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36-533: The Suffolk Resolves was a declaration made on September 9, 1774, by the leaders of Suffolk County, Massachusetts . The declaration rejected the Massachusetts Government Act and resulted in a boycott of imported goods from Britain unless the Intolerable Acts were repealed. The Resolves were recognized by statesman Edmund Burke as a major development in colonial animosity leading to adoption of

72-573: A declaration of independence from Britain, known as the "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence". Some claim it to be the first 'declaration of independence' in America. Such a declaration would have antedated the less freedom-seeking Resolves by eleven days (a contradiction in logic); and would have preceded the Declaration of Independence by over a year. Conclusive evidence of an independence-seeking document has not been found, even in extant newspapers of

108-489: A display of defiance, the Mecklenburg Resolves were not, by any means, a declaration that the people of Mecklenburg County were free and independent of The Crown . The original ratified document of the "Mecklenburg Resolves" (or alleged "Mecklenburg Declaration") was said to have burned in an 1800 fire at a private residence where it was being kept. There are no independently published contemporaneous accounts of

144-434: A female householder with no husband present, 52.0% were non-families, and 36.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 3.11. The median age was 31.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $ 50,597 and the median income for a family was $ 58,127. Males had a median income of $ 48,887 versus $ 43,658 for females. The per capita income for

180-520: A set of resolves to explain its actions. Although the resolves were all similar in tone and scope, the one written by patriots in Suffolk has received more attention for two reasons: it was better crafted, and it was formally endorsed by the Continental Congress. Suffolk, which contained Boston, was the only county in which courts remained nominally open, under the protection of all British troops. At

216-579: Is located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts , in the United States. As of the 2020 census , the population was 797,936, making it the fourth-most populous county in Massachusetts. The county comprises the cities of Boston , Chelsea , and Revere , and the town of Winthrop . The traditional county seat is Boston , the state capital and the largest city in Massachusetts. The county government

252-830: Is now considered the first battles in the American War for Independence at Lexington and Concord , Massachusetts . The Resolves proclaimed that "all Laws...derived from the Authority of the King or Parliament, are annulled and vacated," and that the Provincial government "under the Great Continental Congress is invested with all legislative and executive Powers...and that no other Legislative or Executive does or can exist, at this time, in any of these Colonies." Captain James Jack

288-719: Is now the site of the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds. As with the other counties' resolves, the Suffolk document denounced the Intolerable Acts , or Coercive Acts, which had recently been passed by the British Parliament and specifically resolved the following: Following the issuance of the Resolves, Paul Revere delivered a copy to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , where it

324-629: Is reputed to have relayed the Resolves document to the North Carolina delegation made up of Richard Caswell , William Hooper , and Joseph Hewes meeting at the Continental Congress . There, the delegates received it but decided not to present it at that time to the Congress as a whole. These resolves were drafted only a month following the outbreak of civil unrest at Lexington and Concord. Similar lists of resolves were issued by other localities at

360-400: Is water. It is the second-smallest county in Massachusetts by land area and smallest by total area. Suffolk County has no land border with Plymouth County to its southeast, but the two counties share a water boundary in the middle of Massachusetts Bay . Of the 292,767 households, 24.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.1% were married couples living together, 16.3% had

396-646: The Continental Association , established a revolutionary infrastructure, similar to that of the Sons of Liberty during the early days of the resistance. A number of counties in other colonies adopted declarations of grievances against Britain before the Declaration of Independence , including the Mecklenburg Resolves and the Tryon Resolves in 1775 and at least 90 other documents favoring independence in

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432-544: The Essex Register article begins with the word, 'Resolved'. The article was judged a hoax at the time by Thomas Jefferson and John Adams . The controversy over the Mecklenburg Declaration entered a new phase with the discovery of the text of Mecklenburg Resolves. It was then asked how can one account for two very different sets of resolutions supposedly adopted only eleven days apart by the same committee? How

468-753: The United States Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1776, and he urged British conciliation with the American colonies, to little effect. The First Continental Congress endorsed the Resolves on September 17, 1774, and passed the similarly themed Continental Association on October 20, 1774. On August 26–27, 1774 the Committees of Correspondence from Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, and Worcester counties met at Faneuil Hall in Boston to oppose

