Editing First Continental Congress (section)

== Selection of Delegates ==

Each colony except Georgia selected delegates to attend the Congress, using various methods that reflected local political conditions. Some colonies chose delegates through their provincial assemblies, while others convened special conventions when royal governors attempted to prevent official participation. The delegates represented a range of political views, from radicals like Samuel Adams who already contemplated independence to conservatives who hoped for reconciliation with Britain. Most fell somewhere in between, seeking to defend colonial rights while preserving the connection to the British Empire. The challenge facing the Congress would be to forge consensus among these diverse perspectives.<ref name="ammerman"/>

The quality of the delegates impressed contemporaries and historians alike. Virginia sent George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, and Peyton Randolph, who would be elected president of the Congress. Massachusetts dispatched both Samuel Adams, the fiery organizer of colonial resistance, and his more cautious cousin John Adams, who would later describe the Congress as "a collection of the greatest men upon this continent." Pennsylvania's delegation included Joseph Galloway, a conservative who would propose a plan for imperial union, and John Dickinson, author of the influential "Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania." The collective experience, intelligence, and political skill of the delegates would prove essential to the Congress's success in navigating the complex challenges it faced.<ref name="ferling">{{cite book |last=Ferling |first=John |title=A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic |year=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York}}</ref>