Protocols of Liberty: Chapter Illustration: THE GATHERING OF THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS OUT OF The Committees, Conventions, and Assemblies of 12 OF 13 COLONIES

THE GATHERING OF THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS OUT OF
The Committees, Conventions, and Assemblies of 12 OF 13 COLONIES

LINKS: Gathering -- The Liberty Tree -- Tea Ship Arrived! -- First Continental Congress

The gathering of the First Continental Congress was a remarkable achievement. Those who gathered at the City Tavern on the 5th of September 1774 were the human embodiment of several months of intense Whig organization and delibaration. At least 469 meetings by towns, counties, assemblies and conventions lay behind the convening of this congress. Many of those who took the lead in organizing the congress had served upon the committees of their oun town, county or colony. (The 29 of the 56 delegates to the congress had served upon a committee of correspondence. Their names are marked with an asterisk in the far right column.)

Each selected delegate was less a "representative" of a colony than the agent carrying explicit public instructions about the terms with which each should grapple with the crisis in relations with Britain. These instructions were focused on two explicit imperatives: supporting Boston in her time of trial and developing a boycott of exports to and imports from Great Britain. In addition, it was assumed that the congress would open channels for a united communication with the King and Parliament.

During the 3 months of the summer of 1774, newspapers assembled and reprinted reports of public meetings and their declarations, as well as accounts of the delegate selection process in each colony. This tide of information produced evidence that Whigs throughout the colonies were winning a convergence of opinion that the congress could then articulate into a united and decisve action. The result was a heady sense of gathering power and political possibility.