504-523: The Democratic Party overwhelmingly. No Republican presidential candidate has won there since Calvin Coolidge in 1924. In 2012 Barack Obama received 77.4% of the vote, compared to 20.8% for former governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney . In the 2014 gubernatorial election , Martha Coakley carried the county by a 32.4% margin, while losing the election statewide by 48.4 to 46.5%. In 2020, Joe Biden won

540-542: The Mecklenburg Resolves. Following the fire that destroyed the originals, references to the Resolves and the Declaration were used increasingly more interchangeably, until the time of the Massachusetts Essex Register News publication (1819) of the purported text of a "Declaration". The background information for that article was supplied by McKnitt's son—two years after his death. Each statement printed in

576-882: The Suffolk County Convention of the Committees of Correspondence on September 6, 1774, Joseph Warren introduced the first draft of the Suffolk Resolves, which were edited and approved three days later at the Daniel Vose House in Milton, Massachusetts , which was then part of Suffolk County but is now in Norfolk County, Massachusetts . The convention that adopted them had first met at the Woodward Tavern in Dedham , which

612-606: The county by the largest margin of any presidential candidate since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and was the first candidate since then to win more than 80% of the vote in the county. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department's primary responsibility is oversight of the Nashua Street Jail and the South Bay House of Correction . These were built in the 1990s to replace the historic Charles Street Jail and Deer Island Prison , respectively. The Suffolk County Sheriff's Department

648-490: The county include: Public library systems in the county include: 42°21′32″N 71°03′28″W  /  42.35892°N 71.05781°W  / 42.35892; -71.05781 Mecklenburg Resolves The Mecklenburg Resolves document was created by the Mecklenburg County Committee of Safety on or after May 20, 1775, and adopted by that same committee on May 31, 1775. This was just weeks after what

684-587: The county region, but there is no county council, executives or commissioners. Prior to the abolition of county government, the authority of the Suffolk County Commission had for many years been exercised by the Boston City Council, even though three communities in the county are not part of the city. However, communities are now granted the right to form their own regional compacts for sharing services. Politically speaking, Suffolk County supports

720-680: The county was $ 30,720. About 15.7% of families and 20.6% of the population were below the poverty line , including 28.1% of those under age 18 and 19.1% of those age 65 or over. According to the 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, the largest ancestry groups in Suffolk County, Massachusetts are: Data is from the 2007-2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Each city has its own school district (including Boston Public Schools , Chelsea Public Schools , Revere Public Schools , and Winthrop Public Schools ), which all follow municipal boundaries. Tertiary institutions in

756-808: The early 20th century, County government functions were absorbed by the City of Boston , with Boston City Council becoming the de-facto County Commission, and the City Treasurer similarly becoming the County Treasurer, albeit said government was not formally abolished until 1999. Like an increasing number of Massachusetts counties, Suffolk County exists today only as a historical geographic region, and has no county government. All former county functions were assumed by state agencies in 1999. The sheriff, district attorney, and some other regional officials with specific duties are still elected locally to perform duties within

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792-459: The events of 1775 from the memories of the few surviving signers (including John McKnitt Alexander) but also from the descendants of the May 1775 drafting committee relying on passed-down family lore. Many historians believe the story of a declaration of independence was created by surviving document signers many years after the event, who mistakenly remembered the actual events surrounding the adoption of

828-668: The house was moved in 1950 from Lower Mills to 1370 Canton Avenue in Milton. Now known as the Suffolk Resolves House, it was restored to its original colonial appearance and is the headquarters of the Milton Historical Society. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and is open to public view. Suffolk County, Massachusetts Suffolk County ( / ˈ s ʌ f ə k / SUF -ək )

864-759: The original Suffolk County (including Milton ) except for Boston, Chelsea, Hingham, and Hull (which remained in Suffolk) split off and became Norfolk County . Hingham and Hull would leave Suffolk County and join Plymouth County in 1803. Revere was set off from Chelsea and incorporated in 1846 and Winthrop was set off from Revere and incorporated in 1852. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Boston annexed several adjacent cities and towns including Hyde Park, Roxbury, West Roxbury, and Dorchester from Norfolk County and Charlestown and Brighton from Middlesex County , resulting in an enlargement of Suffolk County. During

