsides of the resolution were

also published and probably preceded the

newspapers printing. Governor Dunmore referred

to the broadside printing on May 26th when he

summoned the burgesses to the council room and

thus addressed them:

“I have in my hand a Paper published by Order of

your House, conceived in such Terms as reflect

highly upon his Majesty and the Parliament of Great

Britain; which makes it necessary for me to dissolve

you; and you are dissolved accordingly”

In a letter to George William Fairfax date June 10-15, 1774, George Washington expressed surprise at Dunmore suddenly dissolving the House of Burgesses. But George Washington is listed in the House of Burgesses session as not attending.The Founders online footnote 10 shows George Washington attending the meetings at Raleigh Tavern after the House session was dissolved.

1774 May 31 Great Britain closes the port of Boston

1774 June 1 this source states this is the date the port of Boston closed.

1774 June 8 Frederick County Virginia Resolves

1774 June 16 Dunmore County (now Shenandoah Co) copies Frederick County Resolves, the famous Reverend Muhlenberg presiding.

July 1774 The burgesses elected in July 1774 did not meet until 1 June 1775. Source:

https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/02-10-02-0117

1774 July 8 Lord Dunmore porogued [delayed] the House of Burgesses which was supposed to meet next month. Instead Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation for the House to meet the first Thursday of November next, but because of a

new allegiance oath change, Dunmore issues a new call for the House of Burgesses

to meet almost a year later on June 1, 1775.

1774 October 10 Battle of Point Pleasant (Lord Dunmore's War)

1774 Oct 31 GW writes a letter to Tayloe about selling George Mercer's property

1774 December 7 a travelling minister Cresswell saw 4 Shawnee Chiefs in Winchester being taken to Williamsburg as hostages

to be held in good faith to keep the peace. By Jan 4, 1775 those same Chiefs, escorted by Angus McDonald, arrive in

Williamsburg.

1775

1775 January 4 Col. Angus McDonald arrived in Williamsburg with the four hostages and their interpreter. “Three of them are Warriors, viz. Imcatewhawa, or the Black Wolf; Wissecapoway, or Captain Morgan; Genusa, or the Judge; and the other is a young Man, called Neawah, who is the Snake’s Son, a principal Warrior of that Nation” (Pennsylvania Gazette [Philadelphia], 4 Jan. 1775).

1775 April 19 to March 17, 1776 Almost a year in the Siege of Boston

1775 June 1 During that siege of Boston, the House of Burgesses convenes and ends June 24. 1775.

For the rest of the year not enough members show up on Thursday , the 12th of October 1775 or on Thursday , the 7th of March 1776 or on Monday, the 6th of May 1776 .

1776

1776 July 20 British armada lands near NYC, Washington watches it.

June 28, 1776 to July 5, 1776 a total of 130 British ships.

1776 June 28 first British attack on Charleston SC is repelled by loyalists

1776 July Declaration of Independence

1776 August 27 Battle of Long Island

1776 Oct 7 - Dec 21 New Virginia Assembly, House of Delegates meets

1777

1777 May 5 - Oct 20 Virginia Senate meets for the first time

1777 May 5 - Oct 20 House of Delegates meet 2nd time

Sources

The original copy of the Frederick County Resolves is apparently no longer in existence, but the Resolves were printed in the New York Journal or General Advertiser of June 23, 1774 [No. 1642]. The copy of the Resolves reprinted here is taken from the American Archives [Volume 4, Series I pages 392-393 are in the Library of Congress], as edited by Peter Force.

Footnote 3, page 2 of The Frederick County Resolves by J Dallas Robertson PhD, Assoc Professor of History, Shenandoah College Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society Journal, Volume IX published 1975

In addition to Muhlenberg the Shenandoah (then Dunmore) County committee was composed of Francis Slaughter, Abraham Bird, Tavener Beale, John Tipton, and Abraham Bowman. See Williamsburg's Virginia Gazette no. 430, August 4, 1774

Footnote 4, page 2 of The Frederick County Resolves by J Dallas Robertson PhD, Assoc Professor of History, Shenandoah College Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society Journal, Volume IX published 1975

The closing of the port of Boston seemed to be the last straw.

