First Provincial Congress
New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
First Provincial Congress. In America to be called and held in defiance of British orders met in this town, Aug. 25-27, 1774, with 71 delegates present.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
In this town on August 25–27, 1774, seventy-one delegates gathered for the first provincial congress in America convened in open defiance of British colonial orders. Meeting despite the royal governor's objections, they chose delegates to the Continental Congress and voiced colonial grievances. It was a bold step toward organized resistance in North Carolina.
Why it matters
This defiant assembly marks one of the earliest acts of independent self-government in the American colonies, a direct forerunner of the Revolution.
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