2023 -- H 6442

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

COMMEMORATING THE 58TH ANNUAL GASPEE DAYS CELEBRATION AND THE

MOMENTOUS 251ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE BURNING OF THE GASPEE

     Introduced By: Representatives McNamara, Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Chippendale, Rea,
Fenton-Fung, Roberts, Ackerman, Solomon, and Tanzi

     Date Introduced: May 25, 2023

     Referred To: House read and passed

     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-one 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 5K 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 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; now, therefore be it

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

commemorates the 58th annual celebration of Gaspee Days and the 251st 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.

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