September 1774

Perhaps the most important thing that has happened so far leading to the Revolutionary War happened in September and October 1774.  This month and the following  found the 13 colonies sending representatives to Philadelphia for the First Continental Congress. 

Across North America by late spring 1774, Colonists had risen in solidarity with the people of Massachusetts.  Goods had arrived in Massachusetts from as far away as Georgia.  By late spring 1774, nine of the colonies called for a Continental Congress.  Virginia's Committee of Correspondence is largely  credited with originating the invitation.  

On September 5, 1774 the first Continental Congress Convened.  

Delegates from 12  of the 13 colonies gathered together in Carpenter Hall in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to discuss America’s under growing British Aggression.

Though other sites were considered to house the First Continental Congress, the newly built Carpenters' Hall was chosen because it was the largest privately owned building of its day (as opposed to the British-owned State House which today would be called Independence Hall), allowing the delegates more freedom to discuss their grievances against Great Britain.

This was all such NEW "stuff" that they first met  on the morning of September 5 at Philadelphia’s City Tavern.  The group then walked over to Carpenters’ Hall to inspect the meeting room.

“They took a view of the room, … The general cry was, that this was a good room, and the question was put, whether we were satisfied with this room? and it passed in the affirmative,” said John Adams.

They started with a prayer.

Georgia was the only colony that did not send any delegates to the First Continental Congress. Facing a war with neighboring Native American tribes, the colony did not want to jeopardize British assistance.

Peyton Randolph of Virginia was Named President of the first Continental Congress when the group convened.

One of the Congress’s first decisions was to endorse the Suffolk Resolves passed in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The Suffolk Resolves ordered citizens to not obey the Intolerable Acts, to refuse imported British goods, and to raise a militia. Congress’s early endorsement of the Suffolk Resolves was a clear indication of the mood and spirit in Carpenters’ Hall.