Continental Congress | The Continental Congress rejects Parliament's Conciliatory Resolution

Continental Congress

The Several Assemblies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Philadelphia, July 31, 1775. Response to the "Conciliatory Resolution" set forth by the British Parliament [caption title]. [Philadelphia: William and Thomas Bradford, 31 July 1775]

8vo (184 x 114 mm). Light toning, a few scattered spots. Bound to style in quarter calf, spine lettered gilt.

“A bold and important piece of rhetoric from a crucial moment in the Revolution, in which the committee that ultimately drafted the Declaration of Independence, led by Jefferson, honed their invective” (Celebration).

“The Continental Congress’ response to the ‘Conciliatory Resolution’ set forth by the British Parliament, in an attempt to reach a peaceable settlement with the colonies, immediately preceding the outbreak of the Revolution. Not a binding law, but a resolution proposing a line floated by the pro-American elements in the House, it passed on Feb. 20, 1775. The document was sent to each of the thirteen colonies, intentionally bypassing the extralegal Continental Congress. It stated that so long as the colonists were willing to provide for the defense and administration of the colonies, they would be spared any but those taxes necessary for the regulation of normal commerce. Referred to the Continental Congress by the Assemblies of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, this statement was drafted in response, rejecting Britain’s proposal of peace. … This text was prepared by a committee comprised of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Richard Henry Lee, though authorship is primarily attributed to Jefferson. It is dated July 31st, [1775]. It reads, in part: ‘That the colonies of America are entitled to the sole and exclusive privilege of giving and granting their own money…so are they entitled at all times to enquire into their application, to see that they be not wasted among the venal and corrupt for the purpose of undermining the civil rights of the givers … We are of the opinion that the proposition contained in this resolution is unreasonable and insidious. (Celebration).

Rare: Evidently the last copy to appear at auction was in the January 1970 sale of property from the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania at Parke-Bernet.

REFERENCE

Celebration of My Country 57; ESTC W7619; Evans 14583; Sabin 79369