In August 1774, Britain’s Lt. Gen. Thomas Gage tightened the noose around Boston as the supplemental Coercive (Intolerable) Acts took effect. These laws granted the military governor extraordinary powers, such as appointing judges and sheriffs, relocating trials of colonial officials to Britain or other colonies, and restricting town meetings. Elected members of the Governor’s Council were replaced by the Mandamus Councillors, who were appointed by Gage.
The passage of the Intolerable Acts, starting with the Port Bill that closed Boston’s harbor on June 1, greatly alarmed most American colonists. They feared that their consistent opposition to Parliament’s overreach would inevitably result in similar penalties being imposed on their colonies. Despite disagreements over who was to blame for the crisis and whether compensation should be made for the destroyed tea, the colonists agreed that these punitive measures were extreme, unconstitutional, and violated their rights as free Englishmen.
To address the crisis, 12 of the 13 colonies (all except Georgia) selected 56 of their most accomplished statesmen to serve as delegates to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Their mission was to determine a unified response, including organizing and coordinating resistance, and to demand the immediate repeal of the Intolerable Acts. Independence was not on the agenda.
In the days leading up to the Congress, delegates arrived in Philadelphia to much fanfare. Although many had never met in person, they were familiar with each other’s writings and speeches, which had been widely publicized in broadsides and newspapers or circulated through the intercolonial Committees of Correspondence.
Monday, Sept. 5, 1774
On the first day, the delegates gathered at City Tavern to select a venue for the convention. Philadelphia’s city leaders proposed Carpenters’ Hall, while Pennsylvania House Speaker Joseph Galloway and his conservative allies pushed for the State House (now known as Independence Hall). However, radicals like Patrick Henry, Christopher Gadsden, and Samuel Adams, who distrusted Galloway for his political views, insisted on touring Carpenters’ Hall before making a decision.
The delegates walked the quarter mile to Carpenters’ Hall, located between City Tavern and Independence Hall. After inspecting the facility, which featured an impressive library, they decided to choose it as the venue—much to Galloway’s disappointment. Thomas Cushing then suggested opening the session with a prayer, but disagreement arose among the Quakers, Presbyterians, Anabaptists, Episcopalians, and Congregationalists over who should lead it, and the idea was temporarily shelved.
Once proceedings began, Peyton Randolph was elected president of the Congress, and Charles Thomson its secretary. The doors were locked, and the delegates agreed to keep discussions confidential until “the majority shall direct them to be made public.” Thomson was instructed to record only the measures passed by the Congress. If not for the preserved diaries of attendees like Silas Deane and John Adams, all speeches, debates, objections, and rejected measures would have been lost to history.
Tuesday, Sept. 6, 1774
Disagreements over vote tallies soon threatened to derail the convention. John Sullivan and other delegates from smaller colonies feared domination by the larger ones, advocating for equal voting power, with each colony receiving one vote. Sullivan argued that “a little colony has its all at stake as well as a great one.” Delegates from larger colonies objected, claiming that this arrangement would create “great inequality and injustice.”
“Resolved, that in determining questions in this Congress, each colony or province shall have one vote.”
We Interrupt This Broadcast!
An express rider arrived Tuesday afternoon with disturbing news that war had erupted in the Boston area after British redcoats fired at civilians, resulting in numerous fatalities. Militia units were now engaged with the redcoats, with tens of thousands mobilized and marching into battle. Additional reports claimed that artillery from Britain’s army and navy have leveled Boston and the surrounding areas.The news spread rapidly through Philadelphia, inciting both anger and panic. Church bells rang, and delegates from various colonies offered solidarity and comfort to the Massachusetts Bay representatives—John Adams, Samuel Adams, Thomas Cushing, and Robert Treat Paine—who, though grateful for the support, were anxious and desperate for news about their families. A fifth elected delegate, James Bowdoin, was unable to attend the congress due to his wife’s poor health.
The Powder Alarm … War!
By the end of summer, Massachusetts Bay residents had grown increasingly fed up with the military occupation and began openly defying Gen. Gage and his administration. They shut down the courts; stockpiled arms, powder, and ammunition; and forced judges, customs officials, and Mandamus Councillors to either resign or face frontier justice.Militia general William Brattle of Cambridge wrote to Gen. Gage, warning him that militia units were prepared to mobilize at a “minute’s notice” and might seize a large cache of gunpowder stored in a magazine near Charlestown. In response, Gen. Gage ordered a pre-dawn raid by 260 redcoats to secure the gunpowder. Unfortunately for Gen. Brattle, his letter fell out of Gage’s pocket and was retrieved by a patriot, who publicized it. The exposure forced Brattle to flee for his life.
Despite Gen. Brattle’s narrow escape, the mission itself was completed without incident. However, false rumors quickly spread, claiming that redcoats had killed at least six civilians during the raid. Outraged, thousands of armed men across New England reported to their militia units and began marching toward Boston, while wives and children prepared cartridges, bullets, biscuits, and other supplies. An estimated 4,000 militiamen gathered in Cambridge, ready to fight.
Dr. Joseph Warren and members of the Committees of Correspondence uncovered the truth and sent riders to inform the public that no one had been harmed. They also addressed the assembled militiamen in Cambridge, who then turned their attention to the nearby Mandamus Councillors, marching to their homes and forcing these officials to publicly resign. Thomas Oliver also resigned as a Mandamus Councillor but retained his position as lieutenant governor. Meanwhile, customs official Benjamin Hallowell was chased for several miles by angry mobs. After his horse collapsed from exhaustion, Hallowell had to flee on foot before reaching the safety of redcoats stationed at Boston Neck, the narrow strip of land connecting Boston to the mainland.
Alarmed by the growing number of militia mobilizing against him, Gen. Gage lost hope for a peaceful resolution to the standoff with the colonists that had persisted since his arrival in May. He ordered Boston’s defenses strengthened and requested an increase of his military forces to 20,000 men. Gage warned his superior, Lord Dartmouth (William Legge), that “Conciliating, Moderation, Reasoning is over. Nothing can be done but by forceable Means.”
Dr. Warren and the Sons of Liberty met with representatives from across Suffolk County to discuss the raid and the Powder Alarm. They began drafting a series of resolutions that openly defied Gen. Gage’s government. These included forming a separate colonial government, withholding taxes, boycotting British imports, and urging all colonies to reorganize and strengthen their militias for war. These resolutions would be known as the Suffolk Resolves.
Even after receiving accurate information on the events in Boston, the delegates remained shaken by the Powder Alarm. Gen. Gage’s use of redcoats for law enforcement was deemed completely unacceptable. They feared the use of standing armies for subduing a defiant populace would inevitably lead to a violent confrontation and possibly ignite a continental war. As a result, moderates began siding with radicals, tipping the balance of power and profoundly impacting the remainder of the First Continental Congress.
