Continental Congress Publishes "Causes and Necessity
for Taking Up Arms"
1775 is the start of the
American Revolution, with the "shot heard 'round the world" the first outbreak
of armed conflict at
Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts and the
Battle of Bunker
Hill outside Boston, the first full scale battle of the Revolutionary War.
The Annual Register is one of the best sources of contemporaneous reports and
document of the Revolution and was used as the basis for many subsequent
histories of the War. The Annual Register took a more favorable view
of the American grievances than the British government and most of England,
largely as a result of the influence of its editor, Edmund Burke, who was a
member of Parliament in opposition to the British efforts to suppress America
(he was also a lobbyist/agent for the colony of New York to the royal court).
That disapproval of British policy can be found in the following excerpt from
this Annual Register commenting upon how British policies united the American
colonies into forming the
First
Continental Congress in 1764:
"Such was the unhappy effect of the measures
pursued, perhaps somewhat too avowedly, and for that reason the less wisely,
for reducing America by division, that those twelve colonies, clashing in
interests, frequently quarrelling about boundaries and many other subjects,
differing in manners, customs, religion, and forms of government, with all
the local prejudices, jealousies, and aversions, incident to neighboring
states, were now led to assemble by their delegates in a general diet, and
taught to feel their weight and importance in a common union."
Below are further samples of the historical text
commenting upon the momentous event occurring in America and being debated in
England.
Below is the chapter summary which includes
the Battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill
Below is the critical description of the
Battle of Lexington and the "shot heard round the world", here noted as "the
first blood drawn in this unhappy civil contest" and the effect on
other colonies of the Lexington Battle.
The book has an extensive description of
the Battle of Bunker Hill and notes the bottom line of casualties:
The Massachusetts battles convinced the
Continental Congress of the need to organize a military and appoint George
Washington as its head, so to explain their actions to the world they issued
"The
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms", the start
and end of which from this book is shown below:
The book published in 1776 contains much
more Revolutionary War news, including the enterprising effort to seize Fort
Ticonderoga, which eventually led to the cannons being transported to the
heights above Boston which caused the British to abandon Boston.
This book is an
exciting contemporaneous record of the American Revolution which was written
and would have been read at the start of the War when the outcome was very
uncertain. It is in nice condition and would be a great addition to
a library of early Americana concerning the Founding of America.
Price: $950
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