The Intolerable Acts helped to unite the colonies in their resistance
to the British. The
other American colonies united in sympathy with Massachusetts.
Virginia set aside a day of prayer and fasting and proposed
that the colonies meet. This led to the calling of the
First Continental Congress in September 1774.
Delegates from
every colony but Georgia met in secret at the Carpenters'
Hall in Philadelphia. Benjamin Franklin had proposed such a meeting a year earlier,
but after the Port of Boston was closed the momentum for such
a meeting grew rapidly. The goal of the Congress was to resolve
the differences between England and the colonies.
Pennsylvania
delegate Joseph Galloway proposed a solution in the form of
a plan of union, including the creation of an American Parliament
to act with the British Parliament. Each body was to have
a veto over the other in matters relating to the colonies.
Debate was heated between the radicals and conservatives.
Galloway's plan was defeated and there were enough votes to
send a petition to the King.
Though
far from united, they sent to Britain The
Declaration and Resolves
(October 14, 1774), a petition demanding the Intolerable Acts
be repealed.
They
also agreed to a boycott of British goods and trade with Britain.
They adopted the Continental Association, which established
a total boycott by means of non-importation, non-exportation
and non-consumption accords. These agreements were to be enforced
by a group of committees in each community, which would publish
the names of merchants defying the boycott, confiscate contraband
and encourage public frugality.
In
England, many urged that the crown try to regain good relations
with the colonies and avoid war. (Edmund
Burke's Speech Urging Conciliation).
When King George III heard of the colonists' demands, he answered:
"The die is now cast. The colonies must either submit or triumph."
The British refused to repeal the Intolerable Acts.
At
this Congress some began to think like Americans for the first
time. In the words of Patrick Henry "I am not a Virginian,
but an American." When he returned to the Virginia Convention,
his voice rang throughout the colonies. "I
know not what course others may take, but as for me, give
me liberty or give me death."
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