First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress was a body of representatives appointed by the legislatures of twelve North American colonies of Great Britain in 1774. It met briefly then set up its successor, the Second Continental Congress, which organized the Americans into war against Britain. The First Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia in 1774, with 55 members representing all American colonies except Georgia.
Background
Like the Stamp Act Congress, which was formed by colonials to respond to the unpopular Stamp Act, the First Continental Congress was formed largely in response to the Intolerable Acts. 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. It was held in 1774.
Convention
The Congress met from September 5, 1774, to October 26, 1774. From September 5 through October 21, 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 Sons of Liberty, was selected to be Secretary of the Continental Congress.[1]
Galloway's Plan of Union
Patrick Henry already considered government dissolved, and was seeking a new system.[2] Pennsylvania delegate Joseph Galloway sought reconciliation with England. 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.[2] John Jay, Edward Rutledge and other conservatives supported Galloway's plan.[3]
Accomplishments
The Congress had two primary accomplishments. First, the Congress drafted the Articles of Association on October 20, 1774. The Articles formed a compact among the colonies to boycott British goods beginning on December 1, 1774.[4] Imports from Britain dropped by 97 percent in 1775, compared with the previous year.[4]
If the “Intolerable Acts” were not repealed, they would also cease exports to Britain after September 10, 1775.[4] The boycott was successfully implemented, but its potential at altering British colonial policy was cut off by the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775.
Its second accomplishment 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, letters of invitation were sent to Quebec, Saint John's Island, Nova Scotia, Georgia, East Florida, and West Florida, but they did not send delegates.
Colonies and delegates
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See also
- Articles of Confederation
- Galloway's Plan of Union
- History of the United States (1776-1789)
- List of Continental Congress Delegates
- President of the Continental Congress
- Continental Association
- Papers of the Continental Congress
- Timeline of United States revolutionary history (1760-1789)
Notes
- ^ Risjord, Norman K. (2002). Jefferson's America, 1760-1815. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. p. 114.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ a b Greene, Evarts Boutell (1922). The Foundations of American Nationality. American Book Company. pp. p. 434.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help) - ^ Miller, Marion Mills (1913). Great Debates in American Hist: From the Debates in the British Parliament on the Colonial Stamp. Current Literature Pub.
Co. pp. p. 91.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help); line feed character in|publisher=at position 24 (help) - ^ a b c Kramnick, Isaac (ed); Thomas Paine (1982). Common Sense. Penguin Classics. pp. p. 21.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Bibliography
- 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.
- Miller, John C. Origins of the American Revolution (1943) online edition
- 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
- The Continental Congress - History, Declaration and Resolves, Resolutions and Recommendations
- Full text of Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789
- Papers of the Continental Congress (Digitized Original Documents)
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