The New York Provincial Congress (1775–1777) was a revolutionary provisional government formed by colonists during the American Revolution, as an alternative to the more conservative non-revolutionary New York General Assembly, and as a replacement for the largely ad hoc Committee of One Hundred. The Fourth Provincial Congress, resolving itself as the Convention of Representatives of the State of New York, adopted the first Constitution of the State of New York on April 20, 1777.
Background Committees of correspondence
The Committee of Fifty-one was a committee of correspondence in the City and County of New York that first met on May 16, 1774. On May 30, the Committee formed a subcommittee to write a letter to the supervisors of the counties of New York to exhort them to also form similar committees of correspondence, which letter was adopted on a meeting of the Committee on May 31. In response to the letters from Boston, on July 4, 1774 resolutions were approved to appoint five delegates, Isaac Low, John Alsop, James Duane, Philip Livingston, and John Jay, to the "Congress of Deputies from the Colonies" (the First Continental Congress), and request that the other counties also send delegates. Three counties (Westchester, Duchess, and Albany) acquiesced to the five delegates, while three counties (Kings, Suffolk, and Orange) sent delegates of their own. The First Continental Congress met from September 5 to October 26, 1774.
New York General Assembly
In January and February 1775, the New York General Assembly voted down successive resolutions approving the proceedings of the First Continental Congress and refused to send delegates to the Second Continental Congress. New York was the only colonial assembly which did not approve the proceedings of the First Continental Congress. Opposition to the Congress revolved around the opinion that the provincial houses of assembly were the proper agencies to solicit redress for grievances. In March, the Assembly broke with the rest of the colonies and sent its own petition to Parliament, which rejected the petition because it contained claims about a lack of authority of the "parent state" to tax colonists, "which made it impossible" to accept. The Assembly last met on April 3, 1775.Edward Countryman, "Consolidating Power in Revolutionary America: The Case of New York, 1775–1783." Journal of Interdisciplinary History 6.4 (1976): 645-677. in JSTOR
Provincial Convention On March 15, 1775, the Committee of Sixty had issued a call to the counties of New York to send delegates to a Provincial Convention. A Provincial Convention assembled weeks later in New York City on April 20, 1775, where delegates were elected to the Second Continental Congress.
Philip Livingston was its chairman. It included the delegates to the first Continental Congress and also five new members. All counties other than Tryon, Gloucester, and Cumberland were represented. The scope of the Provincial Convention did not extend beyond electing delegates, and they dispersed on April 22.Google Books The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (page 47; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858) On April 23, news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battle of the American Revolutionary War, reached the Congress.
First Provincial Congress The First Provincial Congress was convened in New York City on May 22, 1775 with Peter Van Brugh Livingston as president. The first resolution adopted was obedience to recommendations made by the Second Continental Congress.
The Provincial Congress adapted a "Plan of Accommodation between Great Britain and America", which it sent to its delegates to the Continental Congress, urging extreme caution in opposing Britain. The plan demanded the British government repeal all unpopular laws affecting the colonies and acknowledge the right of the colonies to self-taxation. In return, New York promised to contribute to the costs of defense, maintain civil government, and recognize Britain's right to regulate imperial trade.Launitz-Schurer pg. 161
In May, they ordered the militia to stockpile arms, remove cannon from Fort Crown Point and Fort Ticonderoga, and erect fortifications and defenses on Manhattan Island. All Loyalists in the province were disarmed. In May, the raising of 3,000 militia to serve until December 31 was authorized, and in early June they authorized the payment of £5 sterling for each hundredweight of gunpowder delivered to county military stockpiles.
The Provincial Congress condemned the planned invasion of Canada, since they concluded it conflicted with their own plan of reconciliation. In June, in response to rising tensions, British troops in New York City left to board ships in the harbor. Marinus Willett intervened to prevent them taking carts loaded with militia arms back to the ships. The Provincial Congress welcomed the return of Governor William Tryon, regarded as someone who could be reasoned with, while on the same day providing a more elaborate welcome for Continental Army Commander-in-Chief General George Washington, on his way to take command at the Siege of Boston. On June 28, 1775 they authorized the raising of the four regiments of the New York Line. On July 20, 1775, members of the Sons of Liberty and others raided a British storehouse at Turtle Bay. In August, the Congress ordered the militia to remove the cannon at the Battery, which was done under fire from the ship of the line HMS Asia. In late 1775, the provincial militia was restructured.
It adjourned on November 4, 1775 and appointed a Committee of Safety to sit during its recess. This committee was dominated by Alexander McDougall and John Morin Scott.
