text:
Continental Congress
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This article is part of a series on the
United States
Continental Congress
Predecessors
Albany Congress 1754
Stamp Act Congress 1765
1st Continental Congress
Declaration and Resolves
Continental Association
Petition to the King
2nd Continental Congress
Olive Branch Petition
Committee of Secret Correspondence
Necessity of Taking Up Arms
Lee Resolution
Declaration of Independence
Model Treaty
Articles of Confederation
Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture
Congress of the Confederation
Bank of North America
Land Ordinance of 1784 / of 1785
Northwest Ordinance of 1787
Members
List of delegates
Presidents of the Continental Congress
Secretary of the Continental Congress
Superintendent of Finance of the United States
United States portal
v
t
e
The Continental Congress, also known as the Philadelphia Congress, was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies. It became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution.
The Congress met from 1774 to 1789 in three incarnations. The first call for a convention was made over issues of the blockade and the Intolerable Acts penalizing the Province of Massachusetts, which in 1774 enabled Benjamin Franklin to convince the colonies to form a representative body. Much of what we know today comes from the yearly log books printed by the Continental Congress called Resolutions, Acts and Orders of Congress, which gives a day to day description of debates and issues.
Although the delegates were divided early on as to whether to break from Crown rule, the second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, passed a resolution asserting independence, with no opposing vote recorded. The Declaration of Independence was issued two days later declaring themselves a new nation: the United States of America. It established a Continental Army, giving command to one of its members, George Washington of Virginia. It waged war with Great Britain, made a militia treaty with France, and funded the war effort with loans and paper money.
The third Continental Congress was the Congress of the Confederation, under the Articles of Confederation.
Contents
1 Previous Congresses
2 First Continental Congress, 1774
3 Second Continental Congress, 1775–1781
4 Confederation Congress, 1781–1788
5 Organization
6 Legacy
7 Timeline
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
10.1 Primary sources
11 External links
Previous Congresses[edit]
Further information: Albany Congress and Stamp Act Congress
The idea of a congress of British North American Colonies was first broached in 1754 at the start of the French and Indian war. It met in Albany, New York from June 18 to July 11, 1754, and was attended by seven colonies. Among the delegates was Benjamin Franklin, who proposed that the colonies join together in a confederation. While this idea was rejected by the Albany congress, it would be revived in the remaining colonies of British North America 113 years later to create Canada.
To present a united front in their opposition to the Stamp act, the Provinces of British North America again met in the Stamp Act Congress, which convened in New York City from 7 through 25 October 1765. It issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances, which it sent to the British Parliament in London. While the act was repealed, the First Rockingham ministry rejected the Congress' authority.[clarification needed]
First Continental Congress, 1774[edit]
Main article: First Continental Congress
The First Continental Congress met briefly in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from September 5 to October 26, 1774. It consisted of fifty-six delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies that were to become the United States of America. The delegates, who included George Washington (then a colonel of the Virginia Colony's volunteers), Patrick Henry, and John Adams, were elected by their respective colonial assemblies. Other notable delegates included Samuel Adams from Massachusetts Bay Colony, and Joseph Galloway and John Dickinson from the Province of Pennsylvania.[1] Peyton Randolph of Virginia was its president.
Benjamin Franklin had put forth the idea of such a meeting the year before, but he was unable to convince the colonies of its necessity until the 1773 British blockade at the port of Boston in response to the Boston Tea Party. All of the colonies sent delegates except the newest and most southerly one, the Province of Georgia – which needed the British Army's protection in order to contend with attacks from several Native American tribes. Most of the delegates were not yet ready to break away from Great Britain, but they wanted the King and Parliament to act in what they considered a fairer manner.
Convened in response to the Intolerable Acts passed by Parliament in 1774, the delegates organized an economic boycott of Great Britain in protest and petitioned the King for a redress of grievances. The colonies were united in their effort to demonstrate to the mother country their authority by virtue of their common causes and their unity; but their ultimate objectives were not consistent. The Pennsylvania and New York provinces had sent with their delegates firm instructions to pursue a resolution with Great Britain. While the other colonies all held the idea of colonial rights as paramount, they were split between those who sought legislative equality with Britain and those who instead favored independence and a break from the Crown and its excesses.
On October 26, 1774, the First Continental Congress adjourned; but it agreed to reconvene in May 1775, if Parliament still had not addressed their grievances.
Second Continental Congress, 1775–1781[edit]
Main article: Second Continental Congress
In London, Parliament debated the merits of meeting the demands made by the colonies; however, it took no official notice of Congress's petitions and addresses. On November 30, 1774, King George III opened Parliament with a speech condemning Massachusetts and the Suffolk Resolves. At that point it became clear that the Continental Congress would have to convene once again.[2]
The Second Continental Congress convened on May 10, 1775, at Philadelphia's State House, passing the resolution for independence the following year on July 2, 1776, and publicly asserting the decision two days later with the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson of Virginia drafted the declaration, and John Adams was a leader in the debates in favor of its adoption. John Hancock of Massachusetts was the president during those debates. To govern during the American Revolutionary War, the Second Continental Congress continued, meeting at various locations, until it became the Congress of the Confederation when the Articles of Confederation were ratified on March 1, 1781.
