Resolutions at Oyster Bay, on the passage of the Stamp Act.

Resolutions at Oyster Bay, on the passage of the Stamp Act.

(1) On the passage of the Stamp Act, the following proceedings took place in Queens county:

To the committee of the Sons of Liberty in New York

GENTLEMEN:---By order of a Committee of the Sons of Liberty in Oyster Bay, we are to acquaint you, that at a meeting of the inhabitants, on Saturday, February 22, 1766, it was unanimously agreed and resolved----

I. That the person, crown and dignity of our rightful sovereign, King George III., with all his just and legal rights of government, we will, to the utmost of our power, support, maintain, and defend.

II. That the liberties and privileges, which we as Englishmen have still enjoyed, particularly those of being taxed by representatives of our own choosing, and being tried by our own juries, we will also support, maintain, and defend.

III. That the late Stamp Act is destructive of these our liberties, and is by us deemed to be arbitrary and unconstitutional; that as such, we will, to the utmost of our power, endeavor to oppose and suppress the same.

IV. That the measures which you have taken, and the several noble efforts you have made, in vindication of the general cause of liberty, we do heartily approve of, and that with our lives and fortunes, we stand ready to assist you in the same.

V. That the Committee now chosen, do signify these our resolutions to the SONS OF LIBERTY at New-York and elsewhere, as they may think proper; that the said Committee do for the future keep up appointed meetings, as may be thought necessary, at the house of George Weekes, in Oyster Bay, and maintain a correspondence with your Committee, in which we expect our concurrence.---Holt, March 6, 1766.

The Stamp Act was soon repealed, and we hear no more of the public meetings in Queens County, till the passage of the Boston Port Bill, when a number of persons assembled at the Inn of Increase Carpenter, and requested Othniel Smith, constable, to warn the freeholders to meet at the Court House, to take into consideration the state of public affairs.

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