Whereas, since the close
of the last war, the British parliament, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of
America by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some acts, expressly imposed taxes
on them, and in others, under various presences, but in fact for the purpose of raising a
revenue, hath imposed rates and duties payable in these colonies, established a board of
commissioners, with unconstitutional powers, and extended the jurisdiction of courts of
admiralty, not only for collecting the said duties, but for the trial of causes merely
arising within the body of a county:
And whereas, in
consequence of other statutes, judges, who before held only estates at will in their
offices, have been made dependant on the crown alone for their salaries, and standing
armies kept in times of peace: And whereas it has lately been resolved in parliament, that
by force of a statute, made in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of King Henry the
Eighth, colonists may be transported to England, and tried there upon accusations for
treasons and misprisions, or concealments of treasons committed in the colonies, and by a
late statute, such trials have been directed in cases therein mentioned:
And whereas, in the last
session of parliament, three statutes were made; one entitled, "An act to
discontinue, in such manner and for such time as are therein mentioned, the landing and
discharging, lading, or shipping of goods, wares and merchandise, at the town, and within
the harbour of Boston, in the province of Massachusetts-Bay in New England;" another
entitled, "An act for the better regulating the government of the province of
Massachusetts-Bay in New England;" and another entitled, "An act for the
impartial administration of justice, in the cases of persons questioned for any act done
by them in the execution of the law, or for the suppression of riots and tumults, in the
province of the Massachusetts-Bay in New England;" and another statute was then made,
"for making more effectual provision for the government of the province of Quebec,
etc." All which statutes are impolitic, unjust, and cruel, as well as
unconstitutional, and most dangerous and destructive of American rights:
And whereas, assemblies
have been frequently dissolved, contrary to the rights of the people, when they attempted
to deliberate on grievances; and their dutiful, humble, loyal, and reasonable petitions to
the crown for redress, have been repeatedly treated with contempt, by his Majesty's
ministers of state:
The good people of the
several colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex
on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North- Carolina and South-Carolina, justly alarmed at
these arbitrary proceedings of parliament and administration, have severally elected,
constituted, and appointed deputies to meet, and sit in general Congress, in the city of
Philadelphia, in order to obtain such establishment, as that their religion, laws, and
liberties, may not be subverted: Whereupon the deputies so appointed being now assembled,
in a full and free representation of these colonies, taking into their most serious
consideration, the best means of attaining the ends aforesaid, do, in the first place, as
Englishmen, their ancestors in like cases have usually done, for asserting and vindicating
their rights and liberties, DECLARE,
That the inhabitants of
the English colonies in North-America, by the immutable laws of nature, the principles of
the English constitution, and the several charters or compacts, have the following RIGHTS:
Resolved, N.C.D. 1. That they are
entitled to life, liberty and property: and they have never ceded to any foreign power
whatever, a right to dispose of either without their consent.
Resolved, N.C.D. 2. That our
ancestors, who first settled these colonies, were at the time of their emigration from the
mother country, entitled to all the rights, liberties, and immunities of free and natural-
born subjects, within the realm of England.
Resolved, N.C.D. 3. That by such
emigration they by no means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those rights, but that
they were, and their descendants now are, entitled to the exercise and enjoyment of all
such of them, as their local and other circumstances enable them to exercise and enjoy.
Resolved, 4. That the foundation of
English liberty, and of all free government, is a right in the people to participate in
their legislative council: and as the English colonists are not represented, and from
their local and other circumstances, cannot properly be represented in the British
parliament, they are entitled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their
several provincial legislatures, where their right of representation can alone be
preserved, in all cases of taxation and internal polity, subject only to the negative of
their sovereign, in such manner as has been heretofore used and accustomed: But, from the
necessity of the case, and a regard to the mutual interest of both countries, we
cheerfully consent to the operation of such acts of the British parliament, as are
bonfide, restrained to the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose of
securing the commercial advantages of the whole empire to the mother country, and the
commercial benefits of its respective members; excluding every idea of taxation internal
or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects, in America, without their consent.
