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The Second Continental Congress was a body of representatives appointed by the legislatures of Thirteen British North American Colonies which met from May 10 , 1775 , to March 1 , 1781 . It was the body which adopted the Declaration Of Independence and the Articles Of Confederation . During the American Revolution , it acted as the ''de facto'' national government of the United States by raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties.Cogliano, ''Revolutionary America, 1763-1815'' p. 113. HISTORY Its predecessor the First Continental Congress had sent entreaties to the British King George III to stop the Intolerable Acts and had created the Articles Of Association to establish a coordinated protest of the Intolerable Acts; in particular, a boycott had been placed on British goods. That First Congress 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the Second Continental Congress would meet on May 10, 1775, to plan further responses if the British government had not repealed or modified the Intolerable Acts. By the time the Second Continental Congress met, the to the Crown as a final attempt at reconciliation. King George III refused to receive it. Silas Deane was sent to France as a minister (ambassador) of the Congress. American ports were reopened in defiance of the Navigation Acts. Although it had no explicit legal authority to govern Bancroft, Ch. 34, p.353 (online) , 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. The 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. According to one historian, commenting on the source of the Congress' power:
Congress on May 10, 1776 passed a resolution recommending that any colony lacking a proper government should form such. On May 15 Congress adopted a preamble in which it advised throwing off oaths of allegiance and suppressing the authority of the Crown, while resting colonial governments on the authority of the people. That same day the Virginia Convention instructed its delegation in Philadelphia to propose a declaration of independence and formation of foreign alliances and a confederation. Without dissenting vote (although New York did abstain) the Congress accepted the Declaration of Independence on July 2. New York did not vote on July 2 but did approve the action on July 9. Solberg p. lxx On July 4 Congress ordered the document authenticated and printed. Most importantly, in July 1776, they declared independence. The actual ordinance of independence, known as the Lee Resolution , passed on July 2 , and the Declaration Of Independence was adopted on July 4 and formally signed on August 2 . The Continental Congress was forced to flee Philadelphia at the end of September 1777, as British troops occupied the city. The Congress moved to York, Pennsylvania , and continued their work. After more than a year of debate, on November 15 , 1777 , Congress passed and sent to the states for ratification the Articles Of Confederation , the country's first written constitution. The issue was large states wanting a larger say, nullified by small states who feared tyranny. Jefferson's proposal for a Senate to represent the states and a House to represent the people was rejected (a similar proposal ''was'' adopted later in the United States Constitution ). The small states won and each state had one vote. Miller (1948) ch 22 Congress urged the individual states to pass the Articles as quickly as possible, but it took three and a half years for all the states to ratify the Articles. In the meantime, the Second Continental Congress tried to lead the new country through the war with borrowed money and no taxing power. Finally, on March 1 , 1781 , the Articles of Confederation were ratified. The Second Continental Congress adjourned and 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. MEMBERSHIP The colonies convening at the Second Continental Congress were:
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.1 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 .2 DATES AND PLACES OF SESSIONS
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