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 of Yoast Mabie, a Dutch colonial house in Tappan, New York, in the town of Orangetown in Rockland County. The house was demolished in 1835.

Text of the resolutions

The resolutions read:

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 abhorrence 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

http://www.orangetown.com/departments/museum/orangetown_resolutions.php

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, 1768)
Massachusetts Circular Letter (February 1768)
Journal of Occurrences (1768, 1769)
Virginia Association (May 1769)
Boston Pamphlet (1772)
Sheffield Declaration (January 1773)

Following the
Coercive Acts (1774)

Maryland	Chestertown Resolves (May 1774) Bush River Resolution (March 1775)

Massachusetts	Suffolk Resolves (September 1774)

New York	Orangetown Resolutions (July 1774) A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress (December 1774) The Farmer Refuted (February 1775)

North Carolina	Mecklenburg Resolves or Declaration (May 1775) Liberty Point Resolves (June 1775) Tryon Resolves (August 1775) Halifax Resolves (April 1776)

Virginia	Fairfax Resolves (July 1774) Fincastle Resolutions (January 1775) Virginia Declaration of Rights (June 1776)

1st Continental Congress	Declaration and Resolves (October 1774) Continental Association (October 1774) Petition to the King (October 1774)

2nd Continental Congress	Olive Branch Petition (July 1775) Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (July 1775) May 15 preamble (May 1776) Lee Resolution (July 1776)

Essays and pamphlets

"Letters to the inhabitants of Canada" (1774, 1775, 1776)
A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)
Novanglus (1775)
Common Sense (January 1776)
Thoughts on Government (Spring, 1776)

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