The Early Days

To learn more about the First Continental Congress, we have to delve into the events that led to its creation. However, no single event caused its creation; instead, it was a combination of many. In 1765, the Stamp Act was passed, marking an important milestone as it was the first direct British tax on the colonies. Shortly after, in 1767, the Townshend Acts were passed, taxing necessities like glass, tea, and paper. These acts resulted in various boycotts and increased tension between the British and their colonies. Three years after the Townshend Acts were passed, British soldiers killed five colonists in the Boston Massacre. In the same year, the British repealed most of their taxes except the one on tea to display their authority. 

On May 10, 1773, British Parliament passed the Tea Act, which granted the British East India Company a monopoly on tea sales in the colonies. It was able to do so because they were essentially given a tax break on their tea, making their tea cheaper than the tea many colonists smuggled in. According to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, many colonists felt the act was a new tactic to get them to pay the Townshend tax, as they were still required to pay the tax, even with the lowered price. The colonists became even more frustrated, and things came to a head when protestors snuck onto three ships in the Boston Harbor and dumped out 342 chests of tea into the Atlantic Ocean. This enraged the British, since it was a prominent loss for the British East India Company. As punishment, British Parliament passed new acts called the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts. These acts consisted of four major aspects: the Boston Port Act, the Administration of Justice Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, and the Quartering Act. The goal of these acts was to make an example of Boston and the Massachusetts colony; however, instead, it united the colonies against the common enemy (Jamestown-Yorktown, n.d.).

The First Continental Congress

British Parliament believed it had the authority to directly tax the colonies, while the colonists believed that taxing them violated their constitutional rights (Mark, 2023). In response, the colonies called for a colonial meeting. Thus, the First Continental Congress was created. On September 5, 1774, 56 delegates from 12 colonies (excluding Georgia) assembled in Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These delegates united in response to what they felt was a threat to their liberties. It was an effort to protect colonial rights, seek a nonviolent resolution, and organize a coordinated resistance. The First Continental Congress had three major accomplishments. The first accomplishment was on October 14, 1774, when they passed a Declaration of Rights, which outlined objections to the Intolerable Acts, provided a colonial bill of rights, and wrote a list of grievances. The second accomplishment was on December 1, 1774, when the Articles of Association were primarily created by John Dickinson-a delegate from Delaware, urging colonists to boycott British goods (Kratz, 2024). Accompanying these articles was a colony-wide boycott of British goods. The third accomplishment was a petition to the King. In this petition, the delegates respectfully asked King George III to repeal the Intolerable Acts and sought reconciliation. Before adjourning on October 21, 1774, the delegates voted to meet again in May of the next year if Britain did not respond favorably. 

The Second Continental Congress

War and Diplomacy