Fall, 1774: A Meeting in Philadelphia

Patrick Henry summed up the new feeling in the colonies. “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more," he declared. “I am not a Virginian, but an American!” The delegates at the first Continental Congress murmured their agreement. These 56 men, representing all the colonies except Georgia, had made their way on horseback and in coaches to Philadelphia. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Patrick Henry were among the delegates from Virginia. Samuel Adams's neighbors had presented him with a new suit of clothes so he could represent them in style. John Adams brought his diary to write about his experiences.

 The delegates called themselves the Continental Congress. They met at Philadelphia's State House (today called Independence Hall). They chose a leader to run the meeting (Peyton Randolph, a cousin of Jefferson's) and gave him the title of “president.” They agreed that each colony would have an equal vote on their ecisions, no matter how large or small its population, and they set to work planning a response to the Coercive Acts. Great Britain, in trying to crush the uprising in Massachusetts, had caused all of the colonies to join together. “It was like 13 clocks striking as one,” said John Adams.

 Though the delegates meant business, most didn't intend to break entirely away from their mother country. Their hope was for a say in their government. They talked and talked (for everyone had a different opinion) about the best way to reach their goal, then agreed on the “Suffolk Resolves.” This document was written by Dr. Joseph Warren in Massachusetts and brought to Philadelphia—at a gallop—by Paul Revere. It rejected the Coercive Acts and the Quebec Act. It urged the people in the colonies

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to collect their own taxes and ban all trade with Great Britain until things got straightened out. And though they didn't want war, the members of the Congress thought the colonists should arm themselves. With the British holding Boston under military rule, who knew what would happen next? They passed a resolution that the colonies should form militias (groups of citizen-soldiers).

 Next, the Congress sent a petition to King George and the people of Great Britain demanding that, as loyal subjects, they be granted the same rights as Englishmen. Then they adjourned, agreeing to gather the next spring if necessary. By the time they met again, the first shots of a long war had been fired.

April 19, 1775: “The shot heard 'round the world”

Back in Boston, British General Thomas Gage prepared for the worst. His spies warned him that the colonists were stashing arms,