A paper prepared for
American Government Class
Gladys T. Turner
AM&N College
Circa 1950s
The news that fighting had begun at Lexington and Concord
between American patriots and British troops in April of 1775 so-
lidified the spirit of revolt and convinced many that separation
from Great Britian necessary.
The Second Continental Congress convened at Philadelphia on
May 19, 1775 with all thirteen colonies represented. "Its powers,
if it had any, were extremely vague; it represented, said Bancroft,
"nothing more than the informed opinion of an unformed people." 1
As the delegates assembled they knew that some kind of collec-
tive action had to be taken because war was actually in existence.
The first act on the agenda was the creation of a continental army
of which George Washington was selected commander in-chief. Although
war was in existence, independence, was far from the minds of the del-
egates and those who wished to sever our claims from Great Britiain.
were considered radicals. As late as the autumn of 1775, five state
legislatures were against independence. "Even now a tolerant attitude
on the part of England could have restored calm to the troubled
colonies, for few dared to speak independence. Instead, an obsti-
nate Parliament and a stupid king went blindly ahead with plans to
chastise the rebels. The result was a shift in American sentiment. 2
The king refused to receive the petition of the Congress. Instead,
he issued a proclamation declaring the colonies in a state of
rebellion, and hired troops to end the rebellion.
Congress advised the colonies to set up state governments
based upon the consent of the people. On June 7, Richard Henry
Lee, a Virginia delegate, submitted the following resolutions:
"That these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free,
and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance
to the British crown; and that all political connection between
them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally
dissolved.
That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effective
measures for forming foreign alliances.
That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to
the respective colonies for their consideration. 3
For a whole month Congress debated Lee's resolutions while
a committee worked over the declaration that would be called for.
Finally, on July 2, the resolution was adopted; two days later the
immortal Declaration of Independence was accepted by Congress
"The Declaration of Independence, almost entirely the work
of Jefferson, divides itself into three parts. The first is a
statement of the radical philosophy of the seventeenth century"
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
Government are instituted among men, deriving their just powers
from the consent of the governed, -That whenever any form of govern-
ment becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people
to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government 4
The significance of the Second Continental Congress lies in
the fact that it was the first central government in the United
States. It exercised both legislature and executive powers. It also
exercised the rights to wage war, raise loans, issue currency,
establish a postal system, make treaties, and receive ambassadors.
The Second Continental Congress brought the greatest minds of the
country together to plan action and take charge of the existing
situation.
The Declaration of Independence directed the colonists toward
their objective of freedom; it made them increasingly aware of the
problem of assuring their own liberties, establishing the kind of
government which would insure them of their unalienable rights
which, they believed that England had threatened.
1. Harold Faulkner, American Political And Social History, Appleton & Co.,
New York, 1948, pp-99-100.
2. Ray Billington, The Making of American Democracy, Rinehart & Co.,
New York, 1950, p. 81.
3. Billington, op.cit., p. 82.
4. Faulkner, op. cit., pp. 101-102.
Comments: My professor gave a grade of B+ with the following notation "Almost too brief but shows an awareness of the subject matter."
