Why did the First Continental Congress meet

The Continental Congress was an itinerant legislature, often moving to escape British forces during the Revolutionary War.

The First Continental Congress met at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the fall of 1774. When the Delegates reconvened in May 1775, however, they met in Pennsylvania’s state house. By late 1776, as the British neared Philadelphia, Congress relocated 100 miles south to Baltimore, Maryland. In the summer of 1777, it moved to Lancaster and York in southeastern Pennsylvania. When the British abandoned Philadelphia, ending a ten-month occupation in the summer of 1778, the Continental Congress returned to the city for the remainder of the war.

On March 1, 1781, the Continental Congress ratified the Articles of Confederation and became known as the Confederation Congress. In the summer of 1783 a group of veterans from Pennsylvania’s state militias who sought back pay from their war service marched on Philadelphia and forced the Congress to move yet again. As the veterans neared the Pennsylvania state house where the Confederation Congress was then meeting, President Elias Boudinot convinced the Delegates to relocate to Princeton, New Jersey, on June 30, 1783. The Congress remained there until late fall, before subsequently moving to Annapolis, Maryland, and Trenton, New Jersey. It found a permanent home in New York’s City Hall in January 1785.1 Following the ratification of the Constitution, and two days after the Confederation Congress adjourned permanently on March 2, the First Federal Congress convened in City Hall (which was renamed Federal Hall after Congress moved in and was renovated by Pierre L’Enfant) on March 4, 1789.2

When in the course of human events . . .

Carpenter's Hall

The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, from September 5, to October 26, 1774. Carpenter's Hall was also the seat of the Pennsylvania Congress. All of the colonies except Georgia sent delegates. These were elected by the people, by the colonial legislatures, or by the committees of correspondence of the respective colonies. The colonies presented there were united in a determination to show a combined authority to Great Britain, but their aims were not uniform at all. Pennsylvania and New York sent delegates with firm instructions to seek a resolution with England. The other colonies voices were defensive of colonial rights, but pretty evenly divided between those who sought legislative parity, and the more radical members who were prepared for separation. Virginia's delegation was made up of a most even mix of these and not incidentally, presented the most eminent group of men in America. Colo. George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Edmund Pendleton, Colo. Benjamin Harrison, Richard Bland, and at the head of them Peyton Randolph — who would immediately be elected president of the convention.

The objectives of the body were not entirely clear but, with such leadership as was found there, a core set of tasks was carried out. It was agreeable to all that the King and Parliament must be made to understand the grievances of the colonies and that the body must do everything possible to communicate the same to the population of America, and to the rest of the world.

The first few weeks were consumed in discussion and debate. The colonies had always, up to this time, acted as independent entities. There was much distrust to overcome. The first matter to be considered by all was A Plan of Union of Great Britain and the Colonies, offered by Joseph Galloway of Pennsylvania. The plan was considered very attractive to most of the members, as it proposed a popularly elected Grand Council which would represent the interests of the colonies as a whole, and would be a continental equivalent to the English Parliament. Poised against this would be a President General, appointed by the crown, to represent the authority of the king in America. Conflict in Boston overcame the effort at conciliation. The arrival of the Suffolk County (Boston) resolves just prior to the vote on the Plan of Union, caused it to be discarded by a narrow margin.

On October 14, the Declaration and Resolves established the course of the congress, as a statement of principles common to all of the colonies. Congress voted to meet again the following year if these grievances were not attended to by England.

Several days later, on the 20th, came The Association, which was patterned after the Virginia Association and others that followed. This was a pact for nonimportation of English goods, to establish mechanisms throughout the colonies to enforce and regulate the resistance to Great Britain, and to keep the channels of communication open. It was to become effective on December 1, 1774 unless parliament should rescind the Intolerable Acts.

Delegates

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John and Abigail Adams | Article

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The First Continental Congress formed in response to the British Parliament's passage of the Intolerable Acts (called the Coercive Acts in England), which aimed to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party. In 1773 rebels unconvincingly disguised as Mohawk Indians boarded three docked ships in Boston Harbor and dumped 90,000 pounds of tea overboard. England moved swiftly to punish this act of blatant disrespect. The Intolerable Acts closed the busy port until the colonists repaid the damage caused by the Tea Party, installed a British general as governor of the colony, unilaterally changed the colony's charter, and even revoked certain liberties, including the right to hold meetings.

The First Meeting Towards Independence
On September 5, 1774, delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies met for the first time at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia. Only Georgia didn't send a representative. John Adams served as one of four Massachusetts delegates and quickly established himself as a strong proponent for independence. He said independence, not reconciliation, could be the colonies' only course. It was a radical idea. Many of the delegates feared more trade boycotts and brutalization in a war that could not be won, but Adams knew that war was unavoidable if freedom was to be secured. During these congressional sessions, he earned the nickname the "Atlas of Independence."

Demands in Place
By the time the First Continental Congress adjourned in October 1774, significant steps had been taken toward Adams' goal. The colonies had formed a united front: If one colony was attacked, the other colonies would defend it. Under The Declaration and Resolves, the Congress condemned British Parliament and King George III for interfering in colonial matters and granted each colony the right to a colonial treasury and legislature. The Congress also passed the Suffolk Resolves in defiance of the Intolerable Acts (which would be repealed in 1778); set up the Continental Association to enforce a national embargo of trade with Great Britain; and called for the training of a colonial militia. Lastly the Continental Congress issued a petition, the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, to King George, a portion of which was written by John Adams. Something of a precursor to the Declaration of Independence, it called for greater American autonomy and limits on Parliament's power over the colonies.

A Change of Tone
By the time the Second Continental Congress convened on May 10, 1775, with delegates from all 13 colonies in attendance, war had begun, and the tone of the Congress had changed. In a letter to Abigail, Adams described the delegates as falling into three camps: the loyalists who hadn't yet forsworn allegiance to the king; the middle third, who were too cautious to take a stand on either side of the issue; and those who believed independence must be the goal of the war. Adams, of course, was the truest of the true blue.

Taking Action, Undecided Folly
The first session of the Second Continental Congress lasted from May to July, the second from September to December 1775. The Congress acted as a makeshift central government, creating the Continental Army, electing George Washington as its commander and issuing paper currency. It asked each colony to provide soldiers and money for the new army, issued a declaration allowing colonists to use their weapons, and reopened American ports in defiance of the Navigation Act. Yet the Congress still could not reach a consensus on independence. Although all the delegates recognized that America was at war, not all were prepared to relinquish ties to the British crown. Pennsylvania's John Dickinson called the goal of independence "suicidal folly." In July 1775 he drew up the Olive Branch Petition, which asked King George III for changes in governance, but did not threaten to end American allegiance. Over Adams' protest, Dickinson's petition was sent. The king refused to look at it.

Congress Uses Common Sense
By the summer of 1776, with many revolutionary battles already fought and lost, Congressional sentiment had swung almost unanimously toward independence, with a big boost from Thomas Paine's rousing pamphlet Common Sense. On June 7, 1776, Virginia's Richard Henry Lee put forth a resolution that proclaimed the colonies "free and independent states ... absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown. ..." In less than a month, the Second Continental Congress completed its most definitive task: the adoption of Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

A Legacy
The Continental Congress continued to function until 1781 when it was supplemented by another, nearly similar body, under the Articles of Confederation. During all these war years, the Continental Congress managed America's political, military, and diplomatic needs.