page_title: Massachusetts Provincial Congress
section_title: Second Congress
hierarchical_section_title: Massachusetts Provincial Congress / Second Congress
caption_attribution_description: English: Resolution of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress of March 24, 1775, signed by its president John Hancock, as printed in The Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg, Virginia) on April 21, 1775. Full text: IN PROVINCIAL CONGRESS Concord, March 24, 1775 Whereas it is indispensably necessary for the safety of a free people, and the preservation of their liberties, that they at all times keep themselves in a state of actual defence against every invasion or depredation; and this country being still threatened by a powerful army posted in its capital, with a professed design of executing certain acts of the British Parliament, calculated to destroy our invaluable rights and liberties, and the government of this colony as by charter and law established therein: Therefore resolved, that the measures that have heretofore been recommended by this and the former Provincial Congress, for the purpose of putting this colony into a complete state of defence, be still most vigorously pursued by the several towns, as well as individual inhabitants; and that any relaxation would be attended with the utmost danger to the liberties of this colony and of all America, especially as by the latest advices from Great Britain we have undoubted reasons for jealousy that our implacable enemies are unremitting in their endeavours, by fraud and artifice, as well as by open force, to subjugate this people; which is an additional motive to the inhabitants of this colony to persevere in the line of conduct recommended by the Congress, and be ready to oppose with firmness and resolution at the utmost hazard, every attempt for that purpose. Signed by order of the Provincial Congress. JOHN HANCOCK, President. A true extract from the minutes. BENJAMIN LINCOLN, Secretary.
context_page_description: The Massachusetts Provincial Congress was a provisional government created in the Province of Massachusetts Bay early in the American Revolution. Based on the terms of the colonial charter, it exercised de facto control over the rebellious portions of the province, and after the British withdrawal from Boston in March 1776, the entire province. When Massachusetts Bay declared its independence in 1776, the Congress continued to govern under this arrangement for several years. Increasing calls for constitutional change led to a failed proposal for a constitution produced by the Congress in 1778, and then a successful constitutional convention that produced a constitution for the state in 1780. The Provincial Congress came to an end with elections in October 1780.
context_section_description: The Provincial Congress met again in Cambridge on February 1, 1775. John Hancock was unanimously reelected to be Congress President and Benjamin Lincoln was reappointed as Clerk, know styled Secretary. Delegates responding to meetings of Committees of Correspondence voted and argued on resolutions concerning the management of supplies and information for the militia and their encampment in and around Boston. Congress also reaffirmed that tax and revenue are to be paid to the then Receiver-General Henry Gardner instead of any Royal Officers who remained in an official post.
  Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Hancock, Thomas Cushing, and Robert Treat Paine were also chosen to remain as the delegates to the Continental Congress and were to attend its next session in May. In the absence of the President of the Congress (then Hancock who was charged with the duty of representing Massachusetts in Philadelphia) the Secretary was given the authority to manage and adjourn the Provincial Congress. Congress also reestablished its authority by stating that Committees of Correspondence must adhere to the rulings of the assembly until another constitutional assembly comes into being.
  A new Committee of Safety was chosen by delegates. The new members were to be John Hancock, Benjamin Church, Joseph Warren, Benjamin White, Richard Devens, Joseph Palmer, Abraham Watson, Azor Orne, John Pigeon, Jabez Fisher, and William Heath. The Committee of Safety was given new powers to determine on their own a Commissariat and its members. The Committee was also given full authority of the militia and all business which pertains to its upkeep and maintenance.
  FRIENDS AND FELLOW SUFFERERS: When a people entitled to that freedom, which your ancestors have nobly preserved, as the richest inheritance of their children, are invaded by the hand of oppression, and trampled on by the merciless feet of tyranny, resistance is so far from being criminal, that it becomes the christian and social duty of each individual.
  — Massachusetts Provincial Congress, To the Inhabitants of the Massachusetts Bay. 1775.
  With the escalating military conflict with Great Britain the Congress adopted measures as to safeguard and preserve supplies in the event of the confiscation of materials by Royal authorities or further hardship brought on by war. This included the stockpiling of straw as well as linen. The delegates further resolves that any person who did business with the Royal Army would mark themselves as an enemy of the people of Massachusetts Bay. Delegates dealt with the issue of securing funds for its delegates and to estimate the commercial and economic cost that has been incurred due to the Boston Port Bill. Delegates then decided that an agent ought to be sent to the Province of Quebec in order to determine what the political atmosphere was and where public opinion regarding the Intolerable Acts resided. Congress also sent correspondence to the Board of Selectmen of each town to organize and train the militia due to the immediate military threat from Great Britain. Additionally the Congress prioritized the manufacture and purchasing of as many weapons as needed for defense. A committee was then formed in order to better communicate with the other revolutionary New England governments, as well as colonial governments in Canada.
  March 16 was designated by Congress to be a public day of fasting and or prayer, and was to be done in respect to the current political crisis but also as continuation of custom from their forebears.
  The Second Congress attempted to further regulate and centralize the armed forces in the Province. This included the institution of an oath of allegiance for the head of the Provincial militia/army to the President of the Congress, the regulation of the Committee of Safety, and the forced disarmament of all persons in the Province who were suspected of not having a willingness to join in the militia. In terms of martial matters the Congress also wished to expand the size of the standing army and expand its artillery and officer corps. The Congress al
caption: A March 24, 1775 resolution, signed by John Hancock, calls for the colony to be put into "a complete state of defense".[30]
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 9.0 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2020:07:21 02:54:20", "Image ExifOffset": "176", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "314", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6549", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2000", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3900"}