3 – Coercion to Convention: Organizing Resistance

Media Type

Audio

37 min 38 s

Season 1

RR_S1E3_CoercionToConvention_Transcript.pdf258.11 KB

They've [...] decided they're going to meet whether the governor says they're going to meet or not. They feel that this is a crisis.

In this episode of Revolution Revisited, host Maggie Creech explores the transformative year of 1774 in the Virginia colony with guest historian Dr. Cathy Hellier.

Inside the Episode:

Discover how Virginia's reaction to the Boston Tea Party and Britain's Coercive Acts led to a year full of drama and defiance, shaping the road to revolution. Learn about the symbolic act of a public day of fasting, the dissolution of the House of Burgesses, and the bold steps taken at the First Virginia Convention. This episode examines grassroots democracy and highlights the economic sacrifices of non-importation and non-exportation agreements. It also reflects on the broader tensions between colonial self-governance and British parliamentary sovereignty that fueled the burgeoning conflict.

Guest:

Dr. Cathleene "Cathy" B. Hellier: Senior Historian at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, Virginia. Born and raised in western Pennsylvania, she joined the Foundation in 1978 as a historical interpreter. Since 1979, she has worked in Historical Research at the Foundation. This department produces original research, primarily on Virginia during the colonial period, and supports programming in the Foundation’s Historic Area. Hellier has master’s degrees in Museum Education and American Studies and a doctorate in American Studies. Her dissertation is on enslaved male domestics in Virginia to 1800, and her other research interests include the politics and ideology of the American Revolution; the community of Williamsburg; history of the family; eighteenth-century English language; dance and deportment; and household management. She and her husband Ben have two grown children, Stephen and Katie.

Recommended Resources

Revolutionary Virginia: The Road to Independence, vol. 1: Forming Thunderclouds and the First Convention, 1763–1774. Edited by Robert Scribner. University Press of Virginia, 1977.
Deep Dives by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
- The Continental Association
- The First Virginia Convention
“Collecting Debts: Virginia Merchants, the Continental Association, and the Meetings of November 1774,” by James R.Fichter. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 130, no. 3. (2022)
“Lord Dunmore’s War, 250th Anniversary.” Virginia History and Culture, Fall/Winter 2024.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Revolution Revisited
00:38 Setting the Stage: Virginia in 1774
00:58 The Coercive Acts and Virginia's Response
04:00 Symbolic Defiance: A Day of Fasting and Prayer
07:34 The Dissolution of the House of Burgesses
09:53 The Raleigh Tavern Meeting and Non-Importation Agreement
12:34 The First Virginia Convention
13:54 Colonial Perspectives on Power and Rights
26:33 Non-Importation and Non-Exportation: Economic Resistance
35:00 Conclusion and Next Episode Preview

COLLECTION SPOTLIGHT:

An illustration of the inside of a tavern shows seating around a fireplace.

VMHC Object Number 2004.331.22

Postcard, Raleigh Tavern, Apollo Room, Williamsburg, VA

The Raleigh Tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia, was a key gathering place for colonial leaders and revolutionaries. In May 1774, after the Virginia House of Burgesses was dissolved by the royal governor, 89 former burgesses met at the tavern to discuss a plan of resistance. In the famous Apollo Room (pictured here), they debated responses to Britain’s punitive acts and ultimately decided to adopt a non-importation agreement, pledging to boycott British goods. This decision marked a crucial step toward unified colonial opposition, reinforcing the Raleigh Tavern’s role as a hub of revolutionary thought and action.

A 3/4 portrait of Edmund Pendleton in a dark jacket with white collar.

VMHC Object Number 1851.2

Painting, Edmund Pendleton (1721-1803)

Edmund Pendleton was a Virginia lawyer, politician, and key revolutionary leader known for his eloquence and moderation. As tensions with Britain escalated, he played a vital role in shaping colonial resistance. In a letter from June 1774, Pendleton expressed outrage at Parliament’s punitive measures against Boston, viewing them as an attack on all American rights: "Though it should be granted that the Bostonians did wrong in destroying the tea, yet the Parliament giving Judgment & sending ships & troops to do execution... is an Attack upon Constitutional Rights, of which we could not remain Idle Spectators."

A man in red plaid Scottish garb walks through a landscape

VMHC Object Number 1948.76

Painting, John Murray, Fourth Earl of Dunmore

In 1774, Virginia’s royal governor, Lord Dunmore, clashed with the colony’s elected leaders as tensions with Britain escalated. In May, he dissolved the House of Burgesses after they called for a day of solidarity with Boston following the Coercive Acts. Undeterred, the burgesses reconvened at the Raleigh Tavern to continue their resistance. Later that year, Dunmore waged Dunmore’s War against the Shawnee and returned to Williamsburg as revolutionary fervor grew. His actions fueled colonial defiance, solidifying his role as a symbol of British authority—and its ultimate downfall in Virginia.

3 – Coercion to Convention: Organizing Resistance