Virginians assumed a prominent role in the First Continental Congress, which assembled at Philadelphia in September 1774. Peyton Randolph acted as the presiding officer; and Patrick Henry, George Washington, and Richard Henry Lee all played their familiar roles. Washington worked diligently behind the scenes while Henry argued openly for the most radical stance with his usual inflammatory rhetoric. Richard Henry Lee’s role was perhaps the most crucial. Working with John and Sam Adams of Massachusetts and others, he pushed through a Continental Association designed to halt the importation of all British goods and eventually to stop the exportation of American staples to Britain. Although Lee expressed his loyalty to George III and wanted the colonies to remain within the British Empire, his arguments essentially stripped Parliament of any power to legislate for America. Virginia’s delegation was instrumental in creating an uncompromising stand against Britain, but the debates in Congress also demonstrated that anything beyond a commercial boycott was too radical for some Virginians at this time.
Further Reading
Jack Greene and J. R. Pole, eds., The Blackwell Encyclopedia of the American Revolution.
This Vignette Provided By
John Kolp. Old Dominion, New Commonwealth: The History of Virginia, 1607-2007
