In September 1774, the First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia, the first intercolonial meeting since the Stamp Act Congress of 1765. Fifty-five elected delegates from twelve colonies (excepting Georgia, Florida, Quebec, and Nova Scotia) met to discuss the Coercive Acts passed by the North ministry in England early in the year. The delegates agreed to formulate a common response despite acknowledged differences of religious persuasion, territorial claims, professional training, sectional economic interests, and political beliefs, and alongside the proliferation of local and provincial committees springing up throughout the colonies. They established that each colony would have one vote, ensuring a basic equality among all the provinces and establishing a principle that would last until the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

First Continental Congress

A bold resolution brought by the Massachusetts delegates, the Suffolk Resolves, demanded colonial resistance to the Coercive Acts and preparations for military defense. But delegates from New...