Second Continental Congress

The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was a group of leaders from the Thirteen Colonies who worked together to support the American Revolution and the Revolutionary War. Their goal was to help the colonies become independent from the British Empire. They first called their group the United Colonies of North America, but in 1776 they changed the name to the United States of America.

The Congress met in Philadelphia, starting on May 10, 1775, after battles called the Battles of Lexington and Concord had begun. They took over from an earlier group known as the First Continental Congress. The Second Continental Congress acted like a government during the war. They organized soldiers, made plans for the war, chose leaders to talk to other countries, and wrote important papers like the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms and the Olive Branch Petition.

Later, the Congress declared independence from Great Britain on July 2, 1776, and all the colonies agreed to the Declaration of Independence two days after that. They continued to lead the new nation until March 1, 1781, when they became known as the Confederation Congress. During this time, they also created the first U.S. constitution, called the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, and got help from other countries.

History

De facto government

The First Continental Congress had asked King George III to stop the Intolerable Acts. They also made a plan to protest these acts by not buying British goods. The Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775, to decide what to do next if the British government did not change the acts. But by that time, the American Revolutionary War had already started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, so the Congress had to take charge of the war.

In the early months of the war, the groups fighting for independence acted in an organized but loose way. They had many successes, like taking British weapons, chasing out British officials from several areas, and surrounding Boston to stop British soldiers from moving. On June 14, 1775, the Congress decided to create the Continental Army from local groups around Boston. The next day, they chose George Washington from Virginia to lead the army.

Congress approved a Declaration of Causes on July 6, 1775, explaining why they had to fight. Two days later, they sent a Olive Branch Petition to King George III, saying they were still loyal but asking him to stop the conflict. However, King George III had already declared that the American colonies were in rebellion by the time the petition arrived, so he refused to listen.

Georgia did not send delegates at first, but later sent Lyman Hall to join the Congress. The Congress acted like a national government even though they did not have official permission from Britain. They did many important things, like naming leaders, making treaties, raising armies, printing money, and asking states for help. But they could not collect taxes, so they had to ask states for support, which did not always come.

In 1776, Congress moved toward declaring independence. On June 7, Richard Henry Lee suggested that the colonies should be independent. They worked on three important documents: a declaration of independence, a plan for treaties with other countries, and the Articles of Confederation. Congress approved the declaration of independence on July 2, 1776, and the famous United States Declaration of Independence was approved and shared on July 4.

Provisional government

When British forces moved toward Philadelphia in late 1776, Congress moved to Baltimore to stay safe. They met in a big building called Henry Fite's tavern. Later, in September 1777, when British troops took over Philadelphia, Congress moved again, this time to York, Pennsylvania.

Congress approved the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777, after much discussion. All 13 states had to agree to make it official. The first state to agree was Virginia on December 16, 1777. By February 1779, 12 states had agreed, but Maryland waited until February 2, 1781, after Virginia gave up some land claims, to finally agree.

List of sessions