Great Britain hopes that the Coercive Acts…
September 1774 CE
Great Britain hopes that the Coercive Acts will isolate radicals in Massachusetts and cause American colonists to concede the authority of Parliament over their elected assemblies.
It is a calculated risk that backfires, however, because the harshness of some of the acts make it difficult for moderates in the colonies to speak in favor of Parliament.
The acts unintentionally promote sympathy for Massachusetts and encourage colonists from the otherwise diverse colonies to form the First Continental Congress, which convenes on September 5, 1774, in Philadelphia.
Called in response to the passage of the Coercive Acts by the British Parliament, the Congress is attended by fifty-six members appointed by the legislatures of twelve of the Thirteen Colonies, the exception being the Province of Georgia, which does not send delegates.
The Congress meets briefly to consider options, creates the Continental Association, an agreement to boycott British goods and, if that does not get the Coercive Acts reversed after a year, to stop exporting goods to Great Britain as well.
The assemblage publishes a list of rights and grievances, and petitions King George for redress of those grievances.
The Congress also calls for another Continental Congress in the event that their petition is unsuccessful in halting enforcement of the Intolerable Acts.
Moreover, the Congress pledges to support Massachusetts in case of attack, which means that all of the colonies will become involved when the American Revolutionary War begins at Lexington and Concord.
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