The Congress prepared a petition to the King, an address to the people of the Colonies, an address to the people of England, and an address to the people of Quebec. ![]() But in their resistance they resorted neither to threats nor extreme measures, but pursued the dignified, stronger and unanswerable course of moderation. To acquiesce even in minor violations was to admit that a course of action might be taken which would deprive them of the chartered rights of Englishmen and reduce them to mere subjects. The burden which resulted from the pretentions of King George and his ministers, and the exactions of Parliament, were not of great consequence and could be borne, but the principle which the people declared was of supreme importance. They were determined to maintain that principle. The Colonists claimed certain rights of self-government. If we could better understand what they said and did to establish our free institutions, we should be less likely to be misled by the misrepresentations and distorted arguments of the hour, and be far better equipped to maintain them. Judged by the character of the State papers which they produced, and by their later careers in the field or at the council table, after 150 years they still rank as a most remarkable study by the American people. They doubted not that a higher power would support them in their effort for right and freedom. They were men of faith, they believed in their cause. ![]() It was no ordinary gathering.Īmong them were Jay and Livingston, Galloway and Mifflin, Biddle and Chase, Harrison, Lee, Randolph, the Rutledges, the Adamses, and finally, George Washington. They came with various credentials from local Assemblies and voluntary conventions, scarcely representing the people in a legal way, but reflecting their spirit in the determination to defend their liberties. When the English Government entered upon a course which threatened the liberties of the Colonies by passing the Stamp Act and the Boston Port Act, by interfering with the local Assemblies, by suspending the writ of habeas corpus, by maintaining a standing army quartered on the people, by denying to the inhabitants the right of trial by a jury of the vicinage, by undertaking to make judicial officers the creatures of the Crown, and other unwarranted tyrannies, the first Continental Congress was assembled to register a solemn protest against these illegal actions. So the plan of Franklin at that time found no support on either side of the Atlantic.īut the idea grew. But the people feared this would destroy their local Government, leaving them at the mercy of a distant Parliament, while the English authorities feared that by revealing to the Colonies an accurate knowledge of their own power it would inspire ambitions for independence. Only a minority, however, attended.Īt that time Benjamin Franklin, with a prophetic vision, proposed a plan of union which bore a remarkable resemblance to our present Constitution. As far back as 1754 a Colonial conference was held at Albany, on the initiation of the Governors. Such proposals were resisted by the inhabitants, who were extremely jealous of their liberties. Even prior to that various royal Governors had proposed some union of the Colonies under a viceroy.īut this meant a weakening of the local and popular assemblies and a broader and more effective control by the Crown. The first important act of cooperation among the Colonies had resulted from their need for common defense in the French and Indian War two decades earlier. We cannot do justice to the memory of the men and work of the first Continental Congress without recalling events which preceded it and recognizing the consequences which followed it. Wherever we find a nation which has gained its liberty, which has shaken itself free from despotism and established a republic, there reigns the influence with which the exalted record of your achievements has directed the destiny of the world. Your heritage has that mysterious quality by which it has enriched not only your own citizens but the people of the earth. The place of this imperial city in history is secure. Here, too, was prepared and adopted the Federal Constitution, guaranteeing unity and perpetuation of our national life. Two years later this was put into practical effect by the Declaration of Independence. Then was formed the ideal of the American nation. It brings to mind events which in the course of the century and a half that has passed since the day we are celebrating have changed the course of human history. ![]() No American coming to Philadelphia on this anniversary could escape being thrilled at the thought of what this commemoration means. Context: Address on the 150th Anniversary of the First Continental Congress
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