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STATE OF MAINE
_____
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
_____
JOINT RESOLUTION TO RECOGNIZE THE
SEMIQUINCENTENNIAL OF THE BATTLES OF LEXINGTON
AND CONCORD
WHEREAS, the battles of Lexington and Concord took place on April 19, 1775; and
WHEREAS,
for the costs of the war by increasing taxes on its North American territories without their
consent; and
WHEREAS,
representation through political action and civil agitation, culminating in the destruction of a
cargo of imported tea, an event known as the Boston Tea Party, in December 1773; and
WHEREAS,
passing the "Intolerable Acts," which, among other measures, revoked the charter of the
Province of Massachusetts Bay, which encompassed much of today's State of Maine,
concentrated power in a Governor appointed by the King, forbade town meetings without the
Governor's approval and placed Boston under military occupation; and
WHEREAS,
the provincial assembly of Massachusetts Bay; and
WHEREAS,
Concord and organizing themselves as a Provincial Congress on October 7, 1774, and with
John Hancock as its president, it became the de facto government of Massachusetts outside of
Boston, including representatives from York and Cumberland Counties and other parts of
present-day Maine; and
WHEREAS,
defense and safety of the Province of Massachusetts Bay by providing for procurement and
disbursement of arms and munitions, assembling a militia and appointing as the militia's
commander the Honorable Jedediah Preble, Esquire, of Falmouth, now Portland, Maine; and
WHEREAS,
operation to apprehend the leaders of the Provincial Congress in Lexington and confiscate the
arms and munitions stored in Concord; and
WHEREAS,
notified through the night of the approaching soldiers, fought British forces on the Lexington
Green and at the North Bridge in Concord, protecting their munitions from seizure and harrying
the British forces throughout their retreat to Boston; and
WHEREAS,
therefore, be it Page 2 - 132LR2529(01)
RESOLVED: That We, the Members of the One Hundred and Thirty-second Legislature
now assembled in the First Special Session, on behalf of the people we represent, take this
opportunity to honor the courage and sacrifice of those who risked their lives by taking up
public service and armed service in defiance of tyranny and in defense of the principles and
practice of representative self-government that is their legacy and our heritage.