The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774, helping set the stage for America’s independence.
Delegates from 12 of the 13 British colonies gathered at Carpenters’ Hall from September 5 to October 26, 1774. Georgia did not send delegates because Loyalist sentiment remained strong there and the colony depended on British military support.
The meeting responded to Britain’s Intolerable Acts, imposed after the Boston Tea Party. Rather than immediately declare independence, Congress coordinated colonial resistance, approved the Continental Association boycott, and petitioned King George III.
Philadelphia is sometimes confused with Boston because Boston was central to the growing crisis, including the Tea Party and the Boston Massacre. Philadelphia also hosted the Second Continental Congress, which later adopted the Declaration of Independence and organized the Continental Army. Carpenters’ Hall remains a historic landmark near Independence Hall.