<P> To present a united front in their opposition to the Stamp act, the Provinces of British North America again met in the Stamp Act Congress, which convened in New York City from 7 through 25 October 1765 . It issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances, which it sent to the British Parliament in London . While the act was repealed, the First Rockingham ministry rejected the Congress' authority . </P> <P> The First Continental Congress met briefly in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from September 5 to October 26, 1774 . It consisted of fifty - six delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that were to become the United States of America . The delegates, who included George Washington (then a colonel of the Virginia Colony's volunteers), Patrick Henry, and John Adams, were elected by their respective colonial assemblies . Other notable delegates included Samuel Adams from Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Joseph Galloway and John Dickinson from the Province of Pennsylvania . Peyton Randolph of Virginia was its president . </P> <P> Benjamin Franklin had put forth the idea of such a meeting the year before, but he was unable to convince the colonies of its necessity until the 1773 British blockade at the port of Boston in response to the Boston Tea Party . All of the colonies sent delegates except the newest and most southerly one, the Province of Georgia--which needed the British Army's protection in order to contend with attacks from several Native American tribes . Most of the delegates were not yet ready to break away from Great Britain, but they wanted the King and Parliament to act in what they considered a fairer manner . </P> <P> Convened in response to the Intolerable Acts passed by Parliament in 1774, the delegates organized an economic boycott of Great Britain in protest and petitioned the King for a redress of grievances . The colonies were united in their effort to demonstrate to the mother country their authority by virtue of their common causes and their unity; but their ultimate objectives were not consistent . The Pennsylvania and New York provinces had sent with their delegates firm instructions to pursue a resolution with Great Britain . While the other colonies all held the idea of colonial rights as paramount, they were split between those who sought legislative equality with Britain and those who instead favored independence and a break from the Crown and its excesses . </P>

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