From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Continental Congress First Continental Congress  → Declaration and Resolves  → Continental Association  → First Petition to the King Second Continental Congress  → Olive Branch Petition  → Declaration of the Causes...  → Declaration of Independence  → Articles of Confederation Confederation Congress  → Northwest Ordinance Members  → List of delegates  → Presidents

The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from twelve of the thirteen British North American colonies that met on September 5, 1774, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, early in the American Revolution. Called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts 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. The Congress met briefly to consider options, 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.

[edit] Background

Like the Stamp Act Congress, which was formed by American colonists to respond to the infamous Stamp Act, the First Continental Congress was formed largely in response to the Intolerable Acts.

The idea of a continental congress was Ben Franklin's, a year before the first meeting. It was not as sucessful because of the Boston Port (the result of the Boston Tea Party)^[1] In May 1774, New York City's Committee of Fifty-One, called for a continental congress (at Carpentar's Hall) when it issued a declaration: "Upon these reasons we conclude that a Congress of Deputies from all the Colonies in general is of the utmost moment; that it ought to be assembled without delay, and some unanimous resolutions formed in this fatal emergency".^[2]

The Congress was planned through the permanent committees of correspondence. They chose the meeting place to be Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in Carpenters' Hall, which was both centrally located and one of the leading cities in the colonies. The Congress was held in 1774.</butti> ==Convention== [[Image:Carpenter's Hall HABS PA,51-PHILA,229-3.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Carpenters' Hall]]]] 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 Continental Congress|President of the Congress]] for the last few days, from 22 October to 26 October. [[Charles Thomson]], leader of Philadelphia [[Sons of Liberty]], was selected to be Secretary of the Continental Congress.<ref>{{cite book |title=Jefferson's America, 1760-1815 |author=Risjord, Norman K. |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2002 |page=114}}</ref> ===Galloway's Plan of Union=== [[Patrick Henry]] already considered government dissolved, and was seeking a new system.<ref name="greene">{{cite book |title=The Foundations of American Nationality |author=Greene, Evarts Boutell |publisher=American Book Company. |year=1922 |page=. 434}}</ref> Pennsylvania delegate [[Joseph Galloway]] sought reconciliation with Britain. He put forth a "[[Galloway's Plan of Union|Plan of Union]]", which suggested an American legislative body be formed, with some authority, and whose consent would be required for imperial measures.<ref name="greene"/> [[John Jay]], [[Edward Rutledge]] and other conservatives supported Galloway's plan.<ref>{{cite book |title=Great Debates in American Hist: From the Debates in the British Parliament on the Colonial Stamp |author=Miller, Marion Mills |publisher=Current Literature Pub. Co |year=1913 |page=91}}</ref> (Galloway would later join the [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]]). ===Accomplishments=== The Congress had two primary accomplishments. The Association was a compact among the colonies to boycott British goods beginning on 1 December 1774.<ref name="kramnick">{{cite book |author=Kramnick, Isaac (ed); Thomas Paine |title=Common Sense |publisher=Penguin Classics |year=1982 |page=21}}</ref> The West Indies were threatened with a boycott unless the islands agreed to non importation of British goods.<ref>Ketchum, pg. 262</ref> Imports from Britain dropped by 97 percent in 1775, compared with the previous year.<ref name="kramnick"/> Committees of observation and inspection were to be formed in each colony for enforcement of the Association. The entire colony's Houses of Assembly approved the proceedings of the congress with the exception of [[Province of New York|New York]].<ref>Launitz-Schurer pg. 144</ref> If the “Intolerable Acts” were not repealed, the colonies would also cease exports to Britain after September 10 1775.