May 1776: When Congress Told Britain It's Over

In May 1776, Congress told every colony to throw off British authority — weeks before the Declaration of Independence was even written. Jeff covers the pivotal resolutions, Virginia's bold move, the collapsing Canadian campaign, and why armed citizens were the only thing that gave those political declarations any real teeth. This is the Road to 250 series, and we're getting close to July 4th, 1776.

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Well, welcome to the Live Cheap Podcast. My name's Jeff Dowdle, and I've been a licensed firearm dealer for the last 18 years. In this podcast, we talk about all things related to the Second Amendment, anything else going on in the world, a sports story, or anything else I find interesting. So welcome, welcome, welcome. Well, if you've been listening, you know we've been marching towards America's 250th birthday on July 4th, 2026, and every month we've been looking at back exactly 250 years to see what was happening during the American Revolution, and now we are turning the calendar to May 1776. So last month we talked that, about April 1776, and how the colonies were starting to open their ports to foreign trade, how North Carolina became the first colony to officially authorize its delegates to vote for independence with the Halifax Resolves, and how the war was grinding on in multiple theaters. The momentum was building, but May 1776, this is when things really start to accelerate. This is when the political machinery of independence kicked into high gear, and there was truly no turning back. So let's set the scene. By May of 1776, the Continental Congress had been meeting in Philadelphia for over a year. They'd been managing a war, standing up an army, trying to hold 13 very different colonies together, but there was still this lingering question hanging over everything. Are we fighting for our rights as British subjects, or are we fighting to become something new entirely? May 1776 is when that question got answered. Now, here's where it gets interesting. On May 10th, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution that doesn't get nearly enough attention in the history books. It recommended that every colony that had already done so should form new governments, governments independent of British authority. Think about that. Congress is telling the colonies, essentially, "Stop governing under the Crown. Set up your own systems. Write your own rules." And then on May 15th, John Adams pushed through a preamble to the resolution that went even further. This preamble stated that the exercise of any kind of authority under the British Crown should be totally suppressed. Totally suppressed. Strong words. John Adams himself later said that this preamble was essentially a declaration of independence, just without using those exact words yet. He considered it the most important mon- moment in the whole process. So what's that mean? It means that before Jefferson ever picked up the pen to write the Declaration of Independence, Congress was already telling the colonies to break away from British governing at the local level. The foundation was laid brick by brick. Now, at the time, Virginia was making moves of its own. In May 1776, the Virginia Convention instructed its delegates in Congress to propose independence. Virginia wasn't asking permission. They were telling their delegates to go up there and make this happen. And this just directly led to Richard Henry Lee introducing his famous resolution for independence on June 7th, when, which we'll talk about next month, but it started here. It started in May. And it wasn't just Virginia. Multiple colonies were holding their own conventions and debates, and the sentiment was shifting fast. Loyalists were losing ground. The people who had been on the fence were stepping off of it, and they were stepping towards independence. Now, on the milis- military side, things were messy. The American invasion of Canada, which had started the previous year with high hopes, was falling apart. The Siege of Quebe- Quebec had failed. Reinforcements were trickling in, but not enough. Disease, especially smallpox, was devastating the continental forces in Canada. By the end of May, the American position in Canada was collapsing. A full retreat was becoming inevitable. So you've got the contrast. Politically, the cause of independence is surging forward. Militarily, Americans are getting a harsh reminder that freedom isn't free and wars are not won on enthusiasm alone. They've won with sacrifice, with logistics, and per- perseverance. And here's something else happening in May 1776 that's directly relevant to what we talk about in this podcast. As these new colonial governments were forming, one of the first things they had to do was address was the militia. Who's going to defend this new independent state? The answers were the citizens themselves, armed citizens. The militia systems were being recogni- reorganized and strengthened because everybody understood you cannot declare independence and then have no means to defend it. The right to bear arms wasn't some abstract political theory, it was a practical foundation that made self-governance possible. And that's the core issue. The whole revolution, everything they were building, rested on the ability of ordinary people to take up arms. Without an armed citizenry, those resolutions passed in Congress were just words on paper. The British would have simply marched in and shut it all down. It was the fact that farmers and shopkeepers and tradesmen had firearms and were willing to use them that gave those political declarations any teeth at all. So what does 17th, May 1776 teach us today? It teaches that independence isn't just declared, it's built. It's built through local action, through people organizing and governing themselves, and through the willingness to back your principles with the means to defend them. The Second Amendment exists because the founders lived through exactly this. They saw firsthand that a free people must be an armed people, or they won't be free for long. And let me be straight with you, the forces that want to restrict your rights today don't look like British redcoats. They look like bureaucrats, regulations, and executive actions, slow and slow erosions of what you're already allowed to own and carry and do. But the principle is the same. When the people are disarmed, the government doesn't answer to them anymore. The founders understand that in May 1776, and we need to understand it now. So next month will be June 1776. That's when Richard Henry Lee stands up in Congress, formally proposes independence. That's when debates really heat up. And of course, it all leads to July 4th. We're getting close. So if you found this interesting, subscribe, share it with somebody, give it five stars. The history matters, and it's worth remembering why we have rights. I appreciate it. Take care, and I will talk to you later.