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First Continental Congress

The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen North American colonies that met on September 5, 1774, at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. Called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts (also known as Intolerable Acts by the Colonial Americans) by the British Parliament, 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 did not send delegates. At the time, Georgia was the newest and smallest province and declined to send a delegation because it was seeking help from London in pacifying its smoldering Indian frontier.[1]

The Congress met briefly to consider options, including an economic boycott of British trade; publish a list of rights and grievances; and petition King George 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.

Background

Convention

The Congress met from 5 September to 26 October 1774. From 5 September through 21 October, Peyton Randolph presided over the proceedings; Henry Middleton took over as President of the Congress for the last few days, from 22 October to 26 October. Charles Thomson, leader of Philadelphia Committee of Correspondence, was selected to be Secretary of the Continental Congress.[2]

Galloway's Plan of Union

Patrick Henry already considered government dissolved, and was seeking a new system.[3] 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.[4] (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 1 December 1774.[5] The West Indies were threatened with a boycott unless the islands agreed to non importation of British goods.[6] Imports from Britain dropped by 97 percent in 1775, compared with the previous year.[5] 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.[7]

If the "Intolerable Acts" were not repealed, the colonies would also cease exports to Britain after 10 September 1775.[5] 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 second accomplishment of the Congress was to provide for a Second Continental Congress to meet on 10 May 1775. In addition to the colonies which had sent delegates to the First Continental Congress, the Congress resolved on Oct. 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.[8] 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.[9]

List of delegates

# Name Colony Notes
1 Nathaniel Folsom New Hampshire
2 John Sullivan New Hampshire
3 John Adams Massachusetts
4 Samuel Adams Massachusetts
5 Thomas Cushing Massachusetts
6 Robert Treat Paine Massachusetts
7 Stephen Hopkins Rhode Island
8 Samuel Ward Rhode Island
9 Silas Deane Connecticut
10 Eliphalet Dyer Connecticut
11 Roger Sherman Connecticut
12 James Duane New York
13 John Jay New York
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
28 Joseph Galloway Pennsylvania
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
45 Richard Henry Lee Virginia
46 Edmund Pendleton Virginia
47 Peyton Randolph Virginia
48 George Washington Virginia
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. ^ Miller, Marion Mills (1913). Great Debates in American Hist: From the Debates in the British Parliament on the Colonial Stamp. Current Literature Pub. Butts. Co. p. 91.
  5. ^ a b c Kramnick, Isaac (ed); Thomas Paine (1982). Common Sense. Penguin Classics. p. 21.
  6. ^ Ketchum, pg. 262
  7. ^ Launitz-Schurer pg. 144
  8. ^ Worthington C. Ford, et al., Library of Congress (United States), ed (1774 (printed 1901)). Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789. p. 101. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=001/lljc001.db&recNum=109. Retrieved Feb. 7, 2010.
  9. ^ Worthington C. Ford, et al., ed. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789. pp. 2:192–193. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc00266)).

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 0805061207
  • Miller, John C. Origins of the American Revolution (1943) online edition
  • Puls, Mark, Samuel Adams, father of the American Revolution, 2006, ISBN 1403975825
  • 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

External links

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