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Proclamation of Rebellion (view source)
Revision as of 20:59, September 9, 2015
, 20:59, September 9, 2015Page created
The '''Proclamation of Rebellion''' was [[King George III]]'s response to [[Battle of Bunker Hill]], issued August 23rd, 1775.
The party in Congress which still hoped for reconciliation succeeded, June 3, 1775, in passing a resolution for the appointment of a committee to prepare a petition to the King; and [[John Dickinson]], Johnson, [[John Rutledge]], [[John Jay]], and [[Benjamin Franklin]] were chosen by ballot as the members of the committee. The petition, drafted by Dickinson, was reported June 19, taken up for consideration July 4, and the following day agreed to.
On the 8th the engrossed copy was signed by the members present. The petition, together with other addresses adopted by the Congress, was entrusted to Richard Penn, to be carried to England and laid before the King. The petition was the last offer of reconciliation made by Congress; and the decision of the question of independence was thought by many to depend upon its reception. Already, in January, before the first petition had been laid before Parliament, the Privy Council had decided that force should be used to suppress the rebellion, and that all persons resisting the King should be proclaimed traitors.
The attention of Parliament, however, was immediately taken up with the conciliatory proposals of Chatham, Burke, and Lord North, and the acts restraining the trade of the northern and southern colonies; and the proclamation was not then issued. In the mean time, the British and American forces came into collision at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, and Congress chose Washington as commander-in-chief of the American army. The news of these proceedings fixed the determination of the King, and he ordered the proclamation to be drawn up.
On the 23d of August, the day on which Richard Penn and Arthur Lee were to have presented the "olive branch" petition to Lord Dartmouth, the proclamation was issued. The petition was handed to Lord Dartmouth September 1, but the colonial representatives were refused an audience with the King, and were finally informed that no answer would be given. The news of the rejection of the petition reached America October 31. November 3, Congress recommended the people of New Hampshire to establish a form of government. December 6, a formal report on the proclamation was agreed to, in which, after repudiating the charge of treason, Congress declared that "whatever punishment shall be inflicted upon any persons in the power of our enemies, for favouring, aiding, or abetting the cause of American liberty, shall be retaliated in the same kind, and the same degree, upon those in our power, who have favoured, aided, or abetted, or shall favour, aid, or abet the system of ministerial oppression."
==Bibliography==
* Text in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, III., 240, 241.
* The report of December 6 is in the Journals of Congress (ed. 1800, I., 263-265; Ford's ed., III., 409-412).
* Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, chap. 10.
* The petition of July 8 is in MacDonald's Select Charters, No. 77.
==External Links==
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=PjAWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA188 Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913], 1920
The party in Congress which still hoped for reconciliation succeeded, June 3, 1775, in passing a resolution for the appointment of a committee to prepare a petition to the King; and [[John Dickinson]], Johnson, [[John Rutledge]], [[John Jay]], and [[Benjamin Franklin]] were chosen by ballot as the members of the committee. The petition, drafted by Dickinson, was reported June 19, taken up for consideration July 4, and the following day agreed to.
On the 8th the engrossed copy was signed by the members present. The petition, together with other addresses adopted by the Congress, was entrusted to Richard Penn, to be carried to England and laid before the King. The petition was the last offer of reconciliation made by Congress; and the decision of the question of independence was thought by many to depend upon its reception. Already, in January, before the first petition had been laid before Parliament, the Privy Council had decided that force should be used to suppress the rebellion, and that all persons resisting the King should be proclaimed traitors.
The attention of Parliament, however, was immediately taken up with the conciliatory proposals of Chatham, Burke, and Lord North, and the acts restraining the trade of the northern and southern colonies; and the proclamation was not then issued. In the mean time, the British and American forces came into collision at Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, and Congress chose Washington as commander-in-chief of the American army. The news of these proceedings fixed the determination of the King, and he ordered the proclamation to be drawn up.
On the 23d of August, the day on which Richard Penn and Arthur Lee were to have presented the "olive branch" petition to Lord Dartmouth, the proclamation was issued. The petition was handed to Lord Dartmouth September 1, but the colonial representatives were refused an audience with the King, and were finally informed that no answer would be given. The news of the rejection of the petition reached America October 31. November 3, Congress recommended the people of New Hampshire to establish a form of government. December 6, a formal report on the proclamation was agreed to, in which, after repudiating the charge of treason, Congress declared that "whatever punishment shall be inflicted upon any persons in the power of our enemies, for favouring, aiding, or abetting the cause of American liberty, shall be retaliated in the same kind, and the same degree, upon those in our power, who have favoured, aided, or abetted, or shall favour, aid, or abet the system of ministerial oppression."
==Bibliography==
* Text in Force's American Archives, Fourth Series, III., 240, 241.
* The report of December 6 is in the Journals of Congress (ed. 1800, I., 263-265; Ford's ed., III., 409-412).
* Frothingham's Rise of the Republic, chap. 10.
* The petition of July 8 is in MacDonald's Select Charters, No. 77.
==External Links==
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=PjAWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA188 Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913], 1920