*Colony*	*Town/County Meetings to select committees to attend a colonial congress*	*Convention or Assembly meeting to select representatives to the Congress*	Delegates of each colony at the Congress * = prior service on a committee of correspondence
New Hampshire 14 towns	May, 1774: towns hold elections to elect Representatives to their assembly 6 July 1774: New Hampshire committee of correspondence successfully convenes the Assembly in Portsmouth to select delegates to the general congress, but the meeting is successfully prevented from acting by Governor John Wentworth	6 July 1774: members of the interrupted meeting dine in Portsmouth tavern and plan for a meeting immune from the Governor’s interference 21 July 1774, Exeter: unauthorized Provincial Congress selects 2 delegates to the general congress; Governor John Wentworth is present and scandalized, but signs the resolves	John Sullivan Nathaniel Folsom
Massachusetts 267 Towns	May, 1774, the towns of Massachusetts held elections for 138 Representatives to the House who met in Boston on 25 May 1774; upon the Governor’s order, the House was prorogued on 28 so it can reconvene in Salem on 7 June	17 June 1774, Salem, acting without the sanction of Governor Gage, the House of Representatives selects a committee of 5 to confer in general congress and provides 500£ for support (James Bowdoin Jr. does not accept for reasons of family health)	Thomas Cushing, Jr. Samuel Adams * John Adams Robert Treat Paine
Rhodes Island 3 towns	16 May 1774: Westerly town meeting 17 May 1774: Providence town meeting calls for an intercontinental congress 20 May 1774: Newport town meeting	15 June 1774: Newport, General Assembly meets and appoints 2 delegates	Stephen Hopkins* Samuel Ward
Connecticut 12 towns	23 May 1774: New Haven town meeting forms committee to go to General Assembly 19 May – 3 August: eleven towns hold meetings that pass resolves 3 June 1773: the Connecticut House of Representative grants its committee of correspondence the authority to appoint delegates to Congress	13 July 1774, New London: committee of General Assembly meets and appoints 5 delegates to the Congress; 3 decline; 3 August 1774: Hartford, full slate of 3 delegates is made up	Eliphalet Dyer* Robert Sherman Silas Deane
New York 6 towns, 5 counties	16 May 1774: Merchants committee of 50 is formed, Isaac Low, Chair; Mechanics committee of 25 is formed 19 May 1774: Two committees are merged into committee of 51 for New York City with Isaac Low, Chair 13 June 1774: South Haven, Suffolk Co 17 June 1774: East Hampton, Suffolk Co 21 June 1774: Huntington, Suffolk co 4 July – 27 September: two towns and three counties (Orange Co.; King County; Westchester Co.; Albany; Duchess Co..)	4 July 1774: Committee of 51 selects 5 delegates to Congress; these are gradually confirmed by votes of popular committees from West-Chester Co., Albany, Duchess Co.	Isaac Low* John Alsop (Late: 9/14) John Jay* James Duane* Philip Livingston William Floyd (Suffolk Co) Henry Wisner (9/14: Orange Co.) Simon Boerum (10/1: King’s Co.) John Herring (9/26: Orange Co.)
New Jersey 8 towns/counties	11 June 1774: Newark, Essex Co Freeholders pass resolutions in support of Boston, committee of correspondence is appointed 25 June: Bergen Co; 27 June: Morris Co; 4 July: Somerset Co; 8 July Hunterdon Co; 15 July: Salem Co; 18 July Gloucester co; 19 July: Monmouth co	21 July 1774: New Brunswick, a General meeting of county committees; 71 delegates elect 5 delegates to the Congress	James Kinsey* William Livingston* Stephan Crane* Robert Smith John De Hart
Pennsylvania 11 towns/counties	20 May 1774: Philadelphia meeting at City Tavern 18 June 1774: meeting of city and co of Philadelphia at State House courtyard 6 June – 19 July: nine counties and two towns hold separate meetings 15 July 1774: joint meeting of 11 county committees 18-21 July 1774: Carpenter Hall, Philadelphia: Convention of the counties , which carries its recommendations to the Assembly meeting at State House	18 July 1774: (State House) Pennsylvania Assembly listens to the petition of the Convention of the Counties; ignores the instructions and all but one of the delegate recommendations (Mifflin); and on 22 July appoints 7 delegates to the Congress	Joseph Galloway Samuel Rhoads† Charles Humphreys Thomas Mifflin* George Ross (9/14) Edward Biddle John Morton George Ross John Dickinson* (10/17) [by vote of assembly 10/15 replacing Rhoads] Charles Thomson* Secretary of the Congress
Delaware 3 counties	29 June 1774: New Castle Co meeting of 500 freeholders; appoints committee of correspondence of 13; 20 June 1774: Dover, Kent Co meeting of 700; 23 July Sussex Co meeting agrees to attend convention, selects 13; 28 July: Lewistown	1 August 1774: New Castle, representatives of the three counties meet in convention, select 3 delegates (Rodney, Kent co.; McKean, New Castle co.; Sussex co., Read) to the congress and give them detailed instructions	Caesar Rodney* Thomas McKean* George Read*
Maryland 2 towns, 7 counties	26 (or 5) May 1774: Annapolis town meeting of 80 appoints a committee of correspondence of 11 to communicate with Baltimore and other counties 18 May 1774: Kent Co; 24 May: Talbot Co.; 30 May: Queen Co; 31 May: Baltimore Co; 11 June: Harford Co; 18 June: Caroline co; 11-20 June: Fredrick Co; ..	22-25 June: Annapolis, Maryland General Convention of committees from counties appoints delegates to a general congress, with instructions strongly supportive of an import and export boycott	Matthew Tilghman* (9/12) Thomas Johnson, Jr* (9/6) William Paca* Samuel Chase* Robert Goldsborough [NS]
Virginia 1 town, 41 counties	27, 30 May 1774: Williamsburg; 89 members of the dissolved House of Burgesses calls for a meeting of country representatives on 1 August 1774 1 June: Spotsylvia Co meeting; Norfolk and Portsmouth committees meet; 7 June: Prince William Co; 8 June: Frederick Co; 16 June – 28 July: meetings by at least forty one counties throughout the colony	1-6 August 1774: Williamsburg. Convention, with Payton Randolph as ‘moderator’: selects 7 delegates and give them formal instructions supporting Massachusetts “resistance and reprisal;” also establishes an Association to end importation by 1 November 1774 and all exports by 10 August 1775	Payton Randolph, President of the Congress* Richard Henry Lee* George Washington Patrick Henry* Richard Bland* Benjamin Harrison* Edmund Pendleton*
North Carolina 6 towns, 30 counties	21 July 1774: Wilmington freeholders with William Hooper, Chair, and send circular to counties inviting them to a convention in New Bern 29 July 1774: Mecklenburg Co replies; Rowan Co meets;...	20 August 1774: New Bern In spite of a Proclamation by Governor Martin forbidding the meeting, 71 delegates convene and create an Association to prevent importation of slaves and goods from Britain and no exports after 1 October 1775. To enforce the embargo, 5 Associators are to be selected within each county. Three delegates are sent with instructions to the general congress.	William Hooper* (9/14) Joseph Hewes* (9/14) Richard Caswell (9/17)
South Carolina 22 towns and parishes	20 May 1774 (CHECK date): Charleston meeting; followed by meetings of counties and parishes, which select delegates to a Charleston convention	6-8 July 1774: Charleston, 104 delegates from nearly every county and parish plus numerous mechanics and other non-delegates; it selects five delegates to the general congress, and appoints a committee of correspondence to execute the measures of the general meeting 2 August 1774: Charleston, Commons House meets by plan at 8AM and ratifies the appointment of delegates and allocates 1,500£ for expenses; all before Lieut-Gov Bull can hear of the meeting and prorogue the assembly	Henry Middleton* Thomas Lynch Christopher Gadsden* John Rutledge Edward Rutledge
Georgia ~ 1 town,10 counties		10 August, Savannah: Georgia Convention	NO Delegates sent to the Congress
Totals	(at least) 469 Meetings	13 Conventions appoint 56 delegates	1 Congress