 On April 23, 1773 (St. George's Day), it was used for the founding meeting of the Society of Englishmen and Sons of Englishmen.The First Continental Congress of the United Colonies of North America met here from September 5 to October 26, 1774, as the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) was being used by the moderate Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania.It was here that Congress resolved to ban further imports of slaves and to discontinue the slave trade within the colonies, a step toward phasing out slavery in British North America.