Welcome to the Official website of the Utah Society Sons of the American Revolution (Utah SAR).
Members of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) are direct descendants of those patriots that achieved the independence of the American people. We remember and honor our patriot ancestors sacrifice and devotion to the cause of liberty.
The objectives of our organization are intended to perpetuate a more profound understanding and appreciation for our founding heritage, the principles of liberty, freedom and self-government as established by our Founding Fathers.
Whether or not you have a Patriot Ancestor, we invite you to explore our website, to learn more about us, who we are, what we do, and how to become a Member or Associate.
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In 2026 Americans will celebrate
The 250th anniversary of The Declaration of Independence,
the year America became an independent nation!
In 2024 we will consider a significant event
of 1774 leading up to July 4, 1776.
The Road to Independence
250 years ago – 1774
His Majesty King George III and Parliament were outraged by what has happened in Boston with the so called “Tea Party”. As the new year of 1774 rolls around, a decision is made that harsh and decisive punishments must be forthcoming from London.
Carpenter Hall
Consequently, Parliament enacts the “Intolerable Acts” and closes Boston Harbor to all commerce and trade until the City of Boston has paid for the destroyed tea. The citizens of Boston, the colony of Massachusetts, and in fact throughout the Eastern seaboard many become angry and defiant!
The colonial governors dismissed and dissolved their colony’s legislatures and forbade them to meet in hopes that tempers would calm down, but this only infuriated the colonial leaders all the more! If the colonial governors want to keep their local governments closed, then colonial leaders would organize themselves and meet independently of those leaders appointed by the King.
On September 5, 1774, the 1st Continental Congress officially met at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is a group of delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies. Loyalist sentiments outweighed Patriot views in Georgia, leading that colony to not immediately join the revolutionary cause until the following year when it sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress.
Peyton Randolph
Peyton Randolph was elected as president of the 1st Continental Congress on the opening day, and he served through October 22 when ill health forced him to retire, and Henry Middleton was elected in his place for the balance of the session. Charles Thomson, leader of the Philadelphia Committee of Correspondence, was selected as the congressional secretary. The rules adopted by the delegates were designed to guard the equality of participants and to promote free-flowing debate.
Little did those men know in less than two years the Continental Congress would declare Independence from Great Britain and form the United States!
Henry Middleton
On the very same day, September 5th, twelve of the thirteen American colonies unanimously adopted a trade embargo against Great Britain. This embargo would be enforced in part by the Sons of Liberty. Any colonial merchant found trading with Great Britain would be made to suffer!
With the meeting of the Continental Congress, Philadelphia became the de-facto capital of the United States.
During the opening weeks of the Congress, the delegates conducted a spirited discussion about how the colonies could collectively respond to the British government’s coercive actions, and they worked to make a common cause. As a prelude to its decisions, the Congress’s first action was the adoption of the Suffolk Resolves, a measure drawn up by several counties in Massachusetts that included a declaration of grievances, called for a trade boycott of British goods, and urged each colony to set up and train its own militia. A less radical plan was then proposed to create a Union of Great Britain and the Colonies, but the delegates tabled the measure and later struck it from the record of their proceedings.
The First Continental Congress agreed on a Declaration and Resolves that included the Continental Association, a proposal for an embargo on British trade. They also drew up a Petition to the King pleading for redress of their grievances and repeal of the Intolerable Acts. That appeal was unsuccessful.
On October 14 the 1st Continental Congress created a Declaration of Colonial Rights. This was a decisive statement of the rights and liberties of the Colonies. The delegates’ ultimate goal was to end what they felt to be the abuses of parliamentary authority and to retain their rights, which had been guaranteed under Colonial charters and the English constitution.
The 56 delegates who comprised the 1st Continental Congress included men such as John Adams, Samuel Adams, John Jay, Patrick Henry, and George Washington. Congress adjourned on October 26th. On that same day the Minutemen militias organized themselves in the thirteen American colonies.
Minute Men
“The Sons of the American Revolution honors our Revolutionary War patriot ancestors by promoting patriotism, serving our communities, and educating and inspiring future generations about the founding principles of our country.”
