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Primary sourceDocument19 July 1776

Resolve of the Continental Congress, July 19, 1776

19 July 1776

A printed broadside of a Continental Congress resolve from July 1776, when Samuel Adams was a delegate. It is a document from the Congress's own proceedings of that month.

Adams sat in the Continental Congress in July 1776, and this printed resolve comes from the body he served in.

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Photograph of a tall, narrow printed broadside with a masthead reading Wednesday, Philadelphia, In Congress, July 19, 1776. The dense black-and-white text includes a resolve, a letter from Lord Howe, and a Declaration, with a signed Howe at the bottom.
Continental Congress, Wednesday - Philadelphia, in Congress, July 19, 1776. Printed broadside. Library of Congress.

About this source

What it is

This is a printed broadside, a single large sheet of paper with text printed on one side. Its masthead reads "Wednesday, Philadelphia, In Congress, July 19, 1776." The dense black-and-white text includes a resolve, a letter from Lord Howe, and a Declaration, and the letter ends with Howe's signature. The Library of Congress holds it. Its catalogue record describes it as a printed resolve of the Continental Congress.

Why it matters

Samuel Adams sat in the Continental Congress in 1776, so papers printed by the Congress that month passed through the same chamber he worked in. Broadsides like this one were printed so that official news and decisions could be shared quickly with the public and with officials in the colonies. The Congress was then deciding how to respond to British efforts to end the rebellion, and this sheet shows that the British side's message was printed alongside the Congress's own actions.

Look closer

  • What words in the masthead tell you where and when this sheet was printed, and who it was meant for?
  • Why might the Congress have printed a letter from Lord Howe, the British commander, in its own broadside?
  • What does this printed sheet leave out about the people who lived in the colonies and were not part of the Congress?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Samuel Adams on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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