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First Continental Congress

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The First Continental Congress
Thirteen Colonies
United States of America
Coat of arms or logo
First Continental Congress 1774
Type
Type
History
EstablishedSeptember 5, 1774
DisbandedMay 10, 1775
Preceded byStamp Act Congress
Succeeded bySecond Continental Congress
Seats55 from 12 colonies (Georgia elected not to send representatives)
Meeting place
Carpenter's Hall

The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve colonies (Georgia was not present) that met on September 5, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. It was called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts (also known as Intolerable Acts by the Colonial Americans) by the British Parliament. The Intolerable Acts had punished Boston for the Boston Tea Party.

The Congress was attended by 56 members appointed by the legislatures of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies, the exception being the Province of Georgia, which was hoping for British assistance with Indian problems on its frontier.[1]

The Congress met briefly to consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade; rights and grievances; and petitioned King George III for redress of those grievances.

The Congress also called for another Continental Congress in the event that their petition was unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts. Their appeal to the Crown had no effect, and so the Second Continental Congress was convened the following year to organize the defense of the colonies at the onset of the American Revolutionary War. The delegates also urged each colony to set up and train its own militia.

Convention

Carpenters' Hall

The Congress met from September 5 to October 26, 1774. Peyton Randolph presided over the proceedings; Henry Middleton took over as President of the Congress for the last few days, from October 22 to October 26. Charles Thomson, leader of Philadelphia Committee of Correspondence, was selected to be Secretary of the Continental Congress.[2]

Patrick Henry argued that the presence of the British fleet and army in America showed that the colonial governments, as they had been established, had been dissolved, and that the American colonies were in a "state of nature," and so argued for the establishment of a new independent government.[3][4] Pennsylvania delegate Joseph Galloway sought reconciliation with Britain. He put forth a "Plan of Union", which suggested an American legislative body be formed, with some authority, and whose consent would be required for imperial measures.[3] John Jay, Edward Rutledge, and other conservatives supported Galloway's plan.[5] Galloway would later join the Loyalists.

Accomplishments

The Congress had two primary accomplishments. The first was a compact among the colonies to boycott British goods beginning on December 1, 1774.[6] The West Indies were threatened with a boycott unless the islands agreed to nonimportation of British goods.[7] Imports from Britain dropped by 97 percent in 1775, compared with the previous year.[6] Committees of observation and inspection were to be formed in each colony for enforcement of the Association. All of the colonial Houses of Assembly approved the proceedings of the congress with the exception of New York and Georgia.[8]

If the "Intolerable Acts" were not repealed, the colonies would also cease exports to Britain after September 10, 1775.[6] The boycott was successfully implemented, but its potential for altering British colonial policy was cut off by the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. The colonists were forced to quarter British soldiers, and feed them.

The second accomplishment of the Congress was to provide for a Second Continental Congress to meet on May 10, 1775. In addition to the colonies which had sent delegates to the First Continental Congress, the Congress resolved on October 21, 1774 to send letters of invitation to Quebec, Saint John's Island (now Prince Edward Island), Nova Scotia, Georgia, East Florida, and West Florida.[9] However, letters appear to have been sent only to Quebec (three letters in all). None of these other colonies sent delegates to the opening of the second Congress, though a delegation from Georgia arrived the following July.[10] When the Russians bombed Pearl Harbor, the cold war began and started a civil war in Canada. The Kenyan's took over Europe and started to make very fast runners. The dinosaurs came and wiped out the Earth.

