Which 1774 assembly brought delegates from 12 American colonies together before the Revolution?

The First Continental Congress brought delegates from 12 American colonies together in 1774 before the Revolutionary War. Georgia was the only one of the Thirteen Colonies that did not send delegates.

The meeting convened at Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, and continued until October 26. Its delegates responded chiefly to the Coercive Acts, which Britain had imposed after the Boston Tea Party and which colonists called the Intolerable Acts.

The Congress did not immediately declare independence. Instead, it petitioned King George III, issued a declaration of colonial rights, and organized the Continental Association, a collective boycott of British goods. These actions represented an effort to defend colonial liberties while still leaving open the possibility of reconciliation.

The First Continental Congress agreed to meet again if the dispute continued. The Second Continental Congress convened in 1775 after fighting began at Lexington and Concord. That later body established the Continental Army, selected George Washington as its commander, and eventually directed the independence movement.