MONDAY, JULY 1, 1776 Sundry letters were laid before Congress and read, viz. One from General Washington, June 27, 1776, accompanied with one from General Ward, of the 20 of same month, to General Washington One from General Schuyler, 25 June, to do. One from General Arnold, 25 June, 66 66 One from General Sullivan to General Schuyler One from General Arnold, Chamble, June 13, Another letter from General Washington of the 28 June, enclosing sundry papers: A third letter from General Washington of the 27th, by an Officer who attended to guard Major Rodgers to Philadelphia. A Letter from the Convention of New Jersey, of the 29th June, and also, from Mr. Tucker, enclosing a letter from two prisoners at Burlington: A letter from the convention of New Hampshire 17 June:1 A letter from Brigadier General Lewis from Williamsburg, June 17, with some memorandums from Brigadier H. Mercer: A letter from B[enjamin] Harrison, jun. deputy pay master general of the southern department, with a return of his account to the 22d June. 1These letters of Washington are in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 152, II, folios 103, 115, 123. Two of them are printed in Writings of Washington (Ford), IV, 181, 184. The following locations are to be noted: Schuyler [June 19], in No. 153, II, folio 218; Sullivan [June 19], in No. 153, II, folio 214; Antill, in No. 78, I, folio 5; Hazen, in No. 78, XI, folio 61; New Jersey convention in No. 68, folio 155; Tucker, in No. 78, XXII, folio 63; New Hampshire convention, in No. 64, folio 9. Resolved, That an order for 6,000 dollars be drawn on the treasurers, in favour of Mr. Richard Graham, of Virginia, in full of a draught in his favour of the 20th of June, by Brigadier General Lewis; and that the same be charged to the account of the [Benjamin Harrison,] deputy pay master general for the southern department. A resolution of the convention of Maryland, of the 28 June, was also laid before Congress and read, wherein it is resolved: IN CONVENTION, 28 June 1776. Resolved, Unanimously, That the Instructions given by the Convention December last, (and renewed by the Convention in May,) to the Deputies of this Colony in Congress, be recalled, and the Restrictions therein contained, removed; and that the Deputies of this Colony, attending in Congress, or a Majority of them or of any three or more of them, be authorized and empowered to concur with the other United Colonies, or a Majority of them, in declaring the United Colonies free and independent States; in forming such further Compact and Confederation between them; in making foreign Alliances, and in adopting such other Measures as shall be adjudged necessary for securing the Liberties of America; and this Colony will hold itself bound, by the Resolutions of a Majority of the United Colonies, in the Premises; Provided, the sole and exclusive Right of regulating the internal Government and Police of this Colony be reserved to the People thereof. Extract from the Minutes, G. DUVALL, Clerk. The order of the day being read, Resolved, That this Congress will resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into consideration the resolution respecting independency: Resolved, That the Declaration be referred to said committee. The Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole. After some time,|| the president resumed the chair. Mr. [Benjamin] Harrison reported, that the committee have had under consideration the matters referred to them, and have agreed to the resolution, which they ordered him to report, and desired him to move for leave to sit again.1 The resolution agreed to by committee of the whole being read, the determination thereof was postponed, at the request of a colony, till to morrow. Resolved, That a Brigadier General, acting in a separate department, be allowed an aid de camp. A letter of the 29 from General Washington was laid before Congress and read." Resolved, That the letters this day received, be referred to the Board of War. Resolved, That this Congress will, to Morrow, resolve 1 A letter from the Provincial Congress of New York to the New York Delegates, dated June 11, against their authority to vote for independence, was read before the Congress in Committee of the Whole. The letter is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 67, I, folio 228. The vote of the Maryland Convention was laid before Congress this day, "just as we were entering on the great debate; that debate took up most of the day, but it was an idle mispense of time, for nothing was said but what had been repeated and hackneyed in that room before a hundred times for six months past. In the Committee of the Whole, the question was carried in the affirmative, and reported to the House. A Colony desired it to be postponed until to morrow, when it will pass by a great majority, perhaps with almost unanimity; yet I cannot promise this, because one or two gentlemen may possibly be found who will vote point blank against the known and declared sense of their constituents." John Adams to Samuel Chase, 1 July, 1776. "I am told that Maryland insists upon one of our delegates having in a manner promised when the point of declaring independence was in debate, that the back lands should be a fund for supporting the war. I have [heard] that a rhetorical expression to that purpose was used by a gentleman on that occasion. [But we] can balance that that account at least by a very serious question more in point, debated in Congress in 1775, when the delegates from Pennsylvania and Virginia proposed that a garrison of 400 men be raised and kept at common expense at Pittsburg to awe the Indians. It was warmly opposed from Maryland upon this ground, that it was a [scheme] of those two States merely to guard their own frontiers in which the others were not concerned, and therefore the expense must be incurred by the former. Their objections prevailed, the motion was rejected, and the two States raised the 200 men [each for] that service soon afterwards." Edmund Pendleton to James Madison, 25 September, 1780. 2 This letter is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 152, II, folio 135. It is printed in Writings of Washington (Ford), IV, 194. itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their farther consideration the declaration respecting independence. Adjourned to 9 o'Clock to Morrow. TUESDAY, JULY 2, 1776 Sundry letters were laid before Congress, and read, viz: One from General Washington, of the 30 of June, enclosing an extract of a letter from General Ward, of the 23d of said month; a copy of a letter of the 19th from Lieutenant Colonel Campbell to General Howe; a copy of an anonymous letter dated Watertown, 21 of the same month:1 One from the council of Massachusetts bay2 of the 26th: and One from Governor Trumbull of the 20th of the same month. A letter from the pay master general, with a return of his weekly account: Ordered, That the last with the weekly account be delivered to Board of Treasury: Ordered, That the letter from Lieutenant Colonel Campbell to General Howe, be published: Resolved, That the other letters be referred to the Board of War and Ordnance. The Congress resumed the consideration of the resolution agreed to by and reported from the committee of 1This letter is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 152, II, folio 139. It is printed in the Writings of Washington (Ford), IV, 196. The copy of Campbell's letter is not with it. 2 The letter from the Council of Massachusetts Bay is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 65, I, folio 89. That of Governor Trumbull is in No. 66, I, folio 189. the whole; and the same being read, was agreed to as follows: Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and, of right, ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion between them, and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.1 Agreeable to the order of the day, the Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole; and, after some time, the president resumed the chair. Mr. [Benjamin] Harrison reported, that the committee have had under consideration the declaration to them referred; but, not having had time to go through ||the same,|| desired leave to sit again: Resolved, That this Congress will, to morrow, again resolve itself into a committee of the whole, to take into their farther consideration the declaration on independ ence. The Congress being informed, that, in obedience to their order, Captain Whipple and Captain Saltonstal were come to Philadelphia; Whereupon, Resolved, That the Marine Committee be directed to enquire into the complaints exhibited against them, and report to Congress. Adjourned to 9 o'Clock to Morrow.|| WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 1776 A letter from the convention of New Jersey, dated 2 July; and a letter from the commissioners of Indian affairs in the southern department, dated Augusta, 21 May, together with an account of their expences, and the min 1This report, in the writing of Charles Thomson, is in the Papers of the Continental Congress, No. 23, folio 17. |