900-577: The political balance in Congress and paved the way for other radical measures, such as the Continental Association, a general nonimportation agreement adopted by the First Continental Association a month later, on October 20. Previously, nonimportation agreements had been limited to specific localities, but this one applied throughout the rebellious colonies. The Committees of Safety (or Correspondence) , which were formed to enforce

936-608: The purported text of the declaration of May 20. Then, in 1847, the complete text of The Resolves was found in the archives of the South Carolina Gazette . The newspaper had reported the committee's result and published the text, on June 13, 1775. The article gave the date of adoption of the Mecklenburg Resolves as May 31, 1775. It did not list any signatories. According to North Carolinian folklore , citizens of Mecklenburg County assembled in Charlotte on May 20, 1775, and wrote

972-481: The recent Massachusetts Government Act , which had disenfranchised citizens of Massachusetts by revoking key provisions of the provincial Charter of 1691. The convention urged all Massachusetts counties to close their courts, rather than to submit to the oppressive measure. Berkshire had already done so, and by the first week of October, seven of the nine contiguous mainland counties in Massachusetts had followed suit. As each county in turn closed its court, it issued

1008-608: The spring of 1776, but the resolves from the Massachusetts County Conventions in August–October 1774 were the first to promote across-the-board noncompliance with British governmental authority. A historic plaque on Adams Street in the Lower Mills area of Milton commemorates the original site of the Daniel Vose House , where the Suffolk Resolves were signed on September 4, 1774. In order to prevent its demolition,

1044-406: The time and throughout the next 14 months (such as the Tryon Resolves in the neighboring Tryon County ). None of these actually called for independence. The Mecklenburg Resolves left the door open to reconciliation if Parliament were to "resign its unjust and arbitrary Pretentions [ sic ] with respect to America", in which case the resolutions would no longer be in force. Although

1080-494: The time. Following the 1800 fire, several reported attempts at that time to re-create the text of the burned document added to the confusion and controversy. This is especially true because some of the "re-created text" now borrowed actual passages from the United States Declaration of Independence. The text of the supposed declaration was created not only from an attempted reconstruction cobbled together decades after

1116-523: The wording of the document. There are no published contemporaneous accounts of who signed the Mecklenburg Resolves. Proof that the Mecklenburg Resolves existed was found in 1838. The case for the authenticity of the Mecklenburg Resolves, but not a declaration of independence was bolstered with the discovery by historian Peter Force of an abbreviated list of resolutions that were adopted in Mecklenburg County on May 31, 1775. These differed widely from

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1152-487: Was abolished in 1999, resulting in Suffolk County now functioning only as an administrative subdivision of state government and a set of communities grouped together for some statistical purposes. Suffolk County is located at the core of the Boston- Cambridge - Newton , MA- NH Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the greater Boston- Worcester -Providence, MA- RI - NH - CT Combined Statistical Area . The county

1188-436: Was among those named in a 2020 WBUR report about the neglect of inmates with medical conditions in Massachusetts prisons leading to their deaths. Several notable figures in Massachusetts history were once the sheriff of Suffolk County: According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 120 square miles (310 km ), of which 58 square miles (150 km ) is land and 62 square miles (160 km ) (52%)

1224-600: Was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four shires ". Suffolk initially contained Boston , Roxbury , Dorchester , Dedham , Braintree , Weymouth , and Hingham . The county was named after Suffolk , England, which means "southern folk." In 1731, the extreme western portions of Suffolk County, which included Mendon and Uxbridge , were split off to become part of Worcester County . In 1793, most of

1260-417: Was endorsed on September 17 as a show of colonial solidarity. In response, John Adams commented in his diary: "This was one of the happiest days of my life. In Congress we had generous, noble sentiments, and manly eloquence. This day convinced me that America will support Massachusetts or perish with her." Endorsement of the Suffolk Resolves and, with it the rebellion that had enveloped Massachusetts, altered

1296-434: Was it possible that citizens of Mecklenburg County declared independence on May 20, and then met again on May 31, to pass less revolutionary resolutions? For skeptics of the Mecklenburg Declaration, the answer was that the Declaration was a misdated, inaccurate recreation of the authentic Resolves. Supporters of the Declaration maintain that both documents are genuine, and were adopted to serve different purposes. Nonetheless,

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