First Continental Congress

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The First Continental Congress

The American dream is built upon a foundation of struggles and gains, along with more struggles. A look back to early American History provides one with a timeline that seems endless and full of surprises. The First Continental Congress serves as one of those timeline markers and is a great example of the American way. Being one of the first meetings ever between the colonists, The First Continental Congress laid one of the first bricks into the foundation of America.

The First Continental Congress made its mark in history on September 5,1774 in Philadelphia’s Carpenters Hall. According to the u-s-history.com website, “The idea of such a meeting was advanced a year earlier by Benjamin Franklin, but failed to gain much support until after the Port of Boston was closed in response to the Boston Tea Party.” Twelve of the thirteen colonies sent representatives to this secret meeting, “Georgia decided against roiling the waters; they were facing attacks from the restive Creek on their borders and desperately needed the support of regular British soldiers.”

The Intolerable Acts of 1774 greatly fueled the First Continental Congress. In response to the Boston Tea party, the British Parliament decided that a series of laws were needed to calm the rising resistance in America. “One law closed Boston Harbor until Bostonians paid for the destroyed tea. Another law restricted the activities of the Massachusetts legislature and gave added powers to the post of governor of Massachusetts.” As one can imagine, the American colonist viewed this as the British attempt to curtail their quest for independence.

When hearing a discussion of the First Continental Congress, many believe that the members, e...

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...heir point across. The members of the First Continental Congress agreed to close the session on October 26, 1774 with plans to reconvene if their demands were not met by England. This meeting would go on to be called the Second Continental Congress of May 1775.

When looking at the First Continental Congress from a history student’s perspective, one cannot help but to call it somewhat of a success. The delegates had a purpose and seemed to band together to convey that message to its motherland. Along with this, the colonists had now walked in the shoes of other colonists, before this Congress, the colonists had little to no contact with each other, which helped to strengthen British control. Their demands may not have been completely met, but the First Continental Congress paved the way for our freedom and greatly influenced the way we view American History.

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