The First Continental Congress
After the Boston Tea Party, Parliament passed several laws to punish the people of Boston and the
whole Massachusetts colony. One law closed the port of Boston until the colonists paid for the
dumped tea. This meant that no ships could come in carrying much needed goods and none could
go out. For a city that depended on trade and fishing this was severe punishment. Another law took
away Massachusetts’ rights to self-government. The British also sent thousands of troops to Boston
and ordered the colonists to quarter the soldiers.
News of the laws spread through the Committees of Correspondence, an organized network of
Patriots whose purpose was to communicate with one another. American colonists throughout the
colonies were angry. These acts of Parliament were trampling on the “rights of Englishmen.”
Colonists called the laws the Intolerable Acts because they could not tolerate or endure them. They
decided to stand with the people of Boston to resist them. Pennsylvania sent barrels of flour. New
York sent sheep. From South Carolina came rice and from Connecticut, money. Virginia sent corn
and wheat. The colonists everywhere were infuriated; if the King and Parliament could do these
things to Massachusetts then what would stop them from doing the same to the other colonies! Then
the Virginians took a bold step. They called for delegates from all the colonies to meet and discuss
what to do next.
In September of 1774, 56 colonial leaders assembled in
Philadelphia. The delegates represented 12 of the 13 colonies.
Georgia, which was fighting a Native-American uprising and
was dependent on the British for military supplies, did not send
a delegate. George Washington, Patrick Henry and Thomas
Jefferson represented Virginia. John Adams and his cousin
Samuel Adams came from Massachusetts.
This meeting would become known as the First Continental
Congress. The delegates talked together about their common
problems with Great Britain. They expressed their anger at the British government. The
representatives were all in agreement that Great Britain’s taxes and treatment were unfair. They were
not in agreement about what to do. Pennsylvania and New York sent delegates to find a solution to
the problems and make peace with Great Britain. The delegates were split between finding a
solution and separating from Great Britain. They issued a Declaration of Rights, saying that American
colonists were entitled to all the “rights of Englishmen.” They pointed out that all of the acts of
Parliament were taking these rights away. They also told King George III that the colonists were still
loyal and asked him to consider their complaints. In the end, the representatives voted to end all
trade with Great Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed. They wrote letters to King George III,
asking him to abolish the Intolerable Acts. The representatives of the First Continental Congress also
told the colonists to begin training for war. They agreed to meet again in May of 1775 if Parliament
and the King had still done nothing to restore their rights.
By the end of the First Continental Congress, many colonists were thinking of themselves as part of
one country, rather than as people living in 13 different colonies. They were becoming more aware
of the things they had in common. They were becoming more aware that they needed each other.
Patrick Henry captured this new mood perfectly. Speaking to the Continental Congress he said, “The
distinction [differences] between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders, are
no more. I am not a Virginian but an American.”
The First Continental Congress
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