When the Third NY Provincial Congress convened on this day, chances are that nobody really got their hopes up.

By this point, that body had already met a few times, so it was generally known where they stood when it came to the Independence Question. And sure enough, when they sent delegates to the Continental Congress, they sent those delegates with instructions to oppose Independence. Rather than do that, however, the New York delegation typically just remained on the sidelines, appearing to neither favor nor oppose the notion. This went on for several weeks, and while it didn’t necessarily hinder the cause, neither did it really help matters.

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