The measures which she passed and which were unbearable were: 1. The Boston Port Bill, which forbade all vessels to leave or enter Boston harbor. This was a death-blow to Boston commerce and was meant as a punishment of those who were leaders in the revolt against the mother country. 2. The Massachusetts Bill, which was another destructive blow at the colony, since it changed its charter by taking away the right of self-government and placing it in the hands of the agents of the king. 3. The Transportation Bill, which ordered that all soldiers charged with the crime of murder should be taken to England for trial. 4. The Quebec Act, which made the country east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio a part of Canada. These acts were to be enforced by the sending of troops to America. THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. The result of the passage of these harsh measures was to unite all the colonies in a determination to resist them to the last. The necessity for consultation among the leaders was so apparent that, in response to a general call, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, all the colonies being represented except Georgia, which favored the action. This Congress adopted a declaration of rights, asserting that they alone were empowered to tax themselves, and it named a number of acts of Parliament that were a direct invasion of such rights. An address was sent to the king and to the people of Great Britain, but none to Parliament, which had deeply offended the Americans. The agreement known as the Articles of Association pledged our ancestors not to buy goods or sell them to Great Britain until the obnoxious acts were repealed by Parliament. It declared further that, if force was used against Massachusetts by England, all the other colonies would help her in resisting it. Before adjournment, a new Congress was called to meet in the following May. The language of the First Continental Congress sounds bold, but the people themselves were bolder. Companies of armed men began drilling everywhere, and the Americans were eager for a conflict with the detested "red coats." The excitement was more intense in Massachusetts than anywhere else, and it was plain that the opening gun of the impending Revolution would be fired upon her soil. The affairs of the colony were directed by a provincial congress, which collected a quantity of guns and ammunition, and ordered the enrollment of 20,000 "minute men," who were to hold themselves ready to answer any call at a minute's notice. General Gage was the British commander in Boston, and he was so alarmed by the aggressive acts of the Americans that he began to throw up fortifications on the neck of land connecting the town with the mainland. His alert spies notified him that the Americans had collected a quantity of military supplies which were stored at Concord, some twenty miles from Boston. Gage ordered 800 troops to march secretly to Concord and destroy them.