First Through Fourth Conventions
The first convention was organized after Lord Dunmore dissolved the House of Burgesses when that body called for a day of prayer as a show of solidarity with Boston, Massachusetts, following the Boston Port Act. The Burgesses moved to Raleigh Tavern to continue meeting. The Burgesses declared support for Massachusetts and called for a congress of all the colonies, the Continental Congress. The Burgesses, operating as the first convention, on August 1, 1774, met and elected representatives to the Virginia convention, banned commerce and payment of debts with Britain, and pledged supplies.
The second convention opened in Richmond and met at St. John's Church on March 20, 1775. At the convention, Patrick Henry proposed arming the Virginia militia and delivered his "give me liberty or give me death" speech to rally support for the measure.
The third convention met in July 1775 after Dunmore had fled the capital and taken refuge on a British warship. The convention created a Committee of Safety to take over governance in the absence of Dunmore. The convention also divided Virginia into 16 military districts and resolved to raise regular regiments.
The fourth convention denounced Henry and declared that Virginians were ready to defend themselves "against every species of despotism."
Read more about this topic: Virginia Conventions
Famous quotes containing the words fourth and/or conventions:
“Newsmen believe that news is a tacitly acknowledged fourth branch of the federal system. This is why most news about government sounds as if it were federally mandated—serious, bulky and blandly worthwhile, like a high-fiber diet set in type.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)
“Languages exist by arbitrary institutions and conventions among peoples; words, as the dialecticians tell us, do not signify naturally, but at our pleasure.”
—François Rabelais (1494–1553)