Second Continental Congress

Shopping on line can be easy, simple and save you lots of money. It can also take a lot of your time, frustrate you, and result in unwanted purchases. Now the same can be said for regular high street shopping, but with the vast opportunity presented by the Internet it will pay you to spend a few minutes reading this and understanding how to better optimize your Second Continental Congress shopping experience:

1. Compare - without doubt the biggest advantage that the Second Continental Congress offers shoppers today is the ability to compare thousands of Second Continental Congress at a time. This is a great thing, but not necessarily all the time! Too much can be daunting at times so take advantage of the great comparison sites and where possible let them do the hard work for you.

2. Research - if it has been said it will be on the internet. Ignorance is no longer a justifiable reason for buying the wrong thing. Take the time to research in detail everything that you could possible want to know about

3. Testimonials - don't know anybody that has bought a Second Continental Congress? Wrong! If the Second Continental Congress is good the internet will let you know. Use the Internet as a friend and get testimonials before you buy.

4. Questions - Got a question about Second Continental Congress then search the Forums, FAQ's, Blogs etc. Don't be afraid to ask .....

5. Reputation - Never heard of the company selling Second Continental Congress? Don't worry, no reason why you should know every company in the world, but you know someone that does! Use the internet to find out what people are saying about Second Continental Congress and build up a picture of their reputation for sales, returns, customer service, delivery etc.

6. Returns - still worried that even after all of the above your Second Continental Congress wont be what you want? Check out the returns policy. There is so much competition now that someone, somewhere is bound to offer the terms that you are comfortable with.

7. Feedback - happy with your Second Continental Congress then let people know, after all you are depending on others people input in your buying decision, so why not give a little back.

8. Security - check for the yellow padlock on the Second Continental Congress site before you buy, and the s after http:/ /i.e. https:// = a secure site

9. Contact - got a question about Second Continental Congress, or want to leave a comment then check out the sites contact page. Reputable companies have them and respond.

10. Payment - ready to pay for your Second Continental Congress, then use your credit card or PayPal! Be aware of companies that don't accept them, there may be genuine reasons but given the huge amount of choice you have when buying online there is no reason at all not to buy via credit card or PayPal.

Trumbull's Declaration of Independence depicts the Committee of Five presenting the first draft of the United States Declaration of Independence to the Second Continental Congress.The Second Continental Congress was a body of representatives appointed by the legislatures of Thirteen Colonies that met from May 10, 1775, to March 1, 1781. It was the body which adopted the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. During the American Revolutionary War, it acted as the de facto U.S. national government by raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties.Cogliano, Revolutionary America, 1763-1815 p. 113.

Membership The colonies convening at the Second Continental Congress were:

Province of New Hampshire
Province of Massachusetts
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
Connecticut Colony
Province of New York
Province of New Jersey
Province of Pennsylvania
Delaware Colony renamed "Delaware Colony" in 1776
Province of Maryland
Colony and Dominion of Virginia
Province of North Carolina
Province of South Carolina
Province of Georgia

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.

History Its predecessor, the First Continental Congress, had sent entreaties to the Great Britain George III of the United Kingdom 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 American Revolutionary War had already started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. The Congress was to take charge of the war effort. For the first few months of the struggle, the rebels had carried on their struggle in an ad-hoc and uncoordinated manner. They had seized arsenals, driven out royal officials, and besieged the British army in the city of Boston. On June 14, 1775, Congress voted to create the Continental Army out of the militia units around Boston and quickly appointed Congressman George Washington of Virginia over John Hancock of Massachusetts as commanding general of the Continental Army.Cogliano, Revolutionary America, 1763-1815 p. 59. On July 6, 1775 Congress approved "A Declaration by the Representatives of the United Colonies of North-America, now met in Congress at Philadelphia, setting forth the causes and necessity of their taking up Arms." On July 8, Congress extended the Olive Branch Petition to the Crown as a final attempt at reconciliation. However, it was received too late to do any good. 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:

"The appointment of the delegates to both these congresses was generally by popular conventions, though in some instances by state assemblies. But in neither case can the appointing body be considered the original depositary of the power by which the delegates acted; for the conventions were either self-appointed "committees of safety" or hastily assembled popular gatherings, including but a small fraction of the population to be represented, and the state assemblies had no right to surrender to another body one atom of the power which had been granted to them, or to create a new power which should govern the people without their will. The source of the powers of congress is to be sought solely in the acquiescence of the people, without which every congressional resolution, with or without the benediction of popular conventions or state legislatures, would have been a mere brutum fulmen; and, as the congress unquestionably exercised national powers, operating over the whole country, the conclusion is inevitable that the will of the whole people is the source of national government in the United States, even from its first imperfect appearance in the second continental congress." CONGRESS. Cyclopædia of Political Science. New York: Maynard, Merrill, and Co., 1899.

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 (United States) 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.

Dates and places of sessions

May 10, 1775 – December 12, 1776, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 20, 1776 – March 4, 1777, Baltimore, Maryland
March 5, 1777 – September 18, 1777, Philadelphia
September 27, 1777 (one day only), Lancaster, Pennsylvania
September 30, 1777 – June 27, 1778, York, Pennsylvania
July 2, 1778 – March 1, 1781, Philadelphia