Augusta Declaration

The Fifth Virginia Convention convened on May 6, 1776. There were three parties present. The first was mainly made up of wealthy planters, who sought to continue their hold on local government as it had grown up during colonial Virginia's history. These included Robert Carter Nicholas Sr. who opposed the Declaration of Independence from King George. This party, which saw little to gain and much to lose from a separation from Great Britain, dominated the convention by a malapportionment that lent an advantage to the slaveholding east.[6] The second party was made up of the intellectuals of the Enlightenment: lawyers, physicians and "aspiring young men". These included the older generation of George Mason, George Wythe, and Edmund Pendleton, and the younger Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.[7] The third, "radical party," was a minority of young men mainly from western Virginia, some of whom had supported independence earlier than 1775.[8] The Augustans were from this party, with Thomas Lewis and Samuel McDowell serving as delegates.

When the convention began, three counties (Cumberland, Charlotte, and James City)[9][10][11] had already drafted resolutions for independence. Delegates from several others had come to Williamsburg with prepared statements on the issue, while most others had come knowing the question would be addressed.[12] Over the first several sessions, the Convention dealt with matters largely related to the ongoing war effort.[13] On May 10, the fifth session of the Convention, Thomas Lewis introduced the Augusta Declaration on behalf of the Augusta County Committee of Safety. This was the first statement on the issue of independence during this Convention, and would influence final resolution on the subject.[14][15] On May 14, the Convention resolved itself into a committee to debate the question of independence in full.[16] The following day, May 15, the committee came to a unanimously agreement "to propose to Congress to declare the United Colonies free and independent States, absolved from all allegiance to, or dependence upon, the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain".

The Convention adopted resolutions calling for:

• state papers (a declaration of rights and constitution)
• foreign alliances
• a confederation of the colonies

With this, Virginia became the first colony to instruct its delegates in Congress to introduce both a resolution for independence and a federal union of the colonies.[17] The last resolution, specifically, was responsive to the Augusta Declaration.[18]

These resolutions were forwarded to Richard Henry Lee, the Virginia representative to the Continental Congress, who introduced them to that body on June 7, almost verbatim:

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 connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.

That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances.

That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.[19]

The Congress organized into groups to draft statements for each resolution. These efforts resulted in the creation of the United States Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776; the Model Treaty (foreign policy), September 17, 1776; and the Articles of Confederation (first U.S. constitution), March 1, 1781. [20]

After Parliament closed the ports of Boston and passed the Intolerable Acts to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, the Virginia House of Burgesses organized a protest as a show of solidarity with Boston. In response, Virginia royal governor Lord Dunmore dissolved the House of Burgesses. The burgesses then formed the extralegal Virginia Conventions in place of the dissolved House, scheduling the first session for August 1.[21] Augusta County's elected delegates for this session, Samuel McDowell and George Mathews, did not attend the first of these Conventions, likely due to the recent end of Dunmore's War in which the Augusta County militia was heavily involved.[22][23] For the remaining conventions, Augusta County sent Thomas Lewis and Samuel McDowell as their delegates.

In October, 1774, the First Continental Congress directed that a committee of safety be appointed in "every county, city, and town" for the primary reason of monitoring imports and exports to ensure compliance with a boycott of British goods.[24] Over the next year the roles of the county committees expanded to include the raising of militia units, providing local government, and implementing and upholding new policy from the Continental Congress.[25]

The first recorded action of the Augusta County Committee of Safety was a patriotic meeting taking place on February 22, 1775 in Staunton, Virginia, which resulted in the drafting of the Augusta Resolves. These resolves stated the intent of the Augustans to support the Continental Congress, to pledge 'life and fortune' in preservation of their natural liberties, and to ally with "all British America" in securing these liberties.[26] The Augusta Resolves, along with the resolutions of nearby Fincastle, Botetourt, and Pittsylvania counties, were the most significant of the second of two broad waves of resolutions passed by nearly every Virginia county from summer 1774 through winter 1775, and were unique in demonstrating a national scope that previous resolutions had not.[27] The Augusta County committee's revolutionary activity continued throughout the next year, organizing militia and functioning as an extralegal local government. The Virginia committees of safety were replaced with standard courts when Virginia created its own permanent government.[28][29]

While the committee's declaration of May 10, 1776 is presumed lost, at least one memorial (petition) from the committee survives with its signatories intact. This memorial, dated November 9, 1776, and which relates to religion and taxation, is signed by the following: