Second Continental Congress
The
Second Continental Congress was a body of representatives appointed by the legislatures of
several British North American colonies which met from
May 10,
1775 to
March 1,
1781. The
First Continental Congress had sent entreaties to the British King to stop the
Intolerable Acts and had created the
Articles of Association to create a coordinated protest of the Intolerable Acts; in particular, a boycott had been placed on British goods. That Congress had provided that the Second Continental Congress would meet on
May 10,
1775 to plan further responses if the British government had not repealed or modified the Intolerable Acts.
However, by the time that the Second Continental Congress met, the
American Revolutionary War had already started with the
Battles of Lexington and Concord on
April 19. Thus, the Second Continental Congress found itself in the unenviable position of being the decision-making body of a military alliance at war with a far more powerful foe.
The
Continental Army was created on
June 14,
1775 to oppose the British, and General
George Washington was appointed
commander in chief the following day. On
July 8,
1775, they extended the
Olive Branch Petition to the crown as an attempt at reconciliation. (King
George III refused to receive it.)
Silas Deane was sent to
France as an
ambassador of the United States. American ports were reopened in defiance of the Navigation Acts. Most importantly, in July 1776, they declared independence. The actual ordinance of independence passed on
July 2, and the
Declaration of Independence was adopted on
July 4 and signed on
August 2.
|
John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence depicts many of the figures involved in the drafting and adoption of the Declaration, although it is not a historically accurate representation of either the reporting or the adoption of the Declaration. |
The Continental Congress was forced to flee Philadelphia at the end of September 1777 as British troops occupied the erstwhile capital of the United States. The Congress simply repaired to
York, Pennsylvania, and continued their work.
On
November 17,
1777, the Continental Congress passed the
Articles of Confederation, uniting the colonies in a formal alliance akin to the
Delian League or the
United Nations. The Congress urged the individual states to pass the Articles as quickly as possible. However, it took three and a half years for all the states to finally agree to the Articles. In the meantime, the Second Continental Congress tried to lead the new country through the war with very little money and little real power. Finally, on
March 1,
1781, the Articles of Confederation were ratified. The Second Continental Congress adjourned, and then the same delegates met the next day as the new
Congress of the Confederation. It would be the Confederation Congress that would oversee the conclusion of the American Revolution.
*
New Hampshire*
Massachusetts Bay*
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations*
Connecticut*
New York*
New Jersey*
Pennsylvania*
Lower Counties on Delaware*
Maryland*
Virginia*
North Carolina*
South Carolina*
Georgia**
* renamed "Delaware" in 1776 ** see "Georgia's entry", belowGeorgia's entry
Georgia had not participated in the First Continental Congress and did not send delegates to the Second Continental Congress on
May 10,
1775. On
May 13,
1775,
Lyman Hall was admitted as a delegate from the Parish of St. John's in the Colony of Georgia,
not as a delegate from the colony itself. On
July 4,
1775, Georgia began a provincial congress to decide how to respond to the American Revolution, and that congress decided on
July 8 to send delegates to the Continental Congress. They arrived on
July 20.
References
*
*
*
May 10,
1775 â€"
December 12,
1776,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania*
December 20,
1776 â€"
March 4,
1777,
Baltimore, Maryland*
March 5,
1777 â€"
September 18,
1777, Philadelphia
*
September 27,
1777 (one day only),
Lancaster, Pennsylvania*
September 30,
1777 â€"
June 27,
1778,
York, Pennsylvania*
July 2,
1778 â€"
March 1,
1781, Philadelphia
*
History of the United States (1776-1789)*
List of Continental Congress Delegates*
President of the Continental Congress*
Articles of Confederation}}}
*
*
*
The Continental Congress - History, Declaration and Resolves, Resolutions and Recommendations*
Full text of Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774â€"1789
