The First Continental Congress: Thirteen Clocks Begin to Strike Together

The colonies reached a critical point in the summer of 1774. Parliament’s Coercive Acts—called the “Intolerable Acts” in America—had closed the port of Boston, stripped Massachusetts of self-government, and allowed British officials accused of crimes to be tried in England. Instead of punishing Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, the laws sent a shockwave of…

What finally made the colonies push for independence?

As the colonies were being settled, there was no intention for them to unite together and form their own country. They acted as their own sovereign nation-states. However, after years of what colonists believed were unfair taxes and continual acts of tyranny toward the colonies by the British, the colonists believed they needed to come…