Continental Congress

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The first national American government was the Continental Congress. Colonial leaders came together in this Congress to oppose British policies that restricted their rights and taxed them without representation in Parliament. Called by the Virginia House of Burgesses, delegates from all of the thirteen colonies except Georgia gathered in Philadelphia in September 1774.

The 1st Continental Congress urged Americans not to import British goods and to form armed militia. But rather than advocate revolution, Congress called for “peace, liberty and security” within the British empire. The British Parliament saw the Congress as treasonous and ordered colonial governors to prevent another election. Yet the 2nd Continental Congress met in May 1775.

The 2nd Congress established the Continental army and chose George Washington as its commander in chief. A committee that included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin drafted the Declaration of Independence.

The Congress negotiated with foreign nations, established a postal system, borrowed money to support the army, and printed currency known as “continentals.” However, the government's poor finances led to the expression “not worth a continental.” Since the Continental Congress lacked any formal constitution, in 1777 a committee drafted a charter for a more permanent form of government. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781, at which time the Continental Congress became “The United States in Congress Assembled.”

See also Articles of Confederation

Sources

• Edmund S. Morgan, The Birth of the Republic, 1763–89 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977)

Continental Congress, the central governing body of the American colonies prior to and during the American Revolution and also the first government of the United States until the establishment of the U.S. Constitution in 1789. The Continental Congress followed in the steps of earlier, brief colony-wide gatherings to discuss shared issues of importance, as the Albany Congress of 1754 and the Stamp Act Congress of 1765 had done. In Philadelphia, delegates from twelve colonies (Georgia did not participate) gathered from 5 September to 26 October 1774 to discuss possible responses to British actions that threatened their rights. In particular, they sought the repeal of Parliament's measures—commonly called the Coercive or Intolerable Acts—directed at Massachusetts following the Boston Tea Party of 1773.

The First Continental Congress

At the 1774 gathering, later known as the First Continental Congress, colonial representatives considered the best means by which to gain redress of their grievances. They called for a boycott on the purchase or consumption of British goods (a strategy that had worked well in the 1760s during protests against the Stamp Act and the Townshend Duties) and a ban on the sale of colonial goods to England, which collectively became known as the Continental Association. Economic threats had been effective previously, and public sentiment strongly supported the Association at local levels. The delegates in Congress also prepared a petition to send to King George III of England, asking that the Coercive Acts be repealed, and arranged for a second congress to convene in May 1775 if Parliament did not withdraw the detested laws.

In October 1774 Congress also adopted a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" that outlined members' views on the correct constitutional relationship between mother country and colonies. In argument and style, the Declaration mimicked the greatest English charters of rights, Magna Carta (1215) and the English Bill of Rights (1689), claiming that settlers who originally emigrated from England "by no means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those rights" and that the "foundation of English liberty, and of all free government, is a right in the people to participate in their legislative council"—a right colonists did not enjoy by direct representation in Parliament. The Declaration asserted the immemorial right of subjects to "assemble, consider of their grievances, and petition the King" and claimed that "keeping a Standing army in these colonies, in times of peace…is against the law." Every representative rejected Parliament's claims of absolute legislative supremacy over the colonies, but on other points delegates forged compromises. The suggestion from Virginia's Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee that the colonies raise a militia for home defense in case England decided to retaliate was dropped from the Declaration. The positions outlined in Congress's petition to King George and the Declaration of Rights assumed that Britain would take the first step toward compromise by withdrawing the offensive laws, and many representatives appeared convinced at this time that some sort of reconciliation remained possible with England.

The Second Continental Congress

Parliament did not remove the objectionable laws, and delegates from all thirteen colonies met in Philadelphia in May 1775 to consider their options. This gathering, known as the Second Continental Congress, faced greater difficulties, for reconciliation now seemed even more remote: armed conflict between British troops and American militiamen had occurred the preceding month at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. Rebel troops now gathered outside of Boston, where the British army had retreated, and Congress moved to support the patriots, assumed authority over the provincial militiamen, and at the same time named George Washington commander in chief of continental military forces (15 June 1775). For the next six years Congress guided the course of the war, dispatched ambassadors to seek alliances and financial support, and functioned as the de facto national government. Just as the Committees of Correspondence and Safety or provincial assemblies had already done—assuming control of local and state government affairs with no charter or grant of authority at first, other than the people's tacit consent—Congress took over the day-to-day business of governing Americans on a national level, while representing American interests in international relations as well.

