Who Attended The First Continental Congress?
12 among the 13 British North American colonies attended the First Continental Congress.
The Congress was held from September 5th to October month’s 26th in 1774. The place was at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania state.
In this Congress, only the American colony Georgia didn’t participate though they wanted.
However, there were two main reasons behind it.
But what were they?
The first was, here, the loyalist susceptibility towards the British Empire overtook the patriotic mindset.
On the other hand, the colonists of Georgia were busy fighting a war against Native American tribes.
Georgian leaders were afraid that their participation in the First Continental Congress would encourage the British troops to assist the Native Americans.
Due to these reasons, they didn’t attend the First Continental Congress.
Although they participated in the 2nd Continental Congress of 1775 and hence, they were also fully involved in the revolutionary war.
The 12 Colonies Who Attended The First Continental Congress
- Pennsylvania
- New York
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- New Hampshire
- Virginia
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
- Maryland
- Rhode Island
- Delaware
- New Jersey
There were a total of 56 patriotic leaders who participated here from the 12 colonies above.
Some of The Most Important Names Are:
- George Washington (later the first president of the USA)
- Patrick Henry
- Edmund Pendleton
- Richard Bland
- Peyton Randolph
- John Adams
- John Jay
- Richard Henry Lee
- Benjamin Harrison
- Samuel Adams
- John Dickinson
- Henry Middleton
- Joseph Galloway
- Edward Rutledge
- Roger Sherman, etc.
Patriotic leader Peyton Randolph was elected as the first president of the Continental Congress.
He served from September 5th to October 22nd, 1774.
However, later due to ill health, Peyton Randolph had to retire from the president’s seat.
So, then Henry Middleton was elected for balancing and running the meeting till 26th October 1774.
Although, Randolph arrived back for the Second Continental Congress in 1775.
Due to his first presidency in Congress, many historians also want to call him the first president of the United States of America.
However, the nation was still under British rule.
So, I hope, now you have got your answer on who attended the First Continental Congress.
What 3 Things Did The First Continental Congress Do?
The First Continental Congress did so many great things for the 13 colonies.
Among them, 3 things are considered as the most important.
They are:
1. The First Congress unified the people of the 13 colonies.
Though, Georgia didn’t participate due to some obligations; but emotionally, they also unified via this meeting.
In simple words, the meeting began the journey towards the formation of the United States of America.
2. This was the meeting, where collectively, the colonies decided to impose a heavy economic boycott over British goods’ supply to the colonies.
This was one of the major initiatives from the colonists’ side, which also got massive success.
Till 1775, this boycott succeeded in causing heavy economic losses to British businesses.
According to some sources, it reduced English goods’ imports to the markets by 97 percent.
3. The third big thing executed by the Continental Congress led the whole struggle towards the Revolutionary War of Independence.
In this initiative, the delegates of the Congress decided to set up their own militias for inevitable major armed conflicts against the British Royal army.