Members:
Named individual Representing Details City & County of New York City & County of New York President City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of New York City & County of Albany City & County of Albany City & County of Albany Vice-President City & County of Albany City & County of Albany City & County of Albany City & County of Albany City & County of Albany City & County of Albany City & County of Albany City & County of Albany Dutchess County Chairman Dutchess County Dutchess County Dutchess County Dutchess County Dutchess County Dutchess County Dutchess County Dutchess County Dutchess County Ulster County Ulster County Ulster County Ulster County Ulster County Orange County Orange County Goshen County Goshen County Goshen County Goshen County Suffolk County Suffolk County Suffolk County Suffolk County Suffolk County Suffolk County Suffolk County Selah Strong Suffolk County Westchester County Westchester County Westchester County Stephen Ward Westchester County Westchester County Westchester County Westchester County Westchester County Westchester County Westchester County William Paulding Westchester County Kings County Kings County Richmond County Richmond County Richmond County Richmond County Richmond County
Second Provincial Congress The Second Provincial Congress was organized on December 6, 1775 and sat in New York City, and continued until adjournment on May 13, 1776. In January, 1776, George Washington ordered Major General Charles Lee to prepare New York City for the coming British attack. In February, the Provincial Congress initially refused Lee's entry as antagonistic to the British ships with their guns aimed at the city, but then agreed and also decided to stop provisioning the British ships in New York Harbor.
Third Provincial Congress The Third Provincial Congress was organized on May 22, 1776. It continued in session until June 30, 1776. It took place in Fishkill. It instructed its delegates to the 2nd Continental Congress to oppose independence. On May 31, 1776, the Continental Congress recommended that each of the provinces establish themselves as states. In June, British invasion forces began to amass in New York Harbor.
Notable members (partial list):
Robert Yates Jacob Cuyler Peter Silvester Dirck Swart Henry Glen Francis Nicoll Robert Van Rensselaer Abraham Yates Jr. Philip Schuyler Abraham Ten Broeck Walter Livingston
Fourth Provincial Congress (Convention of Representatives of the State of New York)
The Fourth Provincial Congress convened in White Plains on July 9, 1776 and became known as the First Constitutional Convention. It declared the independent state of New York on July 9, 1776. On the same day the Declaration of Independence was read by George Washington to the Continental Army and local citizens on the commons of New York City, who celebrated by tearing down the statue of George III in nearby Bowling Green. On July 10, 1776, the Fourth Provincial Congress changed its name to the Convention of Representatives of the State of New York, and "acts as legislature without an executive." On August 1, the convention assigned the task of drafting a constitution to a committee of thirteen and ordered it to report a draft by August 27, but it did not do so until March 12, 1777. While adjourned it left a Committee of Safety in charge.
The Constitution of the State of New York was adopted on April 20, 1777 in Kingston. The governor would be elected and not appointed, voting qualifications were reduced, secret ballots were introduced, and civil rights were guaranteed. On July 9, 1778 the State of New York signed the Articles of Confederation and officially became part of the government of the United States of America, though it had been a part of the nation as representative were signatories to the Declaration in 1776.
List of presidents and chairmen
1st Provincial Congress
Peter Van Brugh Livingston May 23, 1775 Nathaniel Woodhull Aug 23, 1775 pro tem Abraham Yates Nov 2, 1775 pro tem
2nd Provincial Congress
Nathaniel Woodhull Dec 6, 1775 John Haring Dec 16, 1775 pro tem Nathaniel Woodhull Feb 12, 1776 pro tem
3rd Provincial Congress
Nathaniel Woodhull May 18, 1776 John Haring Jun 19, 1776
4th Provincial Congress and Representative Convention
Nathaniel Woodhull Jul 9, 1776 Abraham Yates Aug 10, 1776 pro tem Abraham Yates Aug 28, 1776 Peter Van Brugh Livingston Sep 26, 1776 Abraham Ten Broeck Mar 6, 1777 Leonard Gansevoort Apr 18, 1777
Chairmen of the Committee of Safety Nathaniel Woodhull July 10, 1776 to August 10, 1776 Abraham Yates August 10, 1776 to September 26, 1776 Peter Van Brugh Livingston September 26, 1776 to March 6, 1777 Abraham Ten Broeck March 6, 1777 to April 9, 1777 William Smith April 9, 1777 to April 11, 1777 Pierre Van Cortlandt April 11, 1777 to April 18, 1777 Leonard Gansevoort April 18, 1777 to May 14, 1777
President of the Council of Safety Pierre Van Cortlandt May 14, 1777 to July 30, 1777
See also Provincial Congress :Category:Members of the New York Provincial Congress New York Declaration of Independence
Footnotes
References Fernow, Berthold, New York in the Revolution, 1887 Launitz-Schurer, Leopold, Loyal Whigs and Revolutionaries, The making of the revolution in New York, 1765-1776, 1980,