250 Years Ago Today: The First Continental Congress

September 5, 1774 was opening day of the First Continental Congress, and the odds are very good that the only place you’re hearing about it is HERE. I might have missed it myself if not for the kind offices of my good friend and supporter Anthony Di Florio who let me know about a series of commemorative events being held at Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia, site of that original Congress. I had already planned to lean heavily into the many 250th anniversaries surrounding the American Revolution, which really start to pick up next year, but this seems the perfect occasion on which to announce that I’ll be doing that.

Several years back I attempted to introduce a new content stream on this blog drawn from American history and culture and my own ancestry. It went over like a lead balloon, so in a fit of pique I subsequently removed most of that content and deposited it elsewhere. In honor of the looming anniversaries I’m going to restore it here and add to it.

My assumption is that the U.S. history content thread appeared too unrelated to our prevailing theatrical themes. But was it? I can think of several existing points of connection that justify the expansion in that direction:

• The patriotic observation and ceremonial ritual surrounding historical anniversaries place them in a class related to the holidays, pageantry, parades, fairs, folklore etc that we cover in this section of Travalanche, some of which have ties dating back throughout the millenia;

• We also frequently write here about theatrical and cinematic dramatizations of historical events as well as biographical drama;

• The theatrical history that forms one of our prime existing content threats is illuminated by the context of wider history;

• It’s my story (the literal story of my ancestors) and the story of the country they contributed to creating. My philosophy of telling it is one of just deserts, apportioning praise and blame where each is appropriate. In this age of misinformation, one encounters so much appalling daily inaccuracy with regard to historical subjects (even from supposedly authoritative sources) that conscience dictates another voice be added to the side of reason. The fact that I have skin in the game informs my motivation;

• The need is all the more compelling in light of the upcoming Presidential election. November will either bring an affirmation of, and elaboration upon, the existing American system (Harris) or a repudiation of democracy and human rights (Trump). Whichever way it turns out there will be a need for expressions of informed and consciencious historical context.

• Lastly, America’s Bicentennial was a bit of a botch, so the 250th anniversary of the nation represents an opportunity for redemption. Those who disagree that the Bicentennial was botched will be providing the very proof that Americans know little of history. 1876 (America’s centennial) and 1893 (the Columbian quatercentenary) saw massive Worlds Fairs the like of which can scarely be imagined. Those occasions WERE marked in ways the celebrants never forgot. Where was the Worlds Fair of 1976? I am chagrined to learn this morning that it was discussed! Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and New Jersey (site of so many crucial Revolutionary War battles) all vied to be the location of such a fair. And all were scrapped. At least, in part, the celebration was a casualty of Watergate, I feel. Nixon was embattled during the crucial years of planning the celebrations. Then Ford took over. Ford instantly became a lame duck President after pardoning Nixon, and it was Ford who presided over the Bicentennial celebrations. Not very inspiring. So, yes, in ’75 and ’76 we had parades, flotillas of tall ships in major seaport cities, and enhanced history education in schools about the Revolution (one of the reasons I’m so very pissed at many in my own generation for knowing so little about it). But there was little else. There should have been more. For example, television, which we were all glued to, did very little to observe the Bicentennial, beyond occasional PSAs and marketing gimmicks. There’s much more to be said on this (I’m writing about it elsewhere) but suffice it to say that I will attempt to compensate for my dissatisfaction with the Bicentennial by having a blow-out Sestercentennial.

Which brings us back to the fact that few are noting today’s historic benchmark. I get it: everyone is focused on the upcoming election and the craziness that surrounds us. I am going to have to counter that perhaps things would be a little more stable in this country if everyone had some grounding in its foundations.

The First Congressional Congress was called by several key colonial leaders to protest England’s so-called Intolerable Acts. Trouble had been brewing between the Mother Country and the colonies for nearly a decade, since the Stamp Act of 1765, which was passed to recoup the money spent on the recently concluded French and Indian War. Events blew hot and cold in the intervening time, until the Boston Tea Party (1773) convinced the King and Parliament to take several punitive measures. The Intolerable Acts consisted of 1) The Boston Port Act, which blockaded Boston Harbor until repayment was made for the spilt tea (for real!); 2) The Massachusetts Government Act, which removed Colonial government from local hands and placed it under direct control of the British government; 3) The Administration of Justice Act, which allowed trials of British officials to take place in Britain as opposed to the Colonies (example of someone that would effect: the soldiers who committed the Boston Massacre); 4) The Quartering Act, which allowed British soliders and sailors to commandeer any building they chose for their own needs; and 5) The Quebec Act, which extended the boundaries of the recently acquired Canadian Province. Britain didn’t consider the Quebec Act to be one of the punitive measures, but the Colonies (which felt threatened by the French-speaking, Catholic neighbor and its ties to certain hostile tribes) did.

In response, delegates from 12 of the 13 colonies (except Georgia, which was quite new then) convened in Philadelphia to discuss what the collective response should be. It should be pointed out that sunch a convocation was UNPRECEDENTED. Which is one of the many reasons today should have been officially observed somehow! Though some sort of joint body representing the colonies had often been proposed (in places like Benjamin Franklin’s Albany Plan) it had never been undertaken. It was an audacious step. Even at this late stage, neither independence from England, nor war with the Mother Country were on the table yet. It was still just about coordinating a political response. The First Continental Congress resulted in the Declaration and Resolves, which was basically a document that articulated the colonists’ grievances and their intention to institute a continent-wide boycott of British goods. The first Congress disbanded in late October. Its measures proved insufficient to affect British policies, thus necessitating the better remembered Second Continental Congress in 1775.

I am related to the First Continental Congress’s President Peyton Randolph, to Washington, and to several of the New England men: Samuel Adams, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Silas Deane, and Stephen Hopkins.

The commemorative mural above was painted in the U.S. Capitol 1973-74, by the artist Allyn Cox.

As for the national celebration of the present anniversary? Well, there’s this ugly, plain-looking postage stamp:

I might add to “Peace, Liberty, and Safety”…the memory that the damn thing actually happened. I can’t be the first person to notice the irony in memorializing the American Revolution in stamps.

At any rate, stay tuned as we observe more Revolutionary benchmarks over the next couple of years, not just on Travalanche, but with some live theatrical events as well. That is my own “Declaration and Resolve”. Well, somebody‘s gotta do it.