Largely as a result of the committees of correspondence created under
the Virginia resolutions, the Continental Congress assembled in
Philadelphia in September, 1774. Virginia gave to that body its first
president, in the person of Peyton Randolph, while Patrick Henry fired
the hearts of its members with the spirit of nationalism by the
declaration: "British oppression has effaced the boundaries of the
several colonies. The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians,
New Yorkers and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an
American."
Thus was launched the Revolution—a movement in which, Mr. Bancroft
declares: "Virginia rose with as much unanimity as Connecticut or
Massachusetts, and with more commanding resolution."[346]
It was Virginia that first, by formal resolution of her Constitutional
Convention, called on the Continental Congress to declare the colonies
"free and independent states," absolved from all allegiance to the
British crown. Richard Henry Lee submitted the motion to the Congress,
and following its adoption, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of
Independence. In the war which followed, Washington commanded the armies
of the Revolution and by his incomparable qualities of leadership
brought success to the cause.