Precursor to the Declaration of Independence

For many who wanted, if not independence, a change in the way Britain managed the Thirteen Colonies, the Stamp Congress didn’t go far enough. The prevailing sentiment was that British rule had to change or go away.

The most militant individuals were in Massachusetts, New York, and Virginia. Parliament had just passed four pieces of legislation after the Sons of Liberty dumped tons of tea into Boston Harbor.

Known as the Intolerable Acts, the first was the Boston Port Act, which authorized a blockade of Boston that would remain in force until the citizens of Boston paid for the spilled tea. The second was the Massachusetts Government Act, which, as a practical matter, revoked the colony’s charter and limited town meetings.

Act three of the Intolerable Acts was the Administration of Justice Act, which allowed the British government to arrest an individual and transport he or she to another British colony for trial. The last was the Quartering Act, which reiterated earlier legislation that required Colonists to house and pay for British soldiers stationed in the 13 Colonies. In the newer version, the Royal Governors of each colony could seize buildings to house British soldiers.

Needless to say, these acts were like pouring gasoline on a fire. Invitations went out to the 13 Colonial legislatures to meet in Philadelphia to discuss what to do. Only Georgia elected not to send a delegation because a significant portion of the population were Loyalists. Fifty-six men attended the First Continental Congress, which began on September 5th, 1774, and recessed on October 26th, 1774.

In six weeks, the members created, debated, and passed two major bills. The first was the Declaration of Rights and Grievances. In it, the members bluntly laid out their unhappiness with King George III and Parliament’s rule of the 13 Colonies.

Passed on October 19th, 1774, the document lists 14 actual grievances, six of which are:

• The Crown owes the colonists the same allegiance that the colonists owe the King
• Colonists possess all the same rights as Englishmen
• Trial by a jury of your peers is a right
• The use of Admiralty Courts to try non-maritime cases is abusive
• Members of Parliament could not represent any of the Thirteen Colonies. Only members of the Colonies elected to parliament could do so
• Parliament could not levy taxes without the Thirteen Colonies being represented. Only the Colonial legislatures could levy taxes on their citizens.

The second was the Continental Association, which was passed on October 20th and became effective on December 1st, 1774. It was an agreement by the 12 colonies to ban importing British tea, and any other goods from Britain along with the British West Indies, primarily – sugar, rum, molasses.

Fifty-three of the 56 attendees signed both bills, and they are a who’s who of our Founding Fathers. Signers included John Adams, Samuel Adams, Silas Deane, Patrick Henry, Stephen Hopkins, John Jay, Richard Henry Lee, and George Washington.

When King George III learned of the passage of both bills, he spent £2,500 (£524,221 on July 5th, 2026, or $697,214 at $1.33 = £1) of his personal funds to pay for an election in order to buy enough seats to pass the Restraining Acts of 1775.

After Lord North, the British Prime Minister, read both the Declaration of Rights and Grievances and the Continental Association, he supposedly said, “The die is now cast, the colonies must either submit or triumph.”

Both these documents were shots across the bow of Parliament and King George III. Their arrogance and refusal to heed the warnings, to use a British expression, “came a cropper” when they signed the 1783 Treaty of Paris which granted the Thirteen Colonies, now calling themselves the United States of America, independence.

Allyn Cox mural of the First Continental Congress in the Cox Corridors in the House Wing of Capitol Building painted in 1973 -1974.