Resolved, N.C.D. 5. That the
respective colonies are entitled to the common law of England, and more especially to the
great and inestimable privilege of being tried by their peers of the vicinage, according
to the course of that law.
Resolved, N.C.D. 6. That they are
entitled to the benefit of such of the English statutes, as existed at the time of their
colonization; and which they have, by experience, respectively found to be applicable to
their several local and other circumstances.
Resolved, N.C.D. 7. That these, his
Majesty's colonies, are likewise entitled to all the immunities and privileges granted and
confirmed to them by royal charters, or secured by their several codes of provincial laws.
Resolved, N.C.D. 8. That they have
a right peaceably to assemble, consider of their grievances, and petition the king; and
that all prosecutions, prohibitory proclamations, and commitments for the same, are
illegal.
Resolved, N.C.D. 9. That the
keeping a standing army in these colonies, in times of peace, without the consent of the
legislature of that colony, in which such army is kept, is against law.
Resolved, N.C.D. 10. It is
indispensably necessary to good government, and rendered essential by the English
constitution, that the constituent branches of the legislature be independent of each
other; that, therefore, the exercise of legislative power in several colonies, by a
council appointed, during pleasure, by the crown, is unconstitutional, dangerous and
destructive to the freedom of American legislation.
All and each of which the
aforesaid deputies, in behalf of themselves, and their constituents, do claim, demand, and
insist on, as their indubitable rights and liberties, which cannot be legally taken from
them, altered or abridged by any power whatever, without their own consent, by their
representatives in their several provincial legislature.
In the course of our
inquiry, we find many infringements and violations of the foregoing rights, which, from an
ardent desire, that harmony and mutual intercourse of affection and interest may be
restored, we pass over for the present, and proceed to state such acts and measures as
have been adopted since the last war, which demonstrate a system formed to enslave
America.
Resolved, N.C.D. That the following
acts of parliament are infringements and violations of the rights of the colonists; and
that the repeal of them is essentially necessary, in order to restore harmony between
Great Britain and the American colonies, viz.
The several acts of Geo.
III. ch. 15, and ch. 34.-5 Geo. III. ch.25.-6 Geo. ch. 52.-7 Geo.III. ch. 41 and ch. 46.-8
Geo. III. ch. 22. which impose duties for the purpose of raising a revenue in America,
extend the power of the admiralty courts beyond their ancient limits, deprive the American
subject of trial by jury, authorize the judges certificate to indemnify the prosecutor
from damages, that he might otherwise be liable to, requiring oppressive security from a
claimant of ships and goods seized, before he shall be allowed to defend his property, and
are subversive of American rights.
Also 12 Geo. III. ch. 24,
intituled, "An act for the better securing his majesty's dockyards, magazines, ships,
ammunition, and stores," which declares a new offence in America, and deprives the
American subject of a constitutional trial by jury of the vicinage, by authorizing the
trial of any person, charged with the committing any offence described in the said act,
out of the realm, to be indicted and tried for the same in any shire or county within the
realm.
Also the three acts
passed in the last session of parliament, for stopping the port and blocking up the
harbour of Boston, for altering the charter and government of Massachusetts-Bay, and that
which is entitled, "An act for the better administration of justice, etc."
Also the act passed in
the same session for establishing the Roman Catholic religion, in the province of Quebec,
abolishing the equitable system of English laws, and erecting a tyranny there, to the
great danger (from so total a dissimilarity of religion, law and government) of the
neighboring British colonies, by the assistance of whose blood and treasure the said
country was conquered from France.
Also the act passed in
the same session, for the better providing suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in
his majesty's service, in North-America.
Also, that the keeping a
standing army in several of these colonies, in time of peace, without the consent of the
legislature of that colony, in which such army is kept, is against law.
To these grievous acts
and measures, Americans cannot submit, but in hopes their fellow subjects in Great Britain
will, on a revision of them, restore us to that state, in which both countries found
happiness and prosperity, we have for the present, only resolved to pursue the following
peaceable measures: 1. To enter into a non-importation, non-consumption, and
non-exportation agreement or association. 2. To prepare an address to the people of
Great-Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America: and 3. To prepare a
loyal address to his majesty, agreeable to resolutions already entered into.