"SOME COLONISTS DEMANDING AN EXTRAVAGANT PRICE"

CONGRESS CONSIDERS REGULATING PRICE OF SALT

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JFK+50) On May 28, 1776, the Second Continental Congress considered a mode for regulation of the price of salt. 

 It seems that some colonists with large quantities of salt were taking "undue advantage of the recommendation of Congress to desist from any further regulation of the prices of merchandise by demanding an extravagant price for that necessary article."

The Congress also resolved that Colonel Turbutt Francis* attend the next conference with the Indians and assist in interpreting for them.

*Turbutt Francis (1740-1782 or 1797) was one of the 1st justices in Northumberland County, PA & was appointed a commissioner of Indian Affairs of the Northern Department in 1775.

SOURCE

"Second Continental Congress:  May 28, 1776," The American Founding, www.americanfunding.org/

 

 

Independence Hall Assembly Room

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Photo by Rdsmith4

"DIRECTED TO ATTEND AGAIN TOMORROW"

GENERAL WASHINGTON ARRIVES IN PHILADELPHIA TO MEET WITH 2ND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

Philadelphia (JFK+50) On May 24, 1776, the Second Continental Congress in session at the Pennsylvania State House received and acted upon several committee reports concerning the war effort against Great Britain.  John Hancock wrote a letter to General Philip Schuyler* "about the importance of securing Canada for the preservation of American Liberty."

General George Washington, who arrived in good health, attended the Congress today and "was directed to attend again tomorrow."

JFK+50 NOTE

John Hancock served as president and presiding officer of the Second Continental Congress from May 1775 to October 1777.  He was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

*Philip John Schuyler (1733-1804) was born in Albany, NY & served as a captain & major in the French & Indian War, was elected to the provincial assembly & advocated for the constitutional rights of the colonies.  PJS commanded the Northern Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War & was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1798.

SOURCES

"Philip Schuyler," National Park Service, www.nps.gov/

"Second Continental Congress:  May 24, 1776," Journal of the Continental Congress, www.americanfounding.com/

Philip Schuyler

after 1792 portrait by John Trumbull

www.picryl.com

"ON SUPPORTING THE CAUSE IN CANADA"

CONTINENTAL CONGRESS APPOINTS COMMITTEE TO CONFER WITH GENERAL WASHINGTON 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JFK+50) On May 23, 1776, the Second Continental Congress, meeting at the Pennsylvania State House here in Philadelphia, appointed a committee of five delegates to confer with General Washington, Major General Gates and Brig General Mifflin on supporting the cause in Canada.

The committee included Benjamin Harrison, Richard Henry Lee, John Adams, James Wilson and Edward Rutledge.

On the same day, the Virginia Convention voted unanimously to instruct its delegates in Congress to declare the colonies free and independent states.

JFK+50 NOTE

This begins a series of posts on this blog counting down to the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 2026).  These posts probably will not run daily depending on the information available on events of this time period.

My computer is having issues with x.com.  I have had to change my x.com account in order to post and now have lost the 2nd account.  If you have been accessing my blog on x, please try to access it now by other means, i.e. google www.jfk50.blogspot.com/ Thank you.

SOURCE

"Second Continental Congress:  May 23, 1776," Journals of the Continental Congress, www.americanfounding.org/

Independence Hall

(Pennsylvania State House)

Philadelphia, PA

Photo by Rdsmith4

"WE PLEDGE OUR LIVES, FORTUNES & SACRED HONOR"

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE ADOPTED BY 2ND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (JFK+50) On July 4, 1776, "the unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America" was adopted by the Second Continental Congress meeting here in Philadelphia.

Largely the work of Thomas Jefferson of Virginia representing the Committee of Five, the document is a statement declaring the causes which impelled the original thirteen British colonies in America to declare their independence from the mother country.

Much of the document includes a list of grievances against King George III "all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States."

The Declaration of Independence was first signed only by John Hancock, president of the 2nd Continental Congress & Charles Thomson, Secretary.

Other signers, although not all, added their signatures on August 2, 1776.  The order of signing was by state delegation geographically from North to South beginning with New Hampshire and ending with Georgia.

Except for the names of Hancock and Thomson, the other signers names were not made public until early 1777.

Following is a list of the number of delegates representing each State:

Pennsylvania 9, Massachusetts 7, Virginia 7, New Jersey 5,    Connecticut 4, New York 4, Maryland 4, South Carolina 4,  New Hampshire 3, Delaware 3, North Carolina 3, Georgia 3, Rhode Island 2

The signatures are just below the last sentence of the document...

"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, Fortunes and sacred Honor."

Of the 56 signers, 24 were lawyers or jurists, 11 were merchants, and 9 were plantation owners/farmers.  According to Ann Landers, no signer was killed outright by the British for signing the Declaration.  

17 held commissions in the Continental Army and although some were captured during the war, none were tortured.  Many lost property and possessions but most were able to reestablish themselves financially after the Revolutionary War. 

SOURCES

"Declaration of Independence:  A Transcription," National Archives, www.archives.gov/

"Declaration Signers," by Michael W. Smith, July 4, 2015, www.michaelwsmith.com/

"History revised:  True Story of the Declaration Signers," by Ann Landers, Chicago Tribune, July 4, 2001, www.chicagotribune.com/

"On this day, the Declaration of Independence is officially signed," by Scott Bomboy, Interactive Constitution, August 2, 2021, www.constitutioncenter.org/ 

 

 

Marker About the Signers of the 

Declaration of Independence 

Photo by John White

  

OLIVE BRANCH PETITION

KING REBUKED OLIVE BRANCH PETITION 240 YEARS AGO TODAY 

London, England (JFK+50) Two centuries and 40 years ago today, September 1, 1775, George III, King of Great Britain, refused to receive a petition for peace with his rebellious American colonies.

The "Olive Branch Petition," had been written by John Dickinson of Pennsylvania and adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 8, 1775 as "an attempt to assert the rights of the colonists while maintaining their loyalty to the...Crown."

The petition, which served as a compromise between the supporters of "all out war" and those who believed it was "their Godly duty to respect the Crown," was presented here in London by American representatives Richard Penn and Arthur Lee.

In the document, the Congress asks for either free trade with taxes equal to those paid by subjects living in Great Britain OR no taxes with strict trade regulations.

Not only did the King refuse to receive the petition, he refused to even read it. The King's response gave fuel to American colonial supporters of revolution against the Mother Country and thus proved to be a step toward the American War for Independence.

The two original copies of the Olive Branch Petition are housed in the Public Record Office in London and the New York Public Library in New York City.

SOURCES

"Pursing Both War and Peace," www.Boundless.com/

"The Olive Branch Petition," Primary Sources, www.learner.org/

"The Olive Branch Petition," The Path to the American Revolution, www.hobart.k12.in.US/

King George III Gold Guinea of 1789