Commemorating the 61st Annual Gaspee Days Celebration and the Momentous 254th Anniversary of the Burning of the Gaspee

WHEREAS, On the night of June 9, 1772, brave Rhode Island colonists captured and burned the reviled British revenue schooner, H.M.S. Gaspee, in one of the boldest and most colorful victories in our country's War for American Independence; and

WHEREAS, The Gaspee had been harassing Rhode Island since the days of the Stamp Act. Its burning off Namquid Point was an ultimate act of defiance and has become renowned as the first blood shed during the American Revolution and America's "First Blow for Freedom". The colonists actions were a supreme act of protest against the tyranny of the British Crown, and they provided a strong impetus in the movement of the American colonies toward independence; and

WHEREAS, The burning of H.M.S. Gaspee led to the formation of a Committee of Correspondence, which in turn led to the establishment of the Continental Congress, and, eventually, to the Declaration of Independence; and

WHEREAS, Today, two hundred and fifty-four years later, the memory of this incendiary act still fires the hearts and minds of the residents of historic Pawtuxet Village, and since 1965, the village has memorialized the event with an annual Gaspee Days Celebration. This year's festivities will include a firework extravaganza, a K road race, live music, including a symphony in the park, and an Arts & Crafts Festival, with the highlight being the Gaspee Days parade. Also featured is the burning of the Gaspee in effigy, as well as a Revolutionary War militia encampment, fife and drum bands, and so much more; and

WHEREAS, In 1995, legislation was enacted by the Rhode Island General Assembly to annually designate the second Saturday and the following Sunday in the month of June as Days of Special Observance to be known as Gaspee Days; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby commemorates the st annual celebration of Gaspee Days and the 254th Anniversary of the Burning of the Gaspee. We moreover urge the patriotic citizens of the Ocean State to participate in the festivities honoring this momentous event in the history of our state and our nation; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Proclamation Chairman of the Gaspee Days Committee.