2025 SESSION
ENROLLED
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 470
Commending program partners for the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission's Fincastle Resolutions events.
Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 15, 2025
Agreed to by the Senate, January 23, 2025
WHEREAS, in January 2025, several local program partners in Southwest Virginia will work together with the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Fincastle Resolutions; and
WHEREAS, the General Assembly established the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission in 2020 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, the Revolutionary War, and the formation of the United States as an independent nation; and
WHEREAS, the Committee of Safety of Fincastle County adopted the Fincastle Resolutions on January 20, 1775, defying the British crown and boldly declaring their determination never to surrender the rights and privileges granted to them as Virginians; and
WHEREAS, while many similar resolutions were drafted in the summer of 1774, the Fincastle Resolutions are noteworthy as the first document in which the colonists declared that independence was a cause for which they would lay down their lives; and
WHEREAS, predating Patrick Henry's famous Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech by two months, the Fincastle Resolutions conclude with, These are our real, though unpolished sentiments, of liberty and loyalty, and in them we are resolved to live and die.; and
WHEREAS, after the Fincastle Resolutions were signed, Colonel William Christian carried the document by foot, horseback, and carriage to the Capitol at Williamsburg, then on to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia; and
WHEREAS, a historical marker in Austinville, Wythe County, which was erected at the time of the nation's bicentennial, marks the site of the former Lead Mines community, where the signing of the Fincastle Resolutions took place; and
WHEREAS, on Saturday, January 18, 2025, the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission will join with local committees in Wythe, Roanoke, Pulaski, and Botetourt counties, the Roanoke History Museum, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Daughters of the American Revolution, and other organizations to host a major event honoring the significance of the Fincastle Resolutions; and
WHEREAS, the family-friendly slate of events features patriotic musical performances by the Virginia Military Institute Regimental Band and the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, a flag presentation by the Virginia Sons of the American Revolution Color Guard, a re-enactment of William Christian delivering the Fincastle Resolutions to Williamsburg on horseback, a dramatic reading of the Fincastle Resolutions by local students, and the grand opening of three new exhibits at the Roanoke History Museum, among other activities; and
WHEREAS, the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission's Fincastle Resolutions events would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of its local program partners and volunteers, who have gone above and beyond to preserve and promote the history and heritage of the Commonwealth; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend program partners for the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission's Fincastle Resolutions events; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to representatives of the program partners for the Virginia American Revolution 250 Commission's Fincastle Resolutions events as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for their efforts to raise awareness of the Fincastle Resolutions and educate the public about the foundation of the United States.