R 291

2015 -- H 6206 Enacted 05/14/2015

H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING THE 50TH ANNUAL GASPEE DAYS CELEBRATION

Introduced By: Representatives McNamara, Naughton, Trillo, Bennett, and Handy

Date Introduced: May 14, 2015

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, almost two hundred and forty-three years later, the memory of this

incendiary act still fires the hearts and minds of the residents of historic Pawtuxet Village, and for

the past five decades, since 1965, the village has memorialized the event with an annual Gaspee

Days Celebration. This year's festivities will include a 5K road race, live music, and an Arts &

Crafts Festival, with the highlight being a Gaspee Days parade. Also featured is the burning of the

Gaspee in effigy, as well as a Revolutionary War battle reenactment, and Revolutionary War-era

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; and

WHEREAS, On the afternoon of Thursday, May 14, 2015, the Gaspee Days Committee

will be launching this year's commemoration of the event with its annual Proclamation Ceremony

in the State Room at the Rhode Island State House; now, therefore be it

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

Providence Plantations hereby commemorates the opening of the 50th annual celebration of

Gaspe Days. 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 Gaspe Days

Committee.

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LC002662

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