LITMIR.BIZ

      An illustration depicting the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill, which actually mostly occurred on Breed’s Hill.

      Why were there two Continental Congresses?

      Both meetings were called in reaction to the British Parliament’s attempts to assert its control in the American colonies. When colonial delegates to the First Continental Congress met, they developed a plan but were obviously prepared for it not to work, since even before dismissal they agreed to reconvene if it were necessary to do so. In short, the First Continental Congress developed Plan A; the Second Continental Congress resorted to Plan B (one last appeal to King George) and then to Plan C (finally declaring independence from Britain).

      The First Continental Congress convened on September 5, 1774, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The meeting was largely a reaction to the so-called Intolerable Acts (or the Coercive Acts), which Parliament had passed in an effort to control Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party. Sentiment grew among the colonists that they would need to band together in order to challenge British authority. Soon twelve colonies dispatched fifty-six delegates to a meeting in Philadelphia. (The thirteenth colony, Georgia, declined to send representatives but agreed to go along with whatever plan the others developed.) Delegates included Samuel Adams (1722–1803), George Washington (1732–1799), Patrick Henry (1736–1799), John Adams (1735–1826), and John Jay (1745–1829). Each colony had one vote. When the meeting ended on October 26, the Congress petitioned the king, declaring that Parliament had no authority over the American colonies; that each colony could regulate its own affairs; and that the colonies would not trade with Britain until Parliament rescinded its trade and taxation policies. The petition stopped short of proclaiming independence from Britain, but the delegates agreed to meet again the following May—if necessary.

      But King George III was determined that the British Empire be preserved at all costs. He believed that if the empire lost the American colonies, then there might be a domino effect, with other British possessions encouraged also to demand independence. He feared these losses would render Great Britain a minor state, rather than the power it was. Britain was unwilling to lose control in America, and in April 1775 fighting broke out between the Redcoats and the Patriots at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. So, as agreed, the colonies again sent representatives to Philadelphia, convening the Second Continental Congress on May 10. Delegates—including George Washington, John Hancock (1737–1793), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), and Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)—organized and prepared for the fight, creating the Continental Army and naming Washington as its commander in chief. With armed conflict already underway, Congress nevertheless moved slowly toward proclaiming independence from Britain: On July 10, two days after issuing a declaration to take up arms, Congress made another appeal to King George, hoping to settle the matter without further conflict. The attempt failed, and the following summer the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence, breaking off all ties with the mother country.

      What does the Declaration of Independence say?

      The Declaration of Independence, adopted July 4, 1776, has long been regarded as history’s most eloquent statement of the rights of the people. In it, not only did the thirteen American colonies declare their freedom from Britain, they also addressed the reasons for the proclamation (naming the “causes which impel them to the separation”) and cited the British government’s violations of individual rights, saying “the history of the present King ‘George III’ of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations,” which aimed to establish “an absolute tyranny over these States.”

      The opening paragraphs go on to state the American ideal of government, an ideal that is based on the theory of natural rights. The Declaration of Independence puts forth the fundamental principles that a government exists for the benefit of its people and that “all men are created equal.” As chairman of the Second Continental Congress committee that prepared the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) wrote and presented the first draft to the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776.

      The most frequently cited passage is:

      We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.