State-Papers Framed and Adopted
The several articles of the Association were adopted unanimously, excepting the one concerning exportations. Three of the five delegates from South Carolina refused to vote for that resolution or sign the Association, because, they said, the agreement to stop exports to Great Britain was an unequal arrangement. New England, they said, exported a large portion of their staple, fish, to Portugal and Spain, and would be very little affected; while South Carolina sent rice to Great Britain to the amount of a million and a half dollars annually, and would be ruined. When that resolution was carried, the three South Carolinians seceded from the Congress. Gadsden and another, in the spirit of Henry, declared by their act that they were not South Carolinians but Americans, and did not count the cost of patriotism. They stood by the other colonies, voted for the general good, and trusted to the virtue and generosity of their constituents. This secession caused a delay of several days in the business of the Congress. It was important to have the vote on the Association unanimous. The seceders were finally brought back, and induced to sign the Association, by allowing the unconditional export of rice, so that no burden of sacrifice might fall upon their province.
An eloquent Address to the People of Great Britain, written by John Jay, and a memorial to The Inhabitants of the several British-American colonies, from the pen of William Livingston, were adopted on the 21st of October; and on the 26th--the last day of the session--a Petition to the King, drawn by John Dickinson, in which the final decision of the colonies was given in conciliatory terms, and an elaborate Address to the Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec, also written by Mr. Dickinson, were agreed to. A few days before, the Congress had recommended the holding of another at Philadelphia on the 10th of May following, if the grievances were not redressed in the meantime; and all the American colonies were invited to participate, by delegation, in its deliberations. Letters addressed to other colonies not represented in the Congress were approved, and on the afternoon of the 26th of October, 1774, the First Continental Congress ended. All of the members and a few other gentlemen spent that evening together socially at the City Tavern, in Philadelphia. The next day they began to disperse to their homes. Almost every man was impressed with a belief that war was inevitable. Most of them were bold, but few of them were so lion-hearted as Samuel Adams, who publicly said: "I would advise persisting in our struggle for liberty, though it were revealed from Heaven that nine hundred and ninety-nine men were to perish, and only one of a thousand to survive and retain his liberty. One such freeman must possess more virtue, and enjoy more happiness, than a thousand slaves; and let him propagate his like, and transmit to them what he hath so nobly preserved."
The first Continental Congress was in actual session only thirty-one days of the eight weeks of the term. The remainder of the time was occupied in preparatory business. There was much talking (as in all deliberative bodies), for there were diversities of opinion, and every one was free to express his own. Of what they said we know very little, for the sessions were held in secret, and there were no professional newspaper reporters in those days. What they did we all know. The records of their acts were soon published to the world, and produced a profound impression upon the minds of thoughtful men. The state-papers put forth by them were models of their kind, and commanded the admiration of the leading statesmen of Europe. The British monarch and counsellors were highly offended, and early in January, 1775, Lord Dartmouth, Secretary of State for the colonies, issued the following Circular to all the royal governors in America--a "bull without horns," which did not frighten the patriots. Here is the letter:
"Certain persons, styling themselves delegates of his Majesty's colonies in America, having presumed, without his Majesty's authority or consent, to assemble together at Philadelphia, in the months of September and October last; and having thought fit, among other unwarrantable proceedings, to resolve that it will be necessary that another Congress should be held in this place, on the 10th of May next, unless redress for certain pretended grievances be obtained before that time, and to recommend that all the colonies in North America should choose delegates to attend such Congress, I am commanded by the King to signify to you his Majesty's pleasure, that you do use your utmost endeavors to prevent such appointment of deputies within the colony under your government; and that you do exhort all persons to desist from such unwarrantable proceedings, which cannot but be highly displeasing to the King."
No doubt the amiable Dartmouth signed that foolish letter with reluctance and regret, for he well knew that its only effect would be to produce fresh irritations in the colonies, and make reconciliation and peace less possible.