The Suffolk Resolves was a declaration made on September 9, 1774, by the leaders of Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The declaration rejected the Massachusetts Government Act and resulted in a boycott of imported goods from Britain unless the Intolerable Acts were repealed. The Resolves were recognized by statesman Edmund Burke as a major development in colonial animosity leading to adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1776, and he urged British conciliation with the American colonies, to little effect. The First Continental Congress endorsed the Resolves on September 17, 1774,[1] and passed the similarly themed Continental Association on October 20, 1774.

On August 26–27, 1774 the Committees of Correspondence from Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, and Worcester counties met at Faneuil Hall in Boston to oppose the recent Massachusetts Government Act, which had disenfranchised citizens of Massachusetts by revoking key provisions of the provincial Charter of 1691. The convention urged all Massachusetts counties to close their courts, rather than to submit to the oppressive measure. Berkshire had already done so, and by the first week of October, seven of the nine contiguous mainland counties in Massachusetts had followed suit.

As each county in turn closed its court, it issued a set of resolves to explain its actions.[2] Although the resolves were all similar in tone and scope, the one written by patriots in Suffolk has received more attention for two reasons: it was better crafted, and it was formally endorsed by the Continental Congress. Suffolk, which contained Boston, was the only county in which courts remained nominally open, under the protection of all British troops.[3]

At the Suffolk County Convention of the Committees of Correspondence on September 6, 1774, Joseph Warren introduced the first draft of the Suffolk Resolves, which were edited and approved three days later at the Daniel Vose House in Milton, Massachusetts, which was then part of Suffolk County but is now in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The convention that adopted them had first met at the Woodward Tavern in Dedham, which is now the site of the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds. As with the other counties' resolves, the Suffolk document denounced the Intolerable Acts, or Coercive Acts, which had recently been passed by the British Parliament and specifically resolved the following:

1. boycott British imports, curtail exports, and refuse to use British products;

2. pay "no obedience" to the Massachusetts Government Act or the Boston Port Bill;

3. demand resignations from those appointed to positions under the Massachusetts Government Act;

4. refuse payment of taxes until the Massachusetts Government Act was repealed;

5. support a colonial government in Massachusetts free of royal authority until the Intolerable Acts were repealed;

6. urge the colonies to raise militia of their own people.

In one of his less famous rides, Paul Revere delivered a copy of the Resolves to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it was endorsed on September 17 as a show of colonial solidarity. In response, John Adams commented in his diary: "This was one of the happiest days of my life. In Congress we had generous, noble sentiments, and manly eloquence. This day convinced me that America will support Massachusetts or perish with her."[4]