DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

First Continental Congress (google-search)
First Continental Congress (wiki)
- September 5 to October 26, 1774. From September 5 through October 21,
- Patrick Henry already considered the government dissolved, and was seeking a new system.[3]
- Pennsylvania delegate Joseph Galloway sought reconciliation with Britain. He put forth a "Plan of Union", which suggested an American legislative body be formed, with some authority, and whose consent would be required for imperial measures.
- The Congress had two primary accomplishments.
  1. The first was a compact among the colonies to boycott British goods beginning on December 1, 1774.[5] The West Indies were threatened with a boycott unless the islands agreed to non importation of British goods.[6] Imports from Britain dropped by 97 percent in 1775, compared with the previous year.[5] Committees of observation and inspection were to be formed in each colony for enforcement of the Association. All of the colonial Houses of Assembly approved the proceedings of the congress with the exception of New York.[7]
    If the "Intolerable Acts" were not repealed, the colonies would also cease exports to Britain after September 10, 1775.[5] The boycott was successfully implemented, but its potential for altering British colonial policy was cut off by the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.
  2. The second accomplishment of the Congress was to provide for a Second Continental Congress to meet on May 10, 1775. In addition to the colonies which had sent delegates to the First Continental Congress, the Congress resolved on October 21, 1774 to send letters of invitation to Quebec, Saint John's Island (now Prince Edward Island), Nova Scotia, Georgia, East Florida, and West Florida.[8] However, letters appear to have been sent only to Quebec (three letters in all). None of these other colonies sent delegates to the opening of the second Congress, though a delegation from Georgia arrived the following July.[9]
Proceedings of the First Continental Congress
- It was to become effective on December 1, 1774 unless parliament should rescind the Intolerable Acts by the end of 1774.
Galloway's Plan of Union
Suffolk Resolves

As with the other county resolves, the Suffolk document denounced the Intolerable Acts, or Coercive Acts, that had recently been passed by the British Parliament, and specifically resolved to:

boycott British imports, curtail exports, and refuse to use British products;
pay "no obedience" to the Massachusetts Government Act or the Boston Port Bill;
demand resignations from those appointed to positions under the Massachusetts Government Act;
refuse payment of taxes until the Massachusetts Government Act was repealed;
support a colonial government in Massachusetts free of royal authority until the Intolerable Acts were repealed;
urge the colonies to raise militia of their own people.

In one of his less famous rides, Paul Revere delivered a copy of the Resolves to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where it was endorsed on September 17 as a show of colonial solidarity.
In response, John Adams commented in his diary: "This was one of the happiest days of my life. In Congress we had generous, noble sentiments, and manly eloquence. This day convinced me that America will support the Massachusetts or perish with her."[3]

Massachusetts Government Act
The Massachusetts Government Act [1] was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain and became a law on May 20, 1774. The act is one of the Intolerable Acts (also Repressive Acts and/or the Coercive Acts), designed to suppress dissent and restore order in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. In the wake of the Boston Tea Party, Parliament launched a legislative offensive against Massachusetts to control its errant behavior. British officials realized part of their inability to control the colony was rooted in the highly independent nature of local government there.

The Massachusetts Government Act abrogated the colony's charter and provided for a greater amount of royal control. ( Massachusetts had been unique among the colonies in its ability to elect members of its executive council. )
This act took away that right and instead gave the king sole power to appoint and dismiss the council.
Additionally, many civil offices that had previously been chosen by election were now to be appointed by the royal governor.
Town meetings were forbidden without consent of the governor, except for one regularly scheduled annual meeting.
As Lord North explained to Parliament, the purpose of the act was "to take the executive power from the hands of the democratic part of government".[2]
Patriot leaders in Massachusetts responded to the act by creating the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in October 1774, which acted as an independent government in the early stages of the American Revolution.