Who was Joseph Warren?

With Fourth of July coming up, let's take a look at a founder who backed his beliefs in word and deed. Joseph Warren began practicing medicine in Boston at the age of 22--after graduating from Harvard at 14--making him the youngest doctor in Boston. Although the relationship between the colonies, particularly Massachusetts, and Great Britain had been deteriorating for years, it was the public reaction to Great Britain's passage of the Stamp Act   that caused Dr. Warren to join the ranks of the Patriots. 

Great Britain's oppressive treatment of Massachusetts led Samuel Adams to propose committees of correspondence to facilitate communications among the counties and towns of Massachusetts. And Joseph Warren was an early supporter of this idea, which eventually would be used to tie the 13 Colonies together. In November 1772, the Boston Committee of Correspondence produced the Boston Pamphlet. This document comprised three sections: (1) "A State of the Rights of the Colonists and of this Province in particular"; (2) "A List of the Infringements and Violations of those Rights"; and (3) "A Letter of Correspondence with the Other Towns." Samuel Adams was the primary author, and he wrote part one. Dr. Benjamin Church wrote part three. And Joseph Warren wrote part two. 

Dr. Warren listed 12 acts by Great Britain that violated the colonists' rights. These included passing laws without the colonies' consent, imposing taxes on the colonists without their consent, authorizing the military to use the general warrant to enter any house, shop, ship, etc. where the officials suspected that they could find goods for which the taxes had not been paid, and depriving the colonists of the right to trial by jury. Another act opposed by the Boston Committee of Correspondence was Great Britain's using revenue from these illegal taxes to pay colonial officials. The Committee knew that Great Britain's paying these officials would make them more interested in doing King George's bidding than protecting the colonists' rights. This, however, was not the end of Dr. Warren's lists. 

In May 1774, Parliament passed the Massachusetts Government Act as part of the Intolerable Acts--known in Great Britain as the Coercive Acts. The Intolerable Acts were in response to the Sons of Liberty's tea party in Boston Harbor in late 1773. The Massachusetts Government Act effectively voided Massachusetts's Charter, and it reduced Massachusetts to a Crown Colony. In September 1774, almost two years after the Committee's 1772 Boston Pamphlet, Dr. Warren wrote the final version of the Suffolk Resolves. The Suffolk Resolves were the Boston Committee of Correspondence's response to the Intolerable Acts. The Suffolk Resolves set forth 19 objections to Great Britain's treatment of the colonies. 

After the Committee approved the Suffolk Resolves, Dr. Warren dispatched Paul Revere to carry the Resolves to the First Continental Congress then meeting in Philadelphia; he completed the 350-mile journey in five days. The Continental Congress adopted the Suffolk Resolves word for word.

One could rightfully expect that Dr. Warren, having proven himself as a drafter of grievances, might be involved more directly with the Declaration of Independence. But you will search in vain among the names of the 56 signers of the Declaration for Dr. Joseph Warren. Why?

In April 1775, the British were preparing to attack Boston. William Dawes and Paul Revere were given the job of spreading the word when the British made their move. And just as Dr. Warren had done in September 1774 when he sent Revere to Philadelphia with the Suffolk Resolves, he dispatched Dawes and Revere on their rides to warn that the British were coming. And two months later, on June 17, 1775, the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought. The battle was fought mostly on Breeds Hill.

Only a few days before the battle, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress had appointed Dr. Warren as a major general. Dr. Warren, however, was true to his convictions; having protested Great Britain's oppression in speeches and writings, he did not wish to be in command at a safe distance from the battle. So six days after his 34th birthday, Dr. Warren gave up his commission and fought alongside the other volunteer soldiers. Dr. Warren was killed in the battle. And this is why you won't find his name among the signers of the Declaration of Independence. But his spirit surely is.