6/25/22, 10:40 PM Second Continental Congress - Wikipedia

Second Continental Congress

The Second Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies in America that
Second Continental Congress
united in the American Revolutionary War. It convened on May 10, 1775, with representatives from 12 of the
colonies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, shortly after the Battles of Lexington and Concord, succeeding the Part of the American Revolution
First Continental Congress which met in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774. The Second
Congress functioned as a de facto national government at the outset of the Revolutionary War by raising
armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and writing petitions such as the Declaration of the Causes
and Necessity of Taking Up Arms and the Olive Branch Petition.[1] All thirteen colonies were represented by
the time the Congress adopted the Lee Resolution which declared independence from Britain on July
The 2, 1776,
First Continental
and the congress agreed to the Declaration of Independence two days later. Congress was a meeting of
delegates from 12 of the 13
Afterward, Congress functioned as the provisional government of the United States of British Americacolonies
throughthat became
March 1, 1781. During this period, its achievements included: Successfully managing the war theeffort;
Uniteddrafting
States. It met from
the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, the first U.S. constitution; securing diplomatic recognition
September 5 to October 26,
and support from foreign nations; and resolving state land claims west of the Appalachian Mountains.
1774, at Carpenters' Congress
Hall in Voting Independence by
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Robert Edge Pine
Many of the delegates who attended the Second Congress had also attended the First. They again elected
after the British Navy Type
Peyton Randolph to serve as President of the Congress and Charles Thomson to serve as secretary.[2] Notable
d bl k d f
new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and John Hancock of Massachusetts. Within two Type Unicameral
weeks, Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses; Hancock succeeded History
him as president, and Thomas Jefferson replaced him in the Virginia delegation.[3] The number of
Established May 10, 1775
participating colonies also grew, as Georgia endorsed the Congress in July 1775 and adopted the continental
ban on trade with Britain.[4] Disbanded March 1, 1781
Preceded by First Continental
Congress
Contents Succeeded by Congress of the
Confederation
History
De facto government Leadership
Provisional government President of the Peyton
Continental Randolph (first)

List of sessions Congress Samuel

See also Huntington (last)
References Secretary Charles
Further reading Thomson

External links Seats Variable; ~60

Meeting place

History

De facto government

The First Continental Congress had sent entreaties to King George III to stop the Intolerable Acts. They had
also created the Continental Association to establish a coordinated protest of those acts, putting a boycott on
British goods. The Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775, to plan further responses if the British Assembly Room, Pennsylvania State
government had not repealed or modified the acts; however, the American Revolutionary War had already House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

started by that time with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the Congress was called upon to take Under exigent circumstance also met
charge of the war effort. at:

Henry Fite House, Baltimore, Maryland;

For the first few months of the war, the patriots carried on their struggle in an ad-hoc and uncoordinated
manner. Even so, they had seized numerous arsenals, driven out royal officials in various colonies, and Court House, Lancaster, Pennsylvania;

besieged Boston in order to prevent the movement by land of British troops garrisoned there. On June 14, Court House, York, Pennsylvania;

1775, Congress voted to create the Continental Army out of the militia units around Boston and appointed College Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
George Washington of Virginia as commanding general.[5] On July 6, 1775, Congress approved a Declaration
of Causes outlining the rationale and necessity for taking up arms in the Thirteen Colonies. Two days later delegates signed the Olive Branch Petition
to the king affirming the colonies' loyalty to the crown and imploring the king to prevent further conflict. However, by the time British Colonial
Secretary Lord Dartmouth received the petition, King George III had already issued a proclamation on August 23, 1775, in response to the news of the
Battle of Bunker Hill, declaring elements of Britain's continental American possessions to be in a state of "open and avowed rebellion". As a result,
the king refused to receive the petition.[6]

Georgia had not participated in the First Continental Congress and did not initially send delegates to the Second. Even so, the people of St. John's
Parish (present-day Liberty County) sent Lyman Hall to the gathering on their behalf.[7] He participated in debates but did not vote, as he did not
represent the entire colony.[8] That changed after July 1775, when a provincial Congress decided to send delegates to the Continental Congress and to
adopt a ban on trade with Britain.[4]

The Continental Congress had no explicit legal authority to govern,[9] but it assumed all the functions of a national government, such as appointing
ambassadors, signing treaties, raising armies, appointing generals, obtaining loans from Europe, issuing paper money (called "Continentals"), and
disbursing funds. Congress had no authority to levy taxes and was required to request money, supplies, and troops from the states to support the war
effort. Individual states frequently ignored these requests.

Congress was moving towards declaring independence from the British Empire in 1776, but many delegates lacked the authority from their home
governments to take such drastic action. Advocates of independence moved to have reluctant colonial governments revise instructions to their
delegations, or even replace those governments which would not authorize independence. On May 10, 1776, Congress passed a resolution
recommending that any colony with a government that was not inclined toward independence should form one that was. On May 15, they adopted a
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more radical preamble to this resolution, drafted by John Adams, which advised throwing off oaths of allegiance and
suppressing the authority of the Crown in any colonial government that still derived its authority from the Crown. That same
day, the Virginia Convention instructed its delegation in Philadelphia to propose a resolution that called for a declaration of
independence, the formation of foreign alliances, and a confederation of the states. The resolution of independence was
delayed for several weeks, as advocates of independence consolidated support in their home governments.
1876 Currier & Ives On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee offered a resolution before the Congress declaring the colonies independent. He also
printing of Washington urged Congress to resolve "to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances" and to prepare a plan of
being promoted to
confederation for the newly independent states.[10] Lee argued that independence was the only way to ensure a foreign
commanding general
alliance since no European monarchs would deal with America if they remained Britain's colonies. American leaders had
rejected the divine right of kings in the New World, but recognized the necessity of proving their credibility in the Old
World.[11]

Congress formally adopted the resolution of independence, but only after creating three overlapping committees to
draft the Declaration, a Model Treaty, and the Articles of Confederation. The Declaration announced the states'
entry into the international system; the model treaty was designed to establish amity and commerce with other
states, and the Articles of Confederation established "a firm league" among the thirteen free and independent
states. These three things together constituted an international agreement to set up central institutions for
conducting vital domestic and foreign affairs.[10] Congress finally approved the resolution of independence on July
2, 1776. They next turned their attention to a formal explanation of this decision, the United States Declaration of
Independence which was approved on July 4 and published soon thereafter.
John Trumbull's 1819 painting,
Declaration of Independence,
depicting the five-man drafting Provisional government
committee presenting the
Declaration of Independence to The Congress moved from Philadelphia to Baltimore in the winter of 1776-77 to avoid capture by British forces who
Congress were advancing on Philadelphia. Henry Fite's tavern was the largest building in Baltimore Town at the time and
provided a comfortable location of sufficient size for Congress to meet. Its site at the western edge of town was
beyond easy reach of the British Royal Navy's ships should they try to sail up the harbor and the Patapsco River to
shell the town. Congress was again forced to flee Philadelphia at the end of September 1777, as British troops occupied the city; they moved to York,
Pennsylvania, and continued their work.

Congress passed the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777, after more than a year of debate, and sent it to the states for ratification.
Approval by all 13 states was required for the establishment of the constitution. Jefferson's proposal for a Senate to represent the states and a House
to represent the people was rejected, but a similar proposal was adopted later in the United States Constitution. One issue of debate was large states
wanting a larger say, nullified by small states who feared tyranny. The small states won and each state had one vote.[12] Another revolved around the
issue of western land claims; states without such claims wanted those with claims to yield them to Congress. As written, western land claims
remained in the hands of the individual states. Congress urged the states to give their assent quickly, and most did.[13] The first to ratify was Virginia
on December 16, 1777; 12 states had ratified the Articles by February 1779, 14 months into the process.[14] The lone holdout, Maryland, finally ratified
the Articles on February 2, 1781, doing so only after Virginia relinquished its claims on land north of the Ohio River to Congress.[13]

List of sessions
May 10, 1775 – December 12, 1776
Location: Pennsylvania State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Peyton Randolph (until May 24, 1775)[15]

President:
John Hancock (from May 24, 1775)[15]

December 20, 1776 – February 27, 1777

Location: Henry Fite House, Baltimore, Maryland
President: John Hancock

March 5, 1777 – September 18, 1777

Location: Pennsylvania State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
President: John Hancock
South facade of Independence
Hall (formerly the Pennsylvania
September 27, 1777
Statehouse), Philadelphia,
Location: Court House, Lancaster, Pennsylvania principal meeting site of the
President: John Hancock Second Continental Congress

September 30, 1777 – June 27, 1778

Location: Court House, York, Pennsylvania

John Hancock (until October 29, 1777)[15]

President:
Henry Laurens (from November 1, 1777)[15]

July 2, 1778 – July 20, 1778

Location: College Hall, Philadelphia 1977 13-cent U.S. Postage
President: Henry Laurens stamp commemorating the
Articles of Confederation
July 21, 1778 – March 1, 1781 bicentennial; the draft was
completed in York (formerly York
Location: Pennsylvania State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Town), Pennsylvania on
Henry Laurens (until December 9, 1778)[16]
November 15, 1777
President: John Jay (from December 10, 1778, until September 28, 1779)[16]

Samuel Huntington (from September 28, 1779)[16]

