How The First Continental Congress Got Its Name?

So, how did the First Continental Congress get its name?

Do you want to know?

Well, in one simple sentence, its name means that for the very first time, 12 of the 13 British American colonies of the North American continent were going to be united and about to take a big decision against Great Britain, which was also their mother country.

Because it was the first time that 12 of the North American continent’s colonies got united, therefore it got the name of the First Continental Congress.

It’s easy. Right?

This was actually a meeting, held in 1774’s September 5th to October 26th.

The Second Continental Congress was held in the following year, 1775.

What Is The Importance of The First Continental Congress?

The First Continental Congress was the very first collective initiative from the American colonists’ side to counter unjust decisions of the British authority.

There had been many harmful laws that Great Britain had been imposing on colonists for a very long time.

But they never unified against their decisions like that before.

Actually, before this meeting happened, the English parliament decided to impose 5 Intolerable Acts on the colonists’ heads.

Mainly the English Parliament passed the punitive 5 laws to punish colonists for the Boston Tea Party incident.

Those acts were fully against the interests of the American people.

Therefore, as an immediate response to the acts, the leaders of the colonies (except Georgia) decided to organize a meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The meeting had one main motive – and that was to counter British authority’s unjust decisions anyhow. 

With this unification of the colonies, Congress began the journey to the birth of the United States of America.

What Was The Outcome of The First Continental Congress?

The results or the outcomes of this Congress came out in three different ways.

So, the first outcome was the unification of American emotions.

The meeting helped to unify the emotions of the people of the 13 colonies.

Though the colony Georgia was unable to participate in the meeting due to some obligations; but, emotionally, they had full support to the Congress. 

Now, colonists became able to understand that they were not British citizens, nor Great Britain has any sympathy towards them.

Therefore, if they wanted to protect their rights, need to be unified under one flag and within one different nation from Great Britain.

And yes, as they wondered, the new nation was the United States of America.

Secondly, the Continental Congress became the first federal government of the 13 colonies.

We know that the colonies were still under British rule. But, for the first time, colonists found their own unified political organization.

This new organization worked only for the benefit of colonists; but not for Great Britain.

Therefore, many historians also want to consider it as America’s first federal government.

The third significant outcome was seen as an economic sanction over the British importing goods to the colonies.

In response to the 5 Intolerable Acts, the First Continental  Congress decided to boycott British goods’ import to the colonies.

This was one of the most successful outcomes of this meeting.

Because this action reduced British goods’ import to colonies by 97 percent, till the end of 1775.

Why Didn’t Georgia Participate In The First Continental Congress?

In 1774, when the First Continental Congress was held in Philadelphia, Georgia remained the only colony that didn’t participate in the meeting.

But why?

Its main reason was at that time the colony was facing a war with some Native American tribes.

The colony’s leaders were afraid that their participation in the meeting would encourage British authority to provide military support to the Natives.

And if that happens, then the situation would get difficult for them.

This was the main reason why Georgian leaders didn’t participate in the First Continental Congress.

However, they had full moral support for the meeting.

Was This Meeting Immediate Cause For The Begining of The Revolutionary War?

Yes, this meeting was the immediate cause for the beginning of the American Revolutionary War.

Actually, along with other important decisions, here the leaders of the colonies also decided to set up colonial militias for inevitable armed conflict against British Royal forces.

As a result, after 5 months, on 19th April 1775, the Battles of Lexington and Concord broke out all the dams for the Revolutionary War of independence.