Malden Incorporates a New Tradition into July 4th Festivities

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Please join Mayor Gary Christenson for the commencement of a new Malden tradition to kick off the City’s July 4th festivities. The reading of the May 27, 1776 document that contains the “Instructions of the Inhabitants of Malden, Massachusetts to their Representatives in Congress” will be read on the lawn of the Malden Public Library on Friday, July 3rd at 5:30 PM rain or shine. Local Historian and period actor Tom Coots will perform the reenactment. The document was recently rediscovered when the Mayor was searching for a historic Malden relic to display at the State House. William Fowler, a former Malden resident and distinguished Professor of History at Northeastern University will be an invited special guest. Mr. Fowler is a published author on American History and wrote an article published in the Boston Globe on July 4th, 2001 titled “For the Real Birthplace of the Revolution, Look to Malden.”

The 1776 document was unanimously voted on by the townspeople of Malden to be delivered to the Second Continental Congress via their representative Ezra Sargeant. In the document, the voting citizens of Malden renounce the Colony’s ties to the Kingdom of Great Britain and set forth their wish to become an independent “American” republic.The document closes with the following powerful words:

“…and we now instruct you, sir (Ezra Sargeant), to give them (the Continental Congress) the strongest assurance that, if they should declare America to be a free and independent republic, your constituents will support and defend the measure, to the last drop of their blood, and the last farthing of their treasure.”

This document is credited as a precursor to the Declaration of Independence written in July of 1776 when the Continental Congress formally declared their independence from England.