First Continental Congress

The First Continental Congress formed shortly after the imposing by Parliament of the Coercive Acts, from September 5, 1774 to October 26, 1774. Philadelphia was the host of this Congress, specifically in Carpenter's Hall. Delegates from 12 colonies were sent, leaving only Georgia out. This delegates were elected by the people on the colonies: through the colonial legislature or the Committees of Correspondence of the colonies. Their goal was to unite to show some authority to England, but the delegates had been sent with different ideas outbursting their in their minds. For example, delegates from Pennsylvania

and Carpenter´s Hall nowadays New York wanted to seek a resolution with England, while others wanted coonial parity or even separation from England. Even with all this mixture of ideas they all had a common goal: they had to make the King and Parliament understand their grievances.

Some of the most known delegates were:

Massachusetts Bay: John Adams, Samuel Adams.
Virginia: Patrick Henry

The first weeks of the First Continental Congress were spent in debating and proposing. The colonists had for long been independent entities from England and they would not let them have too much control over them at the moment. One of the ideas they had on the First Continental Congress was A Plan of Union to Great Britain. This was proposed by Joseph Galloway from Pennsylvania. This plan consisted in that the colonists would elect a Grand Council for all the colonies, who would be an equivalent of the British Parliament and thus a continental represenant of the King. This plan was idea, for the colonist because their greatest desire was to have representation in Parliament. This seemed a good plan, but later on it was discarded after the passing of the Suffolk County resolves ; which were radical resolves for resistance against the Coercive Acts and British authority, even a suggested Massachucetts to appoint military officers.

Unity of Colonies would result in U.S.A.!

Resolutions, such as one that stated that colonists should begin training their citizens for war were approved. The delegates also attempted to define America's rights, such as liberty, and to place limits on Parliament's power such as the previous described Plan of Union showed. They took care to discuss the tactics they would use to resist the harsh acts the British Parliament was imposing. For this purpose they made a pact that agreed on non-importation of British goods in an attempt to resist Great Britain. This pact would come into effect the 1 of December of 1774 if Parliament didn't take away the Coercive or Intolerable Acts. After the First Continental Congress, tensions between the colonists and England increased, but unity between the colonists increased.