The First Continental Congress was a 1774 meeting in Philadelphia of delegates from twelve colonies (all but Georgia) called in response to the Intolerable Acts; it organized a coordinated boycott of British goods and marked the first unified colonial political resistance to British policy.
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in September and October of 1774. Delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies (Georgia sat it out) came together for one reason. Parliament had just punished Massachusetts with the Intolerable Acts after the Boston Tea Party, and the other colonies realized that if Britain could shut down Boston's port and rewrite Massachusetts's government, it could do the same to any of them.
Here's the thing the AP exam cares about. The Congress was not a call for independence. The delegates still saw themselves as loyal British subjects defending the rights of Englishmen. They drafted a statement of colonial grievances, agreed to a coordinated boycott of British goods (the Continental Association), and planned to meet again in May 1775 if Britain didn't back down. That makes the First Continental Congress the moment scattered colonial protest became organized, intercolonial political action. Thirteen separate colonies started acting like one body, which is exactly the unity that the CED says British policy 'began to unite' (KC-3.1.II.A).
This term lives in Unit 3 (Independence and Nation-Building, 1754-1800), mainly in Topic 3.3, Taxation without Representation, with payoff in Topic 3.5, The American Revolution. It directly supports learning objective APUSH 3.3.A, which asks you to explain how British colonial policies led to the Revolutionary War. The Congress is your best evidence for KC-3.1.II.A, the idea that British taxation and assertions of imperial authority united colonists against constraints on their economic activity and political rights. The delegates' arguments also pulled straight from the natural rights and rights-of-Englishmen reasoning in KC-3.1.II.B. For the exam, the First Continental Congress is the link in the causation chain between the Intolerable Acts and Lexington and Concord, so it's gold for any cause-and-effect question about the road to revolution.
Keep studying APUSH Unit 3
Intolerable Acts (Unit 3)
The Intolerable Acts are the direct cause of the Congress. Britain meant them to isolate Massachusetts as a warning to everyone else, but the punishment backfired and pulled twelve colonies together in Philadelphia instead.
Continental Association (Unit 3)
This was the Congress's main weapon, a colony-wide agreement to boycott British goods enforced by local committees. It turned a meeting of delegates into economic pressure ordinary colonists could participate in.
Second Continental Congress (Unit 3)
The First Congress agreed to reconvene in May 1775 if grievances went unanswered. By then Lexington and Concord had happened, so the Second Congress inherited a war and ended up creating the Continental Army and declaring independence.
Battle of Lexington and Concord (Unit 3)
Britain answered the Congress's petitions with troops, not concessions. The fighting in April 1775 is what transformed the Congress's political resistance into armed revolution, the shift you trace from Topic 3.3 into Topic 3.5.
Multiple-choice questions usually test the First Continental Congress through causation. A stem might describe the Intolerable Acts or the Boston Tea Party and ask what colonial response followed, or give you a delegate's statement of grievances and ask what argument it reflects (natural rights and the rights of Englishmen, per KC-3.1.II.B). Practice questions in this unit often chain Tea Act → Boston Tea Party → Intolerable Acts → First Continental Congress, so know that sequence cold. No released FRQ has used the term verbatim, but it's strong evidence for SAQs and LEQs on the causes of the Revolution under APUSH 3.3.A. The high-scoring move is showing the Congress as a turning point in colonial unity while noting it stopped short of demanding independence. That nuance reads as complexity in an essay.
Same city, very different jobs. The First Continental Congress (1774) was a protest meeting that organized a boycott and petitioned the king while still claiming loyalty to Britain. The Second Continental Congress (starting May 1775) convened after Lexington and Concord, so it had to run a war. It created the Continental Army, named Washington commander, and eventually adopted the Declaration of Independence. If the question involves fighting, armies, or independence, it's the Second. If it's about responding to the Intolerable Acts with a boycott, it's the First.
The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774 as a direct response to the Intolerable Acts, with delegates from every colony except Georgia.
It did not declare independence; delegates argued they were defending the rights of Englishmen and natural rights while petitioning Britain for repeal.
Its biggest concrete action was the Continental Association, a coordinated colony-wide boycott of British goods.
The Congress is your go-to evidence that British imperial policy united the colonies (KC-3.1.II.A) under learning objective APUSH 3.3.A.
It sits in the causation chain the exam loves to test: Tea Act → Boston Tea Party → Intolerable Acts → First Continental Congress → Lexington and Concord → Second Continental Congress.
It was a 1774 meeting in Philadelphia where delegates from twelve colonies responded to the Intolerable Acts by listing grievances against Britain and organizing a boycott of British goods. It's the first major example of unified intercolonial political action in Unit 3.
No. The delegates still considered themselves loyal British subjects and petitioned the king to repeal the Intolerable Acts. Independence didn't come until the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The First (1774) was a protest body that organized a boycott and sent grievances to Britain. The Second (1775 onward) met after fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord, so it managed the war, created the Continental Army under Washington, and declared independence.
Georgia was the only one of the thirteen colonies that didn't send delegates. The other twelve all participated, which is why the standard definition says 'twelve of the thirteen colonies.'
Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts in 1774 to punish Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, closing Boston's port and restricting its self-government. Other colonies saw this as a threat to everyone's rights and called the Congress to coordinate a response.