Continental Congress
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The Continental Congress was the federal legislature of the Thirteen Colonies and later of the United States from 1774 to 1789, a period that included the American Revolutionary War and the Articles of Confederation. There were two Continental Congresses.
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The Continental Congress
The Stamp Act Congress, formed by colonials to respond to the unpopular Stamp Act taxes, was the direct precursor of the Continental Congress, which was itself formed largely in response to the so-called Intolerable Acts. The First Continental Congress was planned through the permanent committees of correspondence, which kept the local colonial governments in communication with one another as their common opposition to Britain grew. It lasted only from September 5, 1774, to October 26, 1774, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Peyton Randolph served as the first President of the Continental Congress.
The primary accomplishment of the First Continental Congress was the drafting of the Articles of Association on October 20. The Articles formed a compact among twelve of the thirteen colonies to boycott British goods, and to cease exports to Britain as well if the "Intolerable Acts" were not repealed. The boycott was successfully implemented, but its potential at altering British colonial policy was cut off by the outbreak of open fighting in 1775.
The Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775. The Congress resolved that Britain had declared war against them on March 26 of that year. The Continental Army was created on June 15 to oppose the British, and General George Washington was appointed commander in chief. On July 8 they extended the Olive Branch Petition to the crown as an attempt at reconciliation (King George III refused to receive it). Silas Deane was sent to France as an ambassador of the United States. American ports were reopened in defiance of the Navigation Acts. Most importantly, on July 4, 1776, they adopted the Declaration of Independence. This Congress nobly tried to lead the new country through the war with very little money and little real power. The Congress had disagreements with others such as politicians who wanted payment and the military who wanted more control. However, despite these problems, with the help of the Continental Congress?s guidance throughout the war, the colonists prevailed.
Dates and places of sessions
First Congress:
- Sept. 5, 1774- Oct. 26, 1774 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Second Congress:
- May 10, 1775- Dec. 12, 1776
- Dec. 20, 1776- Mar. 4, 1777 Baltimore, Maryland
- Mar. 5, 1777- Sept. 18- 1777 Philadelphia
- Sept. 27, 1777 (one day only) Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Sept. 30, 1777- June 27, 1778 York, Pennsylvania
- July 2, 1778- June 21, 1783 Philadelphia
- June 30, 1783- Nov. 4, 1783 Princeton, New Jersey
- Nov. 26, 1783- June 3, 1784 Annapolis, Maryland
- Nov. 1, 1784- Dec. 24, 1784 Trenton, New Jersey
- Jan 11, 1785- Nov. 4, 1785 New York, New York
- Nov. 7, 1785- Nov. 3, 1786
- Nov. 6, 1786- Oct. 30, 1787
- Nov. 5, 1787- Oct. 21, 1788
- Nov. 3, 1788- Mar. 2, 1789
See also
- History of the United States (1776-1789)
- List of Continental Congress Delegates
- President of the Continental Congress
- Articles of Confederation
External links
- Full text of Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjclink.html)
Further reading
- Edmund C. Burnet;The Continental Congress; 1941; 1975 reprint, Greenwood Publishing, ISBN 0837183863.
- H. James Henderson; Party Politics in the Continental Congress; 1974, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0070281432; 2002 (paperback) reprint, Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 0819165255.
- Lynn Montross; The Reluctant Rebels; the Story of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789; 1950, Harper; 1970 reprint, Barnes & Noble, ISBN 038903973X.