The First Continental Congress met in 1774 to coordinate colonial resistance to British policies.
Delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies gathered in Philadelphia from September 5 through October 26, 1774. Georgia did not send delegates because it was dealing with conflict involving Indigenous peoples and needed British military support. The meeting followed Parliament's Coercive Acts, which colonists called the Intolerable Acts.
Congress adopted the Continental Association, a coordinated boycott of British goods, and sent a petition to King George III. The delegates also agreed to meet again if their grievances were not resolved. Their actions created a continent-wide political organization without yet declaring independence.
The First Continental Congress preceded the Revolutionary War's major fighting. The Second Continental Congress convened in May 1775 after Lexington and Concord and eventually directed the war effort, authorized the Declaration of Independence, and created the Continental Army.