The Freeman 1972 - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

236 THE FREEMAN Aprilhave allegiance to the Englishmonarch. John Adams argued thiscase more explicitly in the NovanglusLetters, which appeared afterthe First Continental Congresshad dissolved itself. 7Results of the MeetingThe First Continental Congresshad a relatively brief session fromSeptember 26 to October 22 of1774. It dealt with four majorpoints during that time. The firstof these was the Suffolk Resolveswhich were presented by Massachusettsdelegates and when confirmedwere formal advice fromthe Congress to that colony. TheResolves declared the Coercive Actsunconstitutional, advised Massachusettsto form its own governmentuntil such time as the actswere repealed, recommended thatthe people of that colony arm themselvesand form a militia, andcalled upon them to adopt economicsanctions against Britain. Thiswas, indeed, a strong stand againstBritish action, and it is not toomuch to label it defiance.The Congress next dealt withthe Galloway Plan of Union. Itwas the work of Joseph Gallowayof Pennsylvania, and is usuallyconsidered to have been conservativein character. Be that as itmay, the Plan was intended notonly to provide a general governmentfor the colonies· but to do sowithin the general frame of royaland parliamentary authority inthe British empire. The Plan wasdefeated, but there is little reasonto suppose that had it been adoptedanything would have come of it.The Declaration and Resolveswas the major policy positionadopted by the Congress. It setforth the rights of the colonies,enumerated the abuses of recentyears, delineated, once again, thelimits of parliamentary authority,and called for economic sanctions.A considerable debate occurredwithin committee as to whetherthey should found their argumentfor rights on natural law or not. 8The issue almost certainly wasnot over whether there is naturallaw and naturai right but over theimpact of referring to them on thecolonial relationship to GreatBritain. Those determined to preservethe connection with Britainwanted to hold on to the idea oftheir tracing their rights to Britain.Once the claim went to thelaws of nature the basis for makinga definitive. break would belaid. The outcome, however, wasthat the Congress confirmed bothsources for their rights. The preambleto the ringing statement ofrights reads:That the inhabitants of the Englishcolonies in North America, bythe immutable laws of nature, the