Governing was one thing; independence was another. Nearly a year passed after the events of Lexington and Concord and military conflict with Britain before Congress abandoned hope of reconciliation and moved toward independence. Congress's most well known actions occurred 2 July 1776, when Congress voted in favor of independence from Britain, and on 4 July 1776, when it formally adopted Thomas Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.

Military men would have voted for independence much sooner than Congress did. The rapport between Congress and its Continental Army and officers was never strong, in part because Congress—weakly funded and heavily dependent on French foreign aid—could not provide the army with sufficient material goods or munitions to prosecute the war effort fully. Soldiers and commanders alike thought that it was Congress's intent to "starve the army at pleasure" through denying it much needed supplies. The army's inability to stop the British from advancing forced Congress to relocate repeatedly, from Philadelphia (1775–1776) to Baltimore (1776–1777), then back to Philadelphia, Lancaster, and York Pennsylvania (all in 1777), and finally back to Philadelphia (1778–1781) before the war's end. Congress's peripatetic movement, combined with its repeated turnover in personnel, meant that its actions often seemed slow or ill-informed to outsiders. The prestige of Congress was never very high, and many politicians appointed to Congress stayed only briefly before returning to their home states and local political affairs.

The Articles of Confederation

After declaring independence, Congress next moved to create a permanent government structure that could coordinate the new states' national activities. Using a plan drafted by Congress member John Dickinson and his committee of thirteen, Congress adopted confederation as its preferred style of government. Given that state governments already existed and had local support, it is doubtful Congress could have successfully recommended the creation of a strong national government with sweeping powers. Yet even a weak confederated government was not welcomed wholeheartedly. Congress delayed and bickered over the plan from 1776 to 1777, attempting to reconcile competing views from large and small states on methods of representation, overlapping western land claims to undeveloped territory, and the means by which the new government would be funded. Ultimately, the Articles of Confederation resolved many of these issues by relying on past practices—as the Continental Congress had permitted each state a single vote, so too the new Articles Congress would allocate each state one vote. Indeed, the very structure of the Articles government drew its inspiration from the Continental Congress, having only a unicameral legislature and no executive or judiciary to conduct business, and continuing to depend on states to fund Congress through requisition requests, rather than direct taxation. It took nearly four years, from November 1777 to March 1781, for all thirteen states to ratify the proposed Articles of Confederation. Once ratified, Congress became the country's legitimate government until it was replaced by the U.S. Constitution.

Foreign Relations and Peacemaking

Shortly after war with Britain broke out, Congress dispatched diplomats to seek foreign aid. Although Russia, Spain, and the Netherlands offered no assistance, England's traditional enemy France gave help to the new nation. At first covertly, then openly after America's victory at the Battle of Saratoga, France extended the Continental Congress military support, a sweeping alliance, and the first recognition of America's independence by another nation. Congress sent its most experienced diplomat, Benjamin Franklin, to strengthen relations with France during this critical period. After the defeat of the British at Yorktown in 1781, Congress instructed Franklin and the rest of its peacemaking delegation (including John Jay and John Adams) to coordinate all their efforts with the French when arranging peace with Britain. Franklin determined that it would be best to ignore Congress's directions, and secretly negotiated a preliminary peace with Britain that served America's interests first, gaining the new country large western land concessions from England. Like all governments in the eighteenth century, Congress often had to rely on the initiative of its soldiers and diplomats in the field—the slow movement of information in this age limited the direct authority that a government could wield over its agents.

Peace brought an end to Congress's wartime problems, but created others. Discord between the sovereign states and the inherent weakness of the Articles structure now revealed Congress's difficult position in the confederacy. Without a direct source of revenues, it could not readily repay the nation's foreign debt, and without a permanent militia it could not protect itself from domestic disturbances when men like Daniel Shays launched armed protests. All major decisions, according to the Articles, required unanimity among the thirteen states, slowing any progress the new government might make. Finally, in 1787, another group of politicians met in Philadelphia to consider how to revise the Articles of Confederation. Their proposed plan framed a stronger national government, in which Congress would be only one of three branches. Once ratified in 1789, the Constitution replaced the old Continental Congress with a bicameral legislature of nearly the same name.

