Prior to the assembling of this congress a committee waited upon Governor Colden to solicit his aid and encouragement. As Colden had in former times advocated the rights of the people, it was but natural to expect encouragement and support from him in this trying hour. The committee was disappointed. To their infinite surprise and disgust he declared the congress to be "unconstitutional, unprecedented, and unlawful," and announced that he should give it no countenance.
It is within the bounds of reason to say that Jefferson, in the production of his inimitable paper, caught his inspiration from these noble documents emanating from the Dutchmen of New York, and so readily endorsed by their associates in this congress. The doctrine brought over in the Mayflower led for a time to proscription, whilst the lesson taught by the Dutch settlers was freedom and toleration. The forefathers of New England who sought the New World to enjoy religious liberty refused to grant the same privilege to others. The Dutch, on the other hand, extended a welcome to the Pilgrims, gave them a home at Delft Haven for eleven years, afforded an asylum to the persecuted Quakers who fled from New England, and always exercised the precept enunciated at a later day by the martyr Lincoln, "with malice toward none, with charity for all."
The acts and enunciations of the congress were approved by the people, and adopted by the Colonial Assembly which met in November. Shortly after the ratification of the petitions by the Colonial Assembly, Governor Colden wrote to the home government that "whatever happens in this place has the greatest influence on the other colonies. They have their eyes perpetually on it, and they govern themselves accordingly."
The Stamp Act was to take effect on the 1st of November, 1765. The merchants on the eve of the 1st were greatly excited. With one accord, they congregated at Burns's Coffee House, near the Battery, and with united voice passed the following resolution: "To import no goods from England until the Stamp Act be repealed; to countermand all orders already sent for spring goods; to sell no goods from England on commission; to abide by these resolutions until they should be rescinded by a general meeting called for that purpose."