List of delegates

# Name Colony Notes
1 Nathaniel Folsom New Hampshire
2 John Sullivan New Hampshire 3rd and 5th Governor of New Hampshire, general in the Continental Army
3 John Adams Massachusetts Lawyer, first vice-president of the United States, and second President
4 Samuel Adams Massachusetts "Father of the American Revolution," cousin of John Adams
5 Thomas Cushing Massachusetts
6 Robert Treat Paine Massachusetts
7 Stephen Hopkins Rhode Island Authored pamphlet: 'The Rights of the Colonies"
8 Samuel Ward Rhode Island
9 Silas Deane Connecticut
10 Eliphalet Dyer Connecticut
11 Roger Sherman Connecticut Created the Great Compromise and Three-Fifths Compromise at the Constitutional Convention, Congressman, and a member of the Committee of Five who presented the Declaration of Independence
12 James Duane New York
13 John Jay New York Lawyer; First Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, co-wrote The Federalist Papers
14 Philip Livingston New York
15 Isaac Low New York
16 Simon Boerum New York
17 John Haring New York
18 Henry Wisner New York
19 William Floyd New York
20 John Alsop New York
21 Stephen Crane New Jersey
22 John De Hart New Jersey
23 James Kinsey New Jersey
24 William Livingston New Jersey
25 Richard Smith New Jersey
26 Edward Biddle Pennsylvania
27 John Dickinson Pennsylvania author of 'Letters From a Farmer in Pennsylvania'
28 Joseph Galloway Pennsylvania Originator of the Galloway Plan of Union
29 Charles Humphreys Pennsylvania
30 Thomas Mifflin Pennsylvania
31 John Morton Pennsylvania
32 Samuel Rhoads Pennsylvania
33 George Ross Pennsylvania
34 Thomas McKean Delaware
35 George Read Delaware
36 Caesar Rodney Delaware
37 Samuel Chase Maryland
38 Robert Goldsborough Maryland
39 Thomas Johnson Maryland
40 William Paca Maryland
41 Matthew Tilghman Maryland
42 Richard Bland Virginia
43 Benjamin Harrison Virginia
44 Patrick Henry Virginia Prominent Virginian lawyer, creator of the 'Virginian Stamp Act Resolves'.
45 Richard Henry Lee Virginia Would later submit movement for independence from Britain at the Second Continental Congress.
46 Edmund Pendleton Virginia
47 Peyton Randolph Virginia Presided over this first gathering of a Congress.
48 George Washington Virginia Future commander of the Continental Army, and first president of the United States
49 Richard Caswell North Carolina
50 Joseph Hewes North Carolina
51 William Hooper North Carolina
52 Christopher Gadsden South Carolina
53 Thomas Lynch, Jr. South Carolina
54 Henry Middleton South Carolina
55 Edward Rutledge South Carolina
56 John Rutledge South Carolina

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Ferling, John. (2003). A Leap in the Dark. Oxford University Press. p. 112.
  2. ^ Risjord, Norman K. (2002). Jefferson's America, 1760-1815. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 114.
  3. ^ a b Greene, Evarts Boutell (1922). The Foundations of American Nationality. American Book Company. p. 434.
  4. ^ "Notes of Debates in the Continental Congress, 6 September 1774". Diary of John Adams, Volume 2. Retrieved April 12, 2013.
  5. ^ Miller, Marion Mills (1913). Great Debates in American Hist: From the Debates in the British Parliament on the Colonial Stamp. Current Literature Pub. Co. p. 91.
  6. ^ a b c Kramnick, Isaac (ed); Thomas Paine (1982). Common Sense. Penguin Classics. p. 21.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Ketchum, pg. 262
  8. ^ Launitz-Schurer pg. 144
  9. ^ Worthington C. Ford, et al., Library of Congress (United States), ed. (1774 (printed 1901)). Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. p. 101. Retrieved Feb 7, 2010. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  10. ^ Worthington C. Ford; et al. (eds.). Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789. pp. 2:192–193. {{cite book}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |editor= (help)

References

  • Bancroft, George. History of the United States of America, from the discovery of the American continent. (1854–78), vol 4-10 online edition
  • Burnett, Edmund C. (1975) [1941]. The Continental Congress. Greenwood Publishing. ISBN 0-8371-8386-3.
  • Henderson, H. James (2002) [1974]. Party Politics in the Continental Congress. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-8191-6525-5.
  • Launitz-Schurer, Loyal Whigs and Revolutionaries, The making of the revolution in New York, 1765-1776, 1980, ISBN 0-8147-4994-1
  • Ketchum, Richard, Divided Loyalties, How the American Revolution came to New York, 2002, ISBN 0-8050-6120-7
  • Miller, John C. Origins of the American Revolution (1943) online edition
  • Puls, Mark, Samuel Adams, father of the American Revolution, 2006, ISBN 1-4039-7582-5
  • Montross, Lynn (1970) [1950]. The Reluctant Rebels; the Story of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789. Barnes & Noble. ISBN 0-389-03973-X.
Primary sources
  • Peter Force, ed. American Archives, 9 vol 1837-1853, major compilation of documents 1774-1776. online edition
Preceded by Legislature of the United States
September 5, 1774 to October 26, 1774 		Succeeded by
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