The First Continental Congress P1

Evidence of America’s new unity became apparent when our first national assembly met in September 1774. Forty-five delegates from across the colonies gathered in Philadelphia in what became known as the First Continental Congress. Each was a significant figure in his own area, but largely unknown to those in the other colonies.

As they met to contemplate their course of action, John Adams reported: When the Congress first met, Mr. Thomas Cushing of Massachusetts first made a motion that it should be opened with prayer. This seemingly harmless suggestion of beginning that meeting with prayer encountered surprisingly stiff resistance: It was opposed by Mr. John Jay of New York and Mr. John Rutledge of South Carolina because we were so divided in religious sentiments - some Episcopalians, some Quakers, some Anabaptists, some Presbyterian, and some Congregationalists - that we could not join in the same act of Worship.

Strikingly, John Jay and Rutledge were pious Christians. In fact, Jay became a founder and president of the American Bible Society and wrote lengthy treatises on Christianity and theology. Both he and Rutledge were Anglicans, but they knew that many of the other delegates were of different denominations. They worried that inviting a member of the clergy from one denomination would meet opposition by members of the others but Samuel Adams turned this completely around.

Content Sourced From The American Story: The Beginnings by David Barton and Tim Barton.