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See also
American Revolutionary War#Prelude to revolution
History of the United States (1776–1789)
List of delegates to the Continental Congress
State cessions
Timeline of the American Revolution
United Colonies
Founding Fathers of the United States
Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence

References
1. Cogliano (2000), p. 113.
2. Burnett, Edward Cody (1941). The Continental Congress. New York:
Norton. pp. 64–67.
3. Fowler, William M. Jr. (1980). The Baron of Beacon Hill: A Biography
of John Hancock (https://archive.org/details/baronofbeaconhil0000fo
wl/page/189). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 189 (https://archive.org/det
ails/baronofbeaconhil0000fowl/page/189). ISBN 0-395-27619-5.
4. Cashin, Edward J. (March 26, 2005). "Revolutionary War in Georgia"
(https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/rev
olutionary-war-georgia). New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia
Humanities and the University of Georgia Press. Retrieved April 22,
2019.
5. Cogliano, Francis D. (2000). Revolutionary America, 1763–1815: A
Political History. London & New York City: Routledge. p. 59.
ISBN 9780415180573.
6. Maier, Pauline (1997). American Scripture: Making the Declaration of
Independence. New York: Knopf. pp. 24–25, 249–250.
ISBN 9780679454922.
7. Shippey, Judith A. (October 17, 2003). "Midway" (https://www.georgia
encyclopedia.org/articles/counties-cities-neighborhoods/midway).
New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities and the University of
Georgia Press. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
8. Deaton, Stan (September 12, 2002). "Lyman Hall (1724–1790)" (http
s://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/government-politics/lyman-h
all-1724-1790). New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities and
the University of Georgia Press. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
9. Bancroft, George (1874). History of the United States of America,
from the discovery of the American continent (https://quod.lib.umich.e
du/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=moa&idno=AAN2921.0010.001&view=toc).
Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company. p. 353.
Retrieved April 22, 2019 – via Making of America digital library,
University of Michigan Library.
10. "The Declaration of Independence in World Context" (https://web.arch
ive.org/web/20150703022618/http://maghis.oxfordjournals.org/conten
t/18/3/61.full). Organization of American Historians, Magazine of
History. 18 (3): 61–66. 2004. Archived from the original (http://maghi
s.oxfordjournals.org/content/18/3/61.full) on July 3, 2015.
11. Jones, Howard (2001). Crucible of power: a history of American
foreign relations to 1913. ISBN 9780842029186.
12. Miller, John C. (1948). "22". Triumph of Freedom, 1775–1783. Little,
Brown & Company. ISBN 9781404748330.
13. "Maryland finally ratifies Articles of Confederation" (https://www.histor
y.com/this-day-in-history/maryland-finally-ratifies-articles-of-confedera
tion). history.com. A&E Television Networks. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
14. "Articles of Confederation, 1777–1781" (https://history.state.gov/miles
tones/1776-1783/Articles). Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign
Relations. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State. Archived (htt
ps://web.archive.org/web/20101230164242/http://history.state.gov/mil
estones/1776-1783/Articles) from the original on December 30, 2010.
Retrieved April 28, 2019.
15. Jillson, Calvin C.; Wilson, Rick K. (1994). Congressional Dynamics:
Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the First American Congress,
1774–1789. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press. p. 77.
ISBN 9780804722933.
16. Follett, Mary Parker (1909) [First edition, 1896]. The speaker of the
House of Representatives (https://archive.org/details/speakerofhouse
of00folluoft). New York, New York: Longmans, Greene, and
Company. p. 337 (https://archive.org/details/speakerofhouseof00follu
oft/page/337). Retrieved April 22, 2019 – via Internet Archive,
digitized in 2007.

Further reading
Adams, Willi Paul; Kimber, Rita (1980). The First American Constitutions: Republican Ideology and the Making of the State Constitutions in the
Revolutionary Era. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 9780742520691.
Henderson, H. James (2002) [1974]. Party Politics in the Continental Congress. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0819165255.
Force, Peter (ed.). American Archives (https://web.archive.org/web/20070206214032/http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/index.html). Northern Illinois
University Libraries. Archived from the original (http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/index.html) on February 6, 2007.
Kruman, Marc W. (1997). Between Authority and Liberty: State Constitution Making in Revolutionary America. University of North Carolina Press.
ISBN 0807847976.
Montross, Lynn (1970) [1950]. The Reluctant Rebels; the Story of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (https://archive.org/details/reluctantrebel
ss0000mont). Harper. ISBN 038903973X.
Rakove, Jack N. (1979). The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress. Knopf. ISBN 9780394423708.

External links
Media related to Continental Congress at Wikimedia Commons
Full text of Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjclink.html)

Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789 (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html)

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