THIS DAY IN HISTORY
America's First Continental Congress

On September 5, 1774, the First Continental Congress met at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia. Among the delegates who attended<[link removed]> were George Washington, Patrick Henry, Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Jay, and many other notables. This meeting was important since it was the first time the colonies united on a large scale (though one colony was not represented), thus the tone it set would be crucial for America's future. The congress had been called to address increasing British tyranny<[link removed]>, including the Intolerable Acts, which had ended self-government in Massachusetts and shut down the port of Boston to commercial shipments.
On the second day of the gathering, Congress got down to business. There was a call to open the meeting with prayer, but some delegates doubted<[link removed]> they could pray together since there were different denominations present.

Samuel Adams ended the debate when he announced that he was not a bigot and could "hear a prayer" from anyone "who was at the same time a friend to his country." He then nominated Rev. Jacob Duché to conduct the prayers. It was amidst all these circumstances that on the third day, September 7th<[link removed]>, the Rev. Duché led the first prayer in Congress.
Delegate Silas Deane reported<[link removed]> Duché prayed for a full ten minutes and then read the Scripture for the day.

John Adams related to his wife<[link removed]> how much this time of prayer meant for the attendees:

[Rev. Duché] read several prayers in the established form, and then read the collect for the seventh day of September, which was the thirty-fifth Psalm. You must remember, this was the next morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if Heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning.
That time of prayer united the delegates despite their differences. In fact, Daniel Webster, "Defender of the Constitution," later reminded the US Supreme Court<[link removed]> of the unifying power of prayer:

Mr. Duché read the Episcopal service of the Church of England and then, as if moved by the occasion, he broke out into extemporaneous prayer. And those men who were then about to resort to force to obtain their rights, were moved to tears; and flood of tears, Mr. Adams says, ran down the cheeks of the pacific Quakers who formed part of the most interesting assembly. Depend upon it, where there is a spirit of Christianity, there is a spirit which rises above form, above forms, independent of sect or creed, and the controversies of clashing doctrines.

It was prayer and the Scriptures that united the Founding Fathers, and they can still unite us today.
The American Story: The Beginnings<[link removed]>


Learn about the first payer in Congress with this book from WallBuilders. Discover other events in the colonial and founding era of American history and find out the important role religion has had in our country!<[link removed]>
Presenting America’s forgotten history and heroes

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