STATEHOUSE CALENDAR

Remember 250 years ago, the Fort Gower Resolves were written near the Ohio River on Nov. 5, 1774.  

This year, the Ohio Statehouse will publish a free booklet about our history, celebrating the 250th birthday of the United States of America. Coming soon!

250th Anniversary of the Fort Gower Resolves

During the spring, summer, and fall of 1774, the Ohio Country was the scene of intense violence. Lord Dunmore’s War refers to a series of bloody hostilities between the frontier population of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the Native Americans living in the Ohio Country. In response to the territory being in a constant state of alarm, Lord Dunmore raised an army of Virginians to carry the war deep into the Ohio Country-ultimately to strike the Shawnee villages along the Scioto River. Fort Gower was small by fortification standards containing a single blockhouse surrounded by a wooden stockade. It would withstand no attacks or sieges, yet it would help to light the fuse of the American Revolution.

The Treaty of Camp Charlotte, signed on October 20th, brought peace to the Ohio Country for a time. Returning to Fort Gower on November 5th, 1774, Lord Dunmore and his entourage made an early departure leaving his army to disband and follow at their own pace. The officers and men were delighted to receive news from the first Continental Congress that had taken place while they were on campaign. The news was stirring: Congress had made a declaration demanding the repeal of the Intolerable Acts.

The officers of Dunmore’s army then made their own assertion of rights, addressing the king in what has become known as the Fort Gower Resolves. Boldly declaring: “But as the Love of Liberty, and Attachment to the real Interests and just Rights of America outweigh every other consideration, we resolve that we will exert every Power within us for the Defense of American Liberty, and for the Support of her just Rights and Privileges…” The Fort Gower Resolves were printed in the December 22, 1774, issue of the Virginia Gazette, as well as read and entered into the records of the House of Lords in England. Written six months before Lexington and Concord, one of the first instances of the American Revolution-at a frontier fort in the Ohio Country.

In recognition of this important date in Ohio and American history, the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board is announcing the publication of a new booklet about the founding of the state of Ohio. Written by Chris Matheney, Ohio Rising: Journey to Statehood will be available in the coming weeks in the Map Room of the Ohio Statehouse. The publication will be available free of charge, courtesy of a generous grant from the America 250-Ohio Commission.