New York Provincial Congress

[2] In response to the letters from Boston, on July 4, 1774 resolutions were approved to appoint five delegates, Isaac Low, John Alsop, James Duane, Philip Livingston, and John Jay, to the "Congress of Deputies from the Colonies" (the First Continental Congress), and request that the other counties also send delegates.

Opposition to the Congress revolved around the opinion that the provincial houses of assembly were the proper agencies to solicit redress for grievances.

On March 15, 1775 the Committee of Sixty had issued a call to the counties of New York to send delegates to a Provincial Convention.

In return New York promised to contribute to the costs of defence, the maintenance of civil government, and to recognize England's right to regulate imperial trade.

On July 20, 1775, members of the Sons of Liberty and others surprised a guard and captured a British storehouse at Turtle Bay.

In August, the congress ordered the removal of the cannon at the Battery and while doing so the British HMS Asia opened fire on the combined civilian and militia forces.

In January, 1776, George Washington ordered Major General Charles Lee to prepare New York City for the coming British attack.

In February, the provincial congress initially refused Lee's entry, but then agreed and also decided to stop provisioning the British ships in New York Harbor.

Notable members (partial list):[13] The Fourth Provincial Congress convened in White Plains on July 9, 1776 and became known as the First Constitutional Convention.

On July 10, 1776, the Fourth Provincial Congress changed its name to the Convention of Representatives of the State of New York, and "acts as legislature without an executive."

The governor would be elected and not appointed, voting qualifications were reduced, secret ballots were introduced, and civil rights were guaranteed.