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The First Continental Congress met in 1774 to discuss boycotting the British Empire due to the Intolerable Acts. The Second Continental Congress, charged with leading the war effort, created the Continental Army and issued the Olive Branch Petition, which was denied by King George III. Funding was scarce, and the Congress sought help from France. In 1776, Congress declared independence and adopted the Declaration of Independence. The Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation in 1777, establishing a “firm league of friendship” between the United States of America.
In September 1774, 56 men gathered in Philadelphia’s historic Carpenters’ Hall to discuss the fate of their nation. This meeting was the First Continental Congress and ushered in a new era of democracy in a nation that had not yet fully formed. These men were delegates from 12 of the 13 American colonies and they met to discuss what options they had in boycotting the British Empire, which had just passed a law known as the Coercive Acts. This law meant that the American colonies would be taxed an “intolerable” amount, earning the law a second name, the Intolerable Acts. This congress was the first of two.
While the First Continental Congress was a short meeting, resulting in a warning being sent to King George III, the Second Continental Congress was a longer ordeal. It had been agreed by those delegates who had attended the first congress that a second would be held in case the Intolerable Acts were not rescinded. When the Second Congress was held in 1775, the American Revolution had already begun. The Second Continental Congress was charged with leading the war effort.
One of the first acts of Congress, in June 1775, was to create the Continental Army, a militia group commanded by Representative George Washington of the Colony of Virginia. The Olive Branch Petition was the second act of the Continental Congress, offering Britain one last chance to live in peace with the colonies. King George denied the petition and the Second Congress began to rule as the governing body over the colonies. This was seen as a problem by some congressional delegates, who believed that the colonies had no official claim to govern the land they occupied.
Funding was scarce because the new governing body had no way or right to levy taxes. They issued a form of paper money and certificates for future goods and services. Both of these forms of funding failed, and the Continental Congress sought help for its war efforts elsewhere, mostly from France.
On May 10, 1776, congressmen declared that they would begin forming a proper government. This was followed by a resolution of independence on July 2, 1776. Richard Henry Lee, a Virginia statesman, wrote the original resolution. Congress debated for two days before turning its attention to the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, another Virginia politician. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted a final, revised version of Thomas Jefferson’s declaration, which was not signed by all the delegates until early August of that year.
The members continued their work in several places, having been forced out of Philadelphia by the onslaught of British soldiers. Congress met in Baltimore from late 1776 until 1777, when it moved again to Philadelphia before moving again to several other cities within the Pennsylvania Territory. In November 1777, the Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the forerunner of the American Constitution. These articles established a “firm league of friendship” between the United States of America, allowing each state to govern itself in almost any respect that was not specifically regulated at the federal level.
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