First Continental Congress
Meeting in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, from 5 September to 26 October 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together 56 delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies (Georgia sent no delegates). It was the first genuinely coordinated political response to British policy: not petitions from individual assemblies but a deliberative body claiming to speak for the colonies collectively. The delegates ranged from radicals like Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry to conservatives like Joseph Galloway, whose plan for a reconciliatory colonial parliament was narrowly rejected. The Congress produced four documents: the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, asserting that Parliament had no right to tax the colonies without their consent; the Articles of Association, pledging colonial non-importation, non-exportation, and non-consumption of British goods; a petition to King George III; and an address to the people of Canada. The Articles of Association were the most consequential — they created an enforcement mechanism through local committees that functioned, in practice, as a parallel government. These committees identified and published the names of merchants who violated the boycott, organised local militias, and took over functions that Crown-appointed governments had performed. The Congress adjourned planning to reconvene in May 1775 if grievances were not addressed; by then, fighting had already broken out at Lexington and Concord.
- Year: 1774 CE
- Category: Political
