On This Day In The Revolution

On this day 250 years ago, the Boston Committee of Overseers created the Committee of Ways and Means; its purpose was to receive and distribute all donations sent to Boston in relief from the Boston Port Act. Source: https://allthingsliberty.com/2023/10/the-winter-of-1774-1775-in-boston/

On this day 250 years ago in Philadelphia, several thousand people gathered in the State House Yard to adopt the following Resolutions: I. Resolved, that the Act of Parliament, for shutting up the port of Boston, is unconstitutional; oppressive to the inhabitants of that town; dangerous to- the liberties of the British colonies; and that, therefore,…

On this day 250 years ago the Patriots in Massachusetts were very busy. The General Assembly was meeting in Salem where Royal Governor Gage sent the Provincial Secretary with an order dissolving the Assembly. However, the Assembly members decided to “keep the door fast” and blocked him from entering the meeting to deliver the order.…

On this day 250 years ago, the inhabitants of Dunmore County (now Shenandoah County), Virginia gathered in the town of Woodstock to adopt resolutions in response to the closure of the Port of Boston and the anticipated Intolerable Acts. The meeting chose to copy verbatim the Resolves passed on June 8 by neighboring Frederick County,…

On this day 250 years ago in Williamsburg, George Washington wrote to his friend and former neighbor George William Fairfax, who had recently moved to Yorkshire, England, about the upcoming general meeting requested of all the late Representatives in this City on the first of August when it is hopd, & expected that some vigorous…

On this day 250 years ago, the “Freeholders and other inhabitants” of Loudoun County, Virginia, met at the court house in Leesburg to “consider the most effectual method to preserve the rights and liberties of N. America, and relieve our brethren of Boston, suffering under the most oppressive and tyrannical Act of the British Parliament.”…

On this day 250 years ago, Rhode Island banned the importation of slaves. The Rhode Island legislature passed “An Act for Prohibiting the Importation of Negros” likely drafted by Stephen Hopkins that read: Whereas, the inhabitants of America are generally engaged in the preservation of their own rights and liberties, among which, that of personal…

On this day 250 years ago, in Boston, Patriot merchant John Andrews wrote to his business colleague in Philadelphia William Barrell about life in Boston with the Port closed to all commerce. He wrote that: Our wharfs are intirely deserted; not a topsail vessel to be seen either there or in the harbour, save the…

On this day 250 years ago, residents in southern Frederick County. Maryland gathered at Hungerford Tavern to adopt resolutions pledging to break off all commerce with Great Britain in support of Boston. This site is in present-day Rockville, Montgomery County, Maryland. The Moderator of the meeting was Henry Griffith, and he and Dr. Thomas Sprigg…

On this day 250 years ago, the North Carolina Committee of Correspondence forwarded the letter and package from the Boston Committee that it received from the Virginia Committee to the South Carolina and Georgia Committees of Correspondence. The North Carolina Committee stated that they considered “the cause of the town of Boston as the cause…