On September 5, 1774, the first Continental Congress was called by Virginia, and invitations were issued by Committees of Correspondence. The purpose of this Congress was "to deliberate and determine wise and proper measures, to be by them recommended to all the colonies, for the recovery and establishment of their just rights and liberties, civil and religious, and the restoration of union and harmony between Great Britain and the colonies most ardently desired by all good men." The Continental Congress began in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, on September 5, 1774 with 56 members present. Two-thirds of these were lawyers, and the membership itself consisted of representatives of both the liberal and the conservative groups although the majority appeared to be in the former group. The Virginian, Peyton Randolph, was unanimously elected President of the First Continental Congress. During the Congress, Patrick Henry expressed the need for unity when he exclaimed: "The distinctions between Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian but an American." Concerning its chief accomplishments, the Congress (1) drew up a Declaration of Rights (a series of resolutions declaring that the colonists were entitled to certain rights: life, liberty and property, the right to vote their own taxes and the right to trial by jury; that these rights had been violated by the King and by Parliament since 1673; that unjust taxes and standing armies had been imposed upon them and their local assemblies unfairly interfered with by Parliament; that their repeated petitions for a redress of their grievances had been practically ignored in England) and (2) adopted "a non-importation, non-consumption and non-exportation agreement" called the Continental Association Plan. It should be noted that complete separation from England was not demanded at this time but rather cooperation from, and peace under, English rule. The session lasted approximately seven weeks, and then on October 26, 1774, after a motion had been passed setting May 10, 1775 as the date of a second congress meeting, the session was adjourned to await a reply from the King of England.