Which 1774 gathering of colonial delegates met in Philadelphia before the American Revolution?

The First Continental Congress was the 1774 gathering of colonial delegates that met in Philadelphia before the American Revolution.

Delegates from 12 of Britain’s 13 mainland North American colonies convened from September 5 to October 26, 1774. Georgia did not send delegates. The meeting responded primarily to the Coercive Acts, which Britain had imposed after the Boston Tea Party.

The Congress adopted the Continental Association, an agreement to boycott British goods, and sent a petition to King George III. It also issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances, asserting that colonists possessed rights as English subjects and objecting to taxation without colonial consent.

The First Continental Congress did not declare independence or create an army. Those actions belonged to the Second Continental Congress, which met in 1775 after fighting had begun at Lexington and Concord. The first gathering nevertheless created habits of intercolonial cooperation that helped make later resistance possible.