2018 -- H 8300

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LC003222

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

     COMMEMORATING THE 53RD ANNUAL GASPEE DAYS CELEBRATION

     

     Introduced By: Representatives McNamara, Vella-Wilkinson, Solomon, Shanley, and
Shekarchi

     Date Introduced: June 07, 2018

     Referred To: House read and passed

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     WHEREAS, On the night of June 9, 1772, brave Rhode Island colonists captured and

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burned the reviled British revenue schooner, H.M.S. Gaspee, in one of the boldest and most

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colorful victories in our country's War for American Independence; and

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     WHEREAS, The Gaspee had been harassing Rhode Island since the days of the Stamp

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Act. Its burning off Namquid Point was an ultimate act of defiance and has become renowned as

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the first blood shed during the American Revolution and America's "First Blow for Freedom."

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The colonists actions were a supreme act of protest against the tyranny of the British Crown, and

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they provided a strong impetus in the movement of the American colonies toward independence;

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and

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     WHEREAS, The burning of H.M.S. Gaspee led to the formation of a Committee of

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Correspondence, which in turn led to the establishment of the Continental Congress, and,

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eventually, to the Declaration of Independence; and

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     WHEREAS, Today, two hundred and forty-six years later, the memory of this incendiary

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act still fires the hearts and minds of the residents of historic Pawtuxet Village, and since 1965,

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the village has memorialized the event with an annual Gaspee Days Celebration. This year's

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festivities will include a 5K road race, live music, and an Arts & Crafts Festival, with the

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highlight being a Gaspee Days parade. Also featured is the burning of the Gaspee in effigy, as

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well as a Revolutionary War battle reenactment, and Revolutionary War-era fife and drum bands

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and so much more; and

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     WHEREAS, In 1995, legislation was enacted by the Rhode Island General Assembly to

 

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annually designate the second Saturday and the following Sunday in the month of June as Days of

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Special Observance to be known as Gaspee Days; now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

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Providence Plantations hereby commemorates the 53rd annual celebration of Gaspee Days. We

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moreover urge the patriotic citizens of the Ocean State to participate in the festivities honoring

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this momentous event in the history of our state and our nation; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Proclamation Chairman of the Gaspee Days

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Committee.

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