United States History Student Edition

05

Declaring Independence

The First Continental Congress GUIDING QUESTION What role did key individuals play in the movement toward independence? In September 1774, 56 delegates gathered in Philadelphia to set up a political body that would represent Americans and challenge British control. The delegates called this body the Continental Congress. Leaders from 12 of the Thirteen Colonies attended the meeting. Only Georgia did not send a representative. Massachusetts sent fiery Samuel Adams and his cousin, lawyer John Adams. New York sent John Jay, another lawyer. Virginia sent George Washington as well as Richard Henry Lee and Patrick Henry, two outspoken defenders of colonial rights. The delegates discussed complaints against the British, and then they voted. In a statement of grievances, the delegates called for the repeal of 13 acts of Parliament that they believed violated the “laws of nature, the principles of the English constitution, and the several charters” of the colonies. The delegates also voted to boycott British trade. The colonies would not import or use any British goods, nor would they sell their own goods in Great Britain. Continental Congress delegates also decided to endorse the Suffolk Resolves, prepared by the people of Boston and other Suffolk County towns in Massachusetts. The Suffolk Resolves declared the Coercive Acts to be illegal and called on the county’s residents to arm

READING STRATEGY Analyzing Key Ideas and Details Read closely to identify parts of the Declaration of Independence. Record those parts in a diagram like this one. Which part of the Declaration stated that the Americans were creating a new nation?

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themselves against the British. After delegates endorsed the resolves, other colonies also organized militias, or groups of citizen soldiers. 7 CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING

Determining Central Ideas What was the purpose of the Continental Congress?

» At the First Continental Congress, Patrick Henry captured the spirit of the assembly, saying, “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.” This image of Henry was created in the 1800s.

FLORIDA BENCHMARKS

• SS.8.A.1.2 • SS.8.A.3.2 • SS.8.A.3.3 • SS.8.A.3.6 • SS.8.A.3.8 • SS.8.A.3.7 • SS.8.CG.1.1

• ELA.K12.EE.4.1 • ELA.K12.EE.6.1

PHOTO: Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo. TEXT: (t)Documents Illustrative of the Formation of the Union of the American States. Selected, Arranged and Indexed by Charles C. Tansill. House Document No. 398. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1927. (b)Henry, Patrick. Speech before Continental Congress Sept. 6, 1774, in Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence and Speeches, Vol. 1, by William Wirt Henry. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1891.

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