<P> The idea of a congress of British North American Colonies was first broached in 1754 at the start of the French and Indian war . It met in Albany, New York from June 18 to July 11, 1754, and was attended by seven colonies . Among the delegates was Benjamin Franklin, who proposed that the colonies join together in a confederation . While this idea was rejected by the Albany congress, it would be revived in the remaining colonies of British North America 113 years later to create Canada . </P> <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 While the act was repealed, the First Rockingham ministry rejected the Congress' authority .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>

Who were some key delegates to the convention and who served as its president