Bibliography

Continental Congress. Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774– 1789. Edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford et al. 34 vols. New York: Johnson Reprint Corp., 1968.

Continental Congress. Papers of the Continental Congress, 1774– 1789. 204 microform reels. Washington: National Archives and Records Service, 1959–.

Henderson, H. James. Party Politics in the Continental Congress. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974.

Rakove, Jack. The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress. New York: Knopf, 1979.

—Sally E. Hadden

The first national legislative assembly in the United States, existing from 1774 to 1789.

During its fifteen-year existence, the Continental Congress served as the chief legislative and executive body of the federal government. Although hobbled by provisions such as an inability to raise funds directly through taxation, it nevertheless created a viable, if sometimes ineffective, national union during the earliest years of the United States. The Continental Congress passed the Declaration of Independence and other lasting measures, and it set important precedents for the government instituted under the Constitution in 1789. Some of the most important figures of early American history were members of the Continental Congress, including John Adams, Samuel Adams, Samuel Chase, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington.

The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia between September 5 and October 26, 1774. Although it was officially called simply the Congress, contemporaries referred to it as the Continental Congress in order to distinguish it from the various state congresses. Fifty-six delegates from twelve colonies (Georgia did not participate) assembled in an attempt to unite the colonies and restore rights and liberties that had been curtailed by Great Britain. The Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Rights, agreements regarding common policies toward Britain, and a resolution that it would meet again the following year if its grievances were not settled.

When Britain rebuffed their demands, the colonists assembled the Second Continental Congress in May of 1775, again in Philadelphia. Fighting between Britain and Massachusetts at the Battles of Lexington and Concord had already occurred, and the Continental Congress voted to back Massachusetts. It appointed George Washington as commander in chief of colonial armed forces. With this decision, Congress undertook a vital role directing the Revolutionary War.

As the war continued, colonial opinion began to move toward permanent separation from Great Britain. On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, which announced the formation of the United States of America as a new nation. In succeeding months, the Congress drafted the Articles of Confederation, the new country's first constitution. The Congress approved the Articles on November 15, 1777, but the states did not ratify them until 1781.

The Articles contained provisions for a national legislature designated simply Congress. Although some historians have called this subsequent body the Congress of the Confederation, most group it with its predecessor and call it the Continental Congress. In this Congress, each state had from two to seven delegates but only one vote. Delegates were to serve no more than "three years in any term of six years" (art. V).

During the struggle to approve and then ratify the Articles, the advocates of states' rights greatly weakened its provisions for a strong federal, or national, government. As a result, the Articles did not allow the federal government to raise its own funds directly through taxation. Instead, the central government could only requisition money from the states. The Articles also required a unanimous vote of Congress to approve any amendments, a feature that made it difficult to adapt their provisions to the changing needs of the nation. In addition, Congress as it was constituted under the Articles proved ill suited to tasks that the Constitution later assigned to the executive branch, including the conduct of diplomatic, military, and commercial affairs. For example, Congress fared poorly in negotiating with Britain and France, in paying war debts, and in putting down armed revolts such as Shays's Rebellion.

The problems of the Continental Congress and the Articles of Confederation led to plans for a new federal constitution. During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, leading members of the Continental Congress joined with other politicians and lawmakers to create a framework for a new national government, including a new Congress. Following ratification of the Constitution by the states in 1789, the Continental Congress handed over its legislative powers to the Congress that continues in form to the present day.

Although the Continental Congress had weaknesses, it nevertheless passed crucial legislation and set vital precedents for the framing of the Constitution. Its legislative legacy includes the establishment of the Northwest Territory, provisions for the sale and oversight of western land, and many other laws adopted by the later Congress. According to Edmund C. Burnett, a leading historian on the subject, the

Continental Congress … developed and formulated many of those fundamental principles of government that have become our national heritage. Indeed it is not too much to say that [a] great part of the materials built into the structure of the Constitution itself were wrought in the forge of the Continental Congress.

See: Congress of the United States; Constitution of the United States; Northwest Ordinance.

An assembly of delegates from the thirteen colonies (soon to become the thirteen states). It governed during the Revolutionary War and under the Articles of Confederation. The Continental Congress first met in 1774, before the revolution. When it reconvened in 1775, it organized for war against Britain and eventually passed the Declaration of Independence.

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