THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774. Delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies attended except Georgia. They were united in showing a combined authority to Great Britain. The Congress drafted a statement of grievances against 13 Acts of Parliament passed since 1763 that violated colonial rights based on natural law and English principles. They voted to boycott British goods and trade and endorsed the Suffolk Resolves prepared in Massachusetts that called for arming militias against the British, foreshadowing the coming war in the spring.