First Continental Congress

The First Continental Congress was a convention of delegates, who were appointed by the regional parliaments of the Thirteen Colonies in British North America in 1774. It met only briefly and then prepared his successor, the Second Continental Congress before, who organized the American Revolutionary War. The two assemblies together form the Continental Congress, who acted as first de facto government of the United States. The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and had 56 members, representing all the colonies except Georgia.

Background

As the Stamp Act Congress, in which American colonists gathered to oppose the Stamp Act, the reason for the First Continental Congress was a reaction to the Intolerable Acts of the British Crown. The Congress was scheduled using the Correspondence Committee, as the venue was chosen because of its central location and the leading importance of the city in the American independence movement Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia.

Meeting

The Congress met from September 5, 1774 to October 26, 1774th From September 5 to October 21, Peyton Randolph led the session. Henry Middleton took over for the last five days, the Office of the President of the Continental Congress. Charles Thomson, leader of the Philadelphia-based Sons of Liberty, was elected secretary of the Congress and was thus responsible for the written record of all meetings.

During his meeting time, the Congress reached two significant successes. The first was the draft articles of association on 20 October 1774th With the articles, the colonies made ​​a joint pledge to boycott British goods from 1 December 1774. As a result, the total volume of imports from Great Britain in 1775 fell by 97 percent. If the Intolerable Acts are not repealed, the colonies would provide after September 10, 1775 United Kingdom no more goods.

The second success of the Congress was the preparation of the Second Continental Congress, which was to gather on 10 May 1775. In addition to the colonies, who had already participated in the First Continental Congress, also Québec, Saint John's Iceland, Nova Scotia, Georgia, East Florida and West Florida were invited to participate. None of the endorsed colonies sent at the beginning of the Second Continental Congress delegates, but Georgia took part from the following July.

Colonies and delegates

  • Nathaniel Folsom
  • John Sullivan
  • Stephen Hopkins
  • Samuel Ward
  • Simon Boerum
  • Henry Wisner
  • William Floyd
  • Samuel Chase
  • Robert Goldsborough
  • Thomas Johnson
  • William Paca
  • Matthew Tilghman

Comments

Georgia (U.S. state) Westflorida Province of New Hampshire John Sullivan (general) Massachusetts Bay Colony Stephen Hopkins (politician) Samuel Ward (American statesman) Connecticut Colony Province of New York Albany County (New York) Dutchess County, New York Westchester County, New York Orange County (New York) Suffolk County (New York) Province of Pennsylvania John Dickinson (Pennsylvania and Delaware) John Morton (politician) George Ross (delegate) George Read (U.S. statesman) Thomas Johnson (jurist)
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