<ref name="kramnick"/> The boycott was successfully implemented, but its potential for altering British colonial policy was cut off by the outbreak of the [[American Revolutionary War]] in 1775. 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, letters of invitation were sent to [[Province of Quebec (1763-1791)|Quebec]], [[Prince Edward Island|Saint John's Island]], [[Nova Scotia]], [[Province of Georgia|Georgia]], [[East Florida]], and [[West Florida]]. None of these sent delegates to the opening of the second Congress, though a delegation from Georgia arrived the following July.<ref>{{cite book| title=Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789| editor=Worthington C. Ford, ''et al.'' (ed.)| pages=2:192–193| url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc00266))}}</ref> ==List of delegates== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! # ! | Name ! | Colony ! | Notes |- |1 || {{sortname|Nathaniel|Folsom}} || [[Province of New Hampshire|New Hampshire]] || |- |2 || {{sortname|John|Sullivan}} || [[Province of New Hampshire|New Hampshire]] || |- |3 || {{sortname|John|Adams}} || [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]] || |- |4|| {{sortname|Samuel|Adams}} || [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]] || |- |5 || {{sortname|Thomas|Cushing}} || [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]] || |- |6 || {{sortname|Robert Treat|Paine}} || [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]] || |- |7 || {{sortname|Stephen|Hopkins|Stephen Hopkins (politician)}} || [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations|Rhode Island]] || |- |8|| {{sortname|Samuel|Ward}} || [[Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations|Rhode Island]] || |- | 9|| {{sortname|Silas|Deane}} || [[Connecticut Colony|Connecticut]] || |- |10 || {{sortname|Eliphalet|Dyer}} || [[Connecticut Colony|Connecticut]] || |- |11 || {{sortname|Roger|Sherman}} || [[Connecticut Colony|Connecticut]] || |- |12 || {{sortname|James|Duane}} || [[Province of New York|New York]] || |- |13 || {{sortname|John|Jay}} || [[Province of New York|New York]] || |- |14 || {{sortname|Philip|Livingston}} || [[Province of New York|New York]] || |- |15 || {{sortname|Isaac|Low}} || [[Province of New York|New York]] || |- |16 || {{sortname|Simon|Boerum}} || [[Province of New York|New York]] || |- |17 || {{sortname|John|Haring}} || [[Province of New York|New York]] || |- |18 || {{sortname|Henry|Wisner}} || [[Province of New York|New York]] || |- |19 || {{sortname|William|Floyd}} || [[Province of New York|New York]] || |- |20 || {{sortname|Stephen|Crane|Stephen Crane (delegate)}} || [[Province of New Jersey|New Jersey]] || |- |21 || {{sortname|John|De Hart}} || [[Province of New Jersey|New Jersey]] || |- |22|| {{sortname|James|Kinsey}} || [[Province of New Jersey|New Jersey]] || |- |23 || {{sortname|William|Livingston}} || [[Province of New Jersey|New Jersey]] || |- |24 || {{sortname|Richard|Smith|Richard Smith (delegate)}} || [[Province of New Jersey|New Jersey]] || |- |25|| {{sortname|Edward|Biddle}} || [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] || |- |26 || {{sortname|John|Dickinson|John Dickinson (delegate)}} || [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] || |- |27 || {{sortname|Joseph|Galloway}} || [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] || |- |28|| {{sortname|Charles|Humphreys}} || [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] || |- |29 || {{sortname|Thomas|Mifflin}} || [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] || |- |30 || {{sortname|John|Morton|John Morton (politician)}} || [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] || |- |31 || {{sortname|Samuel|Rhoads}} || [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] || |- |32 || {{sortname|George|Ross|George Ross (delegate)}} || [[Province of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania]] || |- |33 || {{sortname|Thomas|McKean}} || [[Delaware Colony|Delaware]] || |- |34 || {{sortname|George|Read|George Read (signer)}} || [[Delaware Colony|Delaware]] || |- |35 || {{sortname|Caesar|Rodney}} || [[Delaware Colony|Delaware]] || |- |36 || {{sortname|Samuel|Chase}} || [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]] || |- |37 || {{sortname|Robert|Goldsborough}} || [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]] || |- |38 || {{sortname|Thomas|Johnson|Thomas Johnson (governor)}} || [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]] || |- |39 || {{sortname|William|Paca}} || [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]] || |- |40 || {{sortname|Matthew|Tilghman}} || [[Province of Maryland|Maryland]] || |- |41 || {{sortname|Richard|Bland}} || [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] || |- |42 || {{sortname|Benjamin|Harrison|Benjamin Harrison V}} || [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] || |- |43 || {{sortname|Patrick|Henry}} || [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] || |- |44 || {{sortname|Richard Henry|Lee}} || [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] || |- |45 || {{sortname|Edmund|Pendleton}} || [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] || |- |46 || {{sortname|Peyton|Randolph}} || [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] || |- |47 || {{sortname|George|Washington}} || [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]] || |- |48 || {{sortname|Richard|Caswell}} || [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina]] || |- |49 || {{sortname|Joseph|Hewes}} || [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina]] || |- |50 || {{sortname|William|Hooper}} || [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina]] || |- |51 || {{sortname|Christopher|Gadsden}} || [[Province of South Carolina|South Carolina]] || |- |52 || {{sortname|Thomas|Lynch, Jr.}} || [[Province of South Carolina|South Carolina]] || |- |53 || {{sortname|Henry|Middleton}} || [[Province of South Carolina|South Carolina]] || |- |54 || {{sortname|Edward|Rutledge}} || [[Province of South Carolina|South Carolina]] || |- |55 || {{sortname|John|Rutledge}} || [[Province of South Carolina|South Carolina]] || |- |56 || {{sortname|John|Alsop}} || [[Province of New York|New York]] || |- |} ==See also== *[[List of delegates to the Continental and Confederation congresses]] *[[Papers of the Continental Congress]] *[[Timeline of United States revolutionary history (1760-1789)]] ==Notes== {{reflist}} ==References== *Bancroft, George. ''History of the United States of America, from the discovery of the American continent.'' (1854-78), vol 4-10 [http://jrshelby.com/sc-links/bancroft.htm online edition] *{{cite book| first=Edmund C.| last=Burnett| title=The Continental Congress| origyear=1941| year=1975| publisher=Greenwood Publishing| isbn=0-8371-8386-3}} *{{cite book| first=H. James| last=Henderson| title=Party Politics in the Continental Congress| origyear=1974| year=2002| publisher=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) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=493014 online edition] *Puls, Mark, ''Samuel Adams, father of the American Revolution'', 2006, ISBN 1403975825 *{{cite book| first=Lynn| last=Montross| title=The Reluctant Rebels; the Story of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789| origyear=1950| year=1970| publisher=Barnes & Noble| isbn=0-389-03973-X}} ===Primary sources=== *Peter Force, ed. ''American Archives,'' 9 vol 1837-1853, major compilation of documents 1774-1776. [http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/index.html online edition] ==External links== *[http://www.americanrevolution.com/ContinentalCongress.htm The Continental Congress - History, Declaration and Resolves, Resolutions and Recommendations] *[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjclink.html Full text of ''Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789''] *[http://www.footnote.com/browse.php#172590 ''Papers of the Continental Congress'' (Digitized Original Documents)] <!--Navigational templates--> {{Pennsylvania during the American Revolutionary War}} {{Location of US capital}} {{start box}} {{succession box| title=Legislature of the United States| before= - | years= 5 September 1774 to 26 October 1774 | after= the [[Second Continental Congress]]}} {{end box}} <!--Categories--> [[Category:1774 in the Thirteen Colonies]] [[Category:Continental Congress|1st]] [[Category:History of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Pennsylvania in the American Revolution]] <!--Other languages--> [[de:Erster Kontinentalkongress]] [[fr:Premier Congrès continental]] [[ko:제1차 대륙회의]] [[it:Primo congresso continentale]] [[ru:Первый Континентальный конгресс]]