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CARPENTERS HALL
320 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Google Maps location
FREE ADMISSION
CARPENTERS HALL, built in 1770, is the building where September 5 to October 26, 1774, the First Continental Congress, made up of 56 delegates from 12 of the 13 original colonies, met to discuss the British government's reaction to the so-called "Boston Tea Party," namely the Coercive Acts, a.k.a. the "Intolerable Acts," which included closing the port of Boston, imposing martial law, and suspending the Massachusetts colonial legislature.
In response to the Coercive Acts, Massachusetts leaders formed an alternative Provincial Congress, which passed what were known as the "Suffolk Reserves" (because the meeting at which the resolves were passed was held in Suffolk County). These resolves:
- Advocated disobedience of the Coercive Acts
- Called for taxes to be collected by the Provincial Congress and withheld from Royal government until Massachusetts was “placed upon a constitutional foundation”
- Colonists urged to prepare for defense against British attack
The First Continental Congress approved the Suffolk Resolves. They also formed the “Association” –- an inter-colonial agreement to halt all commerce with Britain until Parliament repealed the Coercive Acts. Local committees were charged with enforcing the boycott.
Some notable delegates to the First Continental Congress included:
- John Adams, Massachusetts,
- Samuel Adams, Massachusetts
- John Dickinson, Pennsylvania
- Patrick Henry, Virginia
- John Jay, New York
- Richard Henry Lee, Virginia
- Roger Sherman, Connecticut
- George Washington, Virginia
The only colony that didn't send delegates was Georgia, owing to the distance.
Benjamin Franklin did not attend because in 1774 he was a colonial agent living in London, England.
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