The First Continental Congress convened at Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia in September 1774.
Delegates from twelve of the Thirteen Colonies met at Carpenter’s Hall beginning on September 5, 1774. Georgia did not send delegates to this first meeting. The gathering responded to the Coercive Acts, which Britain had imposed after the Boston Tea Party and colonial resistance.
The delegates debated a unified colonial response while still operating before the Declaration of Independence or the creation of the United States under the Constitution. They adopted the Continental Association, which organized a boycott of British goods, and sent petitions to King George III.
Carpenter’s Hall is often confused with Independence Hall, formerly the Pennsylvania State House. The Second Continental Congress later met in Philadelphia at the State House, where the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776. Federal Hall, meanwhile, was in New York City and hosted the first U.S. Congress under the Constitution.