Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress

Impact

Although Congress regarded this document as conciliatory, the British regarded it as but another in a line of incessant complaints from the colonists. Adhering to the doctrine of virtual representation, the British continued to assert that Parliament had authority to legislate on behalf of the colonies. Many British leaders further regarded colonial attempts to distinguish between internal and external legislation as inconsistent or ill conceived. King George III and his key ministers persuaded Parliament to appropriate increased funds for British troops in North America and sent secret orders telling the troops to squelch colonial opposition. Parliament further responded to American plans of nonimportation and nonconsumption by restricting colonial trade.

The outbreak of fighting at Lexington and Concord the following April as well as the publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense in January 1776 undermined colonial allegiance to the English king. On August 23, 1775, George III issued the Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition against the colonies. The colonists responded in July 1776 with the Declaration of Independence, and fighting expanded into full-scale war.

The Declaration and Resolves continues to be of value. The document articulates the views of American Patriots at a critical point in their history. It also points to more timeless principles of natural rights and representative government that Americans later incorporated in both state and federal constitutions.