"The act of the British Parliament closing the port of Boston in May 1774 brought a quick response from the revolutionary committees throughout the American colonies. Resolutions condemning the action of Parliament and vowing American determination to import no English goods nor export any goods to England [except saltpetre, spices, and medicinal drugs] were drawn up and passed from one committee to another in the colonies. [ Shenandoah County Virginia then known as Dunmore County copied the Frederick Co VA resolves]. The idea of a general non-importation and exportation resolution seems to have first been suggested in a letter of Paul Revere to the committee of the City of Philadelphia on May 21, 1774."

The crowd was so large it had to move from the courthouse to the church.

"In Winchester Virginia, a crowd of Frederick County patriots gathered on the evening of June 8, 1774, to take some action on the matter. The crowd was so large it had to move from the courthouse to the Established Church to hold its meeting. The meeting was chaired by the Reverend Charles Mynn Thruston, rector of the Frederick Parish and chairman of the revolutionary County Committee of Association."

".. .Charles M Thurston, Isaac Zane [currently representing Frederick County in the House of Burgesses] , Angus McDonald [who is big in Lord Dunmore's war in Oct 1774 and who escorted 4 Shawnee hostages through Winchester 7 Dec 1774 to Williamsburg ], Samuel Beall, 3d, Alexander White, and George Rootes, be appointed a Committee . . ." to write these Resolves.

Source: Pages 1-2, The Frederick County Resolves by J Dallas Robertson PhD, Assoc Professor of History, Shenandoah College Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society Journal, Volume IX published 1975

Also 8th Virginia Regiment website

https://www.8thvirginia.com/blog/the-dunmore-frederick-resolves

The Resolves

The Frederick County committee members were Reverend Charles M Thurston, Isaac Zane, George Rootes, Angus McDonald, Alexander White, George Johnson, Samuel Beale III.

Voted 1st. That we will always cheerfully pay due submission to such acts of government as his majesty has a right, by law, to exercise over his subjects, as sovereign to the British dominions, and to such only.
2nd. That it is the inherent right of British subjects to be governed and taxed by representatives chosen by themselves only, and that every act of the British parliament respecting the internal policy of North America is a dangerous and unconstitutional invasion of our rights and privileges.
3rd. That the act of parliament above mentioned is not only itself repugnant to the fundamental laws of natural justice in condemning persons for a supposed crime unheard, but also a despotic exertion of unconstitutional power, calculated to enslave a free and loyal people.
4th. That the enforcing the execution of the said act of parliament by a military power will have a necessary tendency to raise a civil war, thereby dissolving that union which has so long happily subsisted between the mother country and her colonies, and that we will most heartily and unanimously concur with our suffering brethren of Boston, and every other port of North America, that may be the immediate victims of tyranny, in promoting all proper measures to avert such dreadful calamities, to procure a redress of our grievances, and to secure our common liberties.
5th. It is the unanimous opinion of this meeting, that a joint resolution of all the colonies to stop all importations from Great Britain, and exportations to it, till the said act be repealed, will prove the salvation of North America and her liberties; on the other hand, if they continue their imports and exports, there is the greatest reason to fear that power and the most odious oppression will rise triumphant over right, justice, social happiness, and freedom.
6th. That the East India Company, those servile tools of arbitrary power, have justly forfeited the esteem and regard of all honest men, and that the better to manifest our abhorrence of such abject compliances with the will of a venal ministry, in ministering all in their power an encrease of the fund of peculation, we will not purchase tea, or any other kind of East India commodities, either imported now, or hereafter to be imported, except saltpetre, spices, and medicinal drugs.
7th. That it is the opinion of this meeting, that committees ought to be appointed for the purpose of effecting a general association, that the same measures may be pursued through the whole continent, that [the] committees ought to correspond with each other, and to meet at [such] places and times as shall be agreed on, in order to form such [general] association, and that when the same shall be formed and agreed to by the several committees, we will strictly adhere to, and till the general sense of the continent shall be known, we do pledge ourselves to each other, and to our country, that will inviolably adhere to the votes of this day.
8th. That Charles M Thurston, Isaac Zane [currently representing Frederick County in the House of Burgesses] , Angus McDonald, Samuel Beall, 3d, Alexander White, and George Rootes, be appointed a Committee for the purposes aforesaid; and that they, or any three of them are hereby fully empowered to act. Which being read, were unaminously assented to and ascribed.