what did the second continental congress create in order to defend the colonies?

Convention of delegates from the American Colonies

Second Continental Congress
Part of the American Revolution
Congress Voting Independence by Robert Edge Pino
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Established	May 10, 1775 (1775-05-x)
Disbanded	March 1, 1781 (1781-03-01)
Preceded by	First Continental Congress
Succeeded by	Congress of the Confederation
Leadership
President of the Continental Congress	Peyton Randolph (first) Samuel Huntington (last)
Secretary	Charles Thomson
Seats	Variable; ~sixty
Meeting place
Associates Room, Pennsylvania Country Firm, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Under exigent circumstance also met at: Henry Fite Business firm, Baltimore, Maryland; Court House, Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Court Business firm, York, Pennsylvania; College Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Second Continental Congress was a meeting of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies in America that united in the American Revolutionary War. Information technology convened on May ten, 1775, with representatives from 12 of the colonies in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, shortly afterwards the Battles of Lexington and Concord, succeeding the First Continental Congress which met in Philadelphia from September 5 to Oct 26, 1774. The Second Congress functioned as a de facto national government at the outset of the Revolutionary War past raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and writing petitions such as the Annunciation of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Upward Arms and the Olive Branch Petition.^[1] All thirteen colonies were represented by the time the Congress adopted the Lee Resolution which alleged independence from Britain on July 2, 1776, and the congress agreed to the Announcement of Independence two days later.

Afterward, Congress functioned as the provisional regime of the U.s. through March 1, 1781. During this menstruum, its achievements included: Successfully managing the war effort; drafting the Articles of Confederation, the first U.S. constitution; securing diplomatic recognition and support from foreign nations; and resolving state land claims west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Many of the delegates who attended the Second Congress had also attended the First. They again elected Peyton Randolph to serve equally President of the Congress and Charles Thomson to serve as secretary.^[2] Notable new arrivals included Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania and John Hancock of Massachusetts. Within two weeks, Randolph was summoned back to Virginia to preside over the House of Burgesses; Hancock succeeded him every bit president, and Thomas Jefferson replaced him in the Virginia delegation.^[3] The number of participating colonies also grew, as Georgia endorsed the Congress in July 1775 and adopted the continental ban on trade with U.k..^[iv]

History [edit]

De facto government [edit]

The Offset Continental Congress had sent entreaties to King George Three 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 appurtenances. The 2d Continental Congress met on May x, 1775, to program farther responses if the British government had not repealed or modified the acts; still, the American Revolutionary War had already started by that time with the Battles of Lexington and Concord, and the Congress was called upon to take charge of the war effort.

For the first few months of the war, the patriots carried on their struggle in an advertizement-hoc and uncoordinated way. Nonetheless, they had seized numerous arsenals, driven out royal officials in various colonies, and besieged Boston in guild to prevent the movement by country of British troops garrisoned there. On June 14, 1775, Congress voted to create the Continental Army out of the militia units around Boston and appointed George Washington of Virginia as commanding general.^[5] On July 6, 1775, Congress canonical a Declaration of Causes outlining the rationale and necessity for taking upwards arms in the Thirteen Colonies. 2 days afterward delegates signed the Olive Branch Petition to the king affirming the colonies' loyalty to the crown and imploring the king to preclude further conflict. Even so, by the time British Colonial Secretary Lord Dartmouth received the petition, King George III had already issued a announcement on August 23, 1775, in response to the news of the Battle of Bunker Hill, declaring elements of Britain's continental American possessions to exist 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 ship delegates to the Second. Fifty-fifty and so, the people of St. John's Parish (nowadays-twenty-four hour period Liberty County) sent Lyman Hall to the gathering on their behalf.^[7] He participated in debates only did non vote, as he did non represent the unabridged colony.^[8] That inverse after July 1775, when a provincial Congress decided to transport delegates to the Continental Congress and to adopt a ban on trade with Britain.^[4]

The Continental Congress had no explicit legal dominance to govern,^[9] only 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 (chosen "Continentals"), and disbursing funds. Congress had no authority to levy taxes and was required to request coin, supplies, and troops from the states to support the war effort. Private states ofttimes ignored these requests.

1876 Currier & Ives printing of Washington beingness promoted to commanding general

Congress was moving towards declaring independence from the British Empire in 1776, merely many delegates lacked the authority from their abode governments to take such drastic action. Advocates of independence moved to accept 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 ane that was. On May fifteen, they adopted a more than radical preamble to this resolution, drafted by John Adams, which advised throwing off oaths of allegiance and suppressing the say-so of the Crown in any colonial authorities that yet derived its authority from the Crown. That same day, the Virginia Convention instructed its delegation in Philadelphia to suggest a resolution that called for a proclamation 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 back up in their habitation governments.

On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee offered a resolution earlier the Congress declaring the colonies contained. He likewise urged Congress to resolve "to accept the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances" and to gear up a programme of confederation for the newly independent states.^[ten] Lee argued that independence was the only way to ensure a foreign brotherhood 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.^[eleven]

Congress formally adopted the resolution of independence, but but after creating three overlapping committees to typhoon the Declaration, a Model Treaty, and the Articles of Confederation. The Declaration appear us' entry into the international arrangement; the model treaty was designed to establish amity and commerce with other states, and the Articles of Confederation established "a house league" among the thirteen free and independent states. These 3 things together constituted an international agreement to set upwardly key institutions for conducting vital domestic and foreign affairs.^[x] Congress finally approved the resolution of independence on July 2, 1776. They side by side turned their attending to a formal explanation of this determination, the United states of america Declaration of Independence which was approved on July 4 and published shortly thereafter.

