As soon as the decree was made known in Massachusetts, the representatives of the colony met at Salem and from there issued a call to all the American colonies to a general congress. The call was accepted by nearly all of them, though the delegates from Georgia did not arrive until later. Philadelphia was chosen as the place of meeting and the first Continental Congress convened on the fourth of September, 1774. The greater part of the fifty-one members were thoughtful, dignified men. Washington was the most distinguished amongst them. He had written a short time before this to a friend: “What is it we are contending against? Is it against paying the duty of threepence per pound on tea, because burdensome? No, it is our right only that we have all along disputed.... If I had no doubt that the British Parliament had a right to tax us without our consent, and contrary to our charters and our constitution, I should consider entreaties, and entreaties only, the sole means through which we should seek redress. But my firm conviction is that the British Parliament has no more right to put its hand in my pocket than I have to put mine into my neighbor’s.”
The proposal to open the Congress with prayer was adopted unanimously. The minister began his petition for God’s aid in a just cause with the words of the Thirty-fifth Psalm: “Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.” Next a “declaration of rights” was drawn up, which stated the lawful rights of the colonies clearly and concisely. Furthermore the resolution to refrain from buying English goods until the unlawful demands had been withdrawn was renewed, and finally an address to the English people, a memorial to the American people, and a petition to the King were framed. They were anxious not to destroy the possibility of a peaceable adjustment, even at the last moment.
The English people were addressed with firmness and dignity. “You have been told,” the address says, “that we are rebels who are weary of submission to authority and seek independence. Be assured that this is calumny. Grant us the same freedom that you enjoy and we shall glory in our union with you and esteem it our greatest happiness. We shall always be ready to sacrifice all that lies in our power for the welfare of the empire; we shall consider your enemies our enemies, and your interests our interests. But should you be determined to allow your ministers to trifle with human dignity, should neither the voice of justice, nor the precepts of the law, nor the basis of the constitution, nor feelings of humanity, deter you from shedding our blood—we must declare to you that we shall never debase ourselves to become the slaves of any minister or of any nation in the world.”