Provisional regime [edit]

The Congress moved from Philadelphia to Baltimore in the winter of 1776-77 to avoid capture by British forces who were advancing on Philadelphia. Henry Fite'southward tavern was the largest building in Baltimore Town at the time and provided a comfortable location of sufficient size for Congress to see. Its site at the western edge of town was beyond easy reach of the British Royal Navy'south ships should they attempt to canvass up the harbor and the Patapsco River to vanquish the town. Congress was again forced to flee Philadelphia at the stop of September 1777, equally British troops occupied the city; they moved to York, Pennsylvania, and continued their piece of work.

Congress passed the Articles of Confederation on November fifteen, 1777, after more than a twelvemonth of debate, and sent it to the states for ratification. Approving past all 13 states was required for the establishment of the constitution. Jefferson'south proposal for a Senate to represent the states and a House to correspond the people was rejected, simply a similar proposal was adopted later on in the United States Constitution. One outcome of debate was big states wanting a larger say, nullified past small states who feared tyranny. The small states won and each state had one vote.^[12] Another revolved effectually the effect of western land claims; states without such claims wanted those with claims to yield them to Congress. As written, western state claims remained in the easily of the individual states. Congress urged united states to give their assent quickly, and most did.^[13] The beginning to ratify was Virginia on Dec 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 country north of the Ohio River to Congress.^[13]

List of sessions [edit]

South facade of Independence Hall (formerly the Pennsylvania Statehouse), Philadelphia, principal meeting site of the Second Continental Congress

May 10, 1775 – Dec 12, 1776
Location:	Pennsylvania Country House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
President:	Peyton Randolph (until May 24, 1775)[15] John Hancock (from May 24, 1775)[xv]

December 20, 1776 – February 27, 1777
Location:	Henry Fite Business firm, Baltimore, Maryland
President:	John Hancock

March v, 1777 – September xviii, 1777
Location:	Pennsylvania State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
President:	John Hancock

September 27, 1777
Location:	Courtroom Business firm, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
President:	John Hancock

September thirty, 1777 – June 27, 1778
Location:	Court Firm, York, Pennsylvania
President:	John Hancock (until October 29, 1777)[xv] Henry Laurens (from November 1, 1777)[15]

July 2, 1778 – July 20, 1778
Location:	College Hall, Philadelphia
President:	Henry Laurens

July 21, 1778 – March one, 1781
Location:	Pennsylvania State Business firm, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
President:	Henry Laurens (until December 9, 1778)[sixteen] John Jay (from December 10, 1778, until September 28, 1779)[xvi] Samuel Huntington (from September 28, 1779)[16]

See also [edit]

• American Revolutionary War#Prelude to revolution
• History of the Usa (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 Proclamation of Independence

References [edit]

1. ^ Cogliano (2000), p. 113.
2. ^ Burnett, Edward Cody (1941). The Continental Congress. New York: Norton. pp. 64–67.
3. ^ Fowler, William Thou. Jr. (1980). The Baron of Beacon Colina: A Biography of John Hancock. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 189. ISBN0-395-27619-5.
4. ^ ^{a b} Cashin, Edward J. (March 26, 2005). "Revolutionary War in Georgia". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities and the Academy 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. ISBN9780415180573.
6. ^ Maier, Pauline (1997). American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence. New York: Knopf. pp. 24–25, 249–250. ISBN9780679454922.
7. ^ Shippey, Judith A. (October 17, 2003). "Midway". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities and the Academy of Georgia Printing. Retrieved April 22, 2019.
8. ^ Deaton, Stan (September 12, 2002). "Lyman Hall (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. Boston, Massachusetts: Piffling, Brownish and Visitor. p. 353. Retrieved April 22, 2019 – via Making of America digital library, Academy of Michigan Library.
10. ^ ^{a b} "The Declaration of Independence in World Context". Organization of American Historians, Magazine of History. eighteen (3): 61–66. 2004. Archived from the original on July 3, 2015.
11. ^ Jones, Howard (2001). Crucible of power: a history of American foreign relations to 1913. ISBN9780842029186.
12. ^ Miller, John C. (1948). "22". Triumph of Freedom, 1775–1783. Little, Brown & Visitor. ISBN9781404748330.
13. ^ ^{a b} "Maryland finally ratifies Articles of Confederation". history.com. A&East Goggle box Networks. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
14. ^ "Articles of Confederation, 1777–1781". Milestones in the History of U.Southward. Strange Relations. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on December thirty, 2010. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
15. ^ ^{a b c d} Jillson, Calvin C.; Wilson, Rick K. (1994). Congressional Dynamics: Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the Beginning American Congress, 1774–1789. Palo Alto, California: Stanford Academy Press. p. 77. ISBN9780804722933.
16. ^ ^{a b c} Follett, Mary Parker (1909) [First edition, 1896]. The speaker of the Firm of Representatives. New York, New York: Longmans, Greene, and Company. p. 337. Retrieved April 22, 2019 – via Internet Archive, digitized in 2007.

Farther reading [edit]

• 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. ISBN9780742520691.
• Henderson, H. James (2002) [1974]. Party Politics in the Continental Congress. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN0819165255.
• Force, Peter (ed.). American Athenaeum. Northern Illinois University Libraries. Archived from the original on February half-dozen, 2007.
• Kruman, Marc W. (1997). Between Potency and Liberty: Country Constitution Making in Revolutionary America. University of North Carolina Printing. ISBN0807847976.
• Montross, Lynn (1970) [1950]. The Reluctant Rebels; the Story of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789 . Harper. ISBN038903973X.
• Rakove, Jack N. (1979). The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress. Knopf. ISBN9780394423708.

External links [edit]

• Media related to Continental Congress at Wikimedia Eatables

• 

  Full text of Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789
  Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789

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Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Continental_Congress

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