Confederation Congress, 1781–1788[edit]
Main article: Congress of the Confederation
The newly founded country of the United States next had to create a new government to replace the British Parliament/13 colonies government that it was in rebellion against. After much debate, the Americans adopted the Articles of Confederation, a declaration that established a national government made up of a one-house legislature known as the Congress of the Confederation. It met from 1781 to 1789.[3] The Confederation Congress helped guide the United States through the final stages of the Revolutionary War, but during peacetime, the Continental Congress steeply declined in importance.
During peacetime, there were two important, long-lasting acts of the Confederation Congress:[4]
The passage of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787. This ordinance accepted the abolition of all claims to the land west of Pennsylvania and north of the Ohio River by the states of Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and the ordinance established Federal control over all of this land in the Northwest Territory—with the goal that several new states should be created there. In the course of time, this land was divided over the course of many decades into Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota.
After years of frustration, an agreement was reached in 1786 at the Annapolis Convention to call another convention in May 1787 in Philadelphia with the mission of writing and proposing a number of amendments to the Articles of Confederation to improve the form of government. The report was sent to the Confederation Congress and the State. The result was the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, which was authorized by all the States thus fulfilling the unanimous requirement of the Articles of Confederation to allow changes to the Articles.
Under the Articles of Confederation, the Confederation Congress had little power to compel the individual states to comply with any of its decisions. More and more prospective delegates elected to the Confederation Congress declined to serve in it. The leading men in each State preferred to serve in the state governments, and thus the Continental Congress had frequent difficulties in establishing a quorum. When the Articles of Confederation were superseded by the Constitution of the United States, the Confederation Congress was superseded by the United States Congress.
The Confederation Congress finally set up a suitable administrative structure for the Federal government. It put into operation a departmental system, with ministers of finance, of war, and of foreign affairs. Robert Morris was selected as the new Superintendent of Finance, and then Morris used some ingenuity and initiative—along with a loan from the French Government—to deal with his empty treasury and also runaway inflation, for a number of years, in the supply of paper money.
As the ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin not only secured the "bridge loan" for the national budget, but he also persuaded France to send an army of about 6,000 soldiers across the Atlantic Ocean to America—and also to dispatch a large squadron of French warships under Comte de Grasse to the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina. These French warships were decisive at the Battle of Yorktown along the coast of Virginia by preventing Lord Cornwallis's British troops from receiving supplies, reinforcements, or evacuation via the James River and Hampton Roads, Virginia.[5]
Robert Morris, the Minister of Finance, persuaded Congress to charter the Bank of North America on Dec. 31, 1781. Although a private bank, the Federal Government acquired partial ownership with money lent by France. The Bank of North America played a major role in financing the war against Great Britain. The combined armies of George Washington and Nathanael Greene, with the help of the French Army and Navy, defeated the British in the Battle of Yorktown during October 1781. Lord Cornwallis was forced to sue for peace and to surrender his entire army to General Washington. During 1783, the Americans secured the official recognition of the independence of the United States from the United Kingdom via negotiations with British diplomats in Paris, France. These negotiations culminated with the signing of the Treaty of Paris of 1783, and this treaty was soon ratified by the British Parliament.[3]
Organization[edit]
The delegates to the Continental Congress had extensive experience in deliberative bodies before coming to Congress, with "a cumulative total of nearly 500 years of experience in their colonial legislatures, and fully a dozen of them had served as Speakers of the houses of their legislatures."[6] Both the Parliament of Great Britain and many of their own Colonial assemblies had powerful Speakers of the House and standing committees with strong chairmen, with executive power held by the British Monarch or the colonial Governor. However, the organization of the Continental Congress was based less on the British Parliament or on local state assemblies than on the nine-colony Stamp Act Congress. Nine of the 56 delegates who attended the First Congress in 1774 had previously attended the Stamp Act Congress in 1765. These were some of the most respected of the delegates, and they influenced the direction of the organization from its opening day, when decisions were made on organization and procedures that lasted over fourteen years until the Congress was adjourned on March 2, 1788.
The delegates chose a presiding President of the Continental Congress to monitor the debate, maintain order, and make sure journals were kept and documents and letters were published and delivered. Otherwise, the President had little power, and he was largely a figurehead used to meet visiting dignitaries: the office was "more honorable than powerful".[7] The job was not much sought after or retained for long: there were 16 Presidents in 14 years.
The turnover of delegates was enormously high as well, with an average year-to-year churn rate of 37% by one calculation,[8] and 39% by session-to-session.[9] Of the 343 serving delegates, only 55% (187 delegates) spent 12 or more months in Philadelphia at the Congress.[10] Only 25 of the delegates served longer than 35 months.[11] This high rate of turnover or churn was not just a characteristic; it was made into a deliberate policy of term limits. In the Confederation phase of the Congress "no delegate was permitted to serve more than three years in any six".[12] Attendance was variable: while in session, between 54 and 22 delegates were in attendance at any one time, with an average of only 35.5 members attending between 1774 and 1788.[13]
Between 1775 and 1781 they created a few standing committees to handle war related activities, such as the committee of secret correspondence, the treasury board, the board of war and ordnance, and the navy board. However, most of their work was done in small "ad hoc" committees consisting of members nominated from the floor. The delegate with the most votes became the chair of the committee. Committees typically had 3 to 5 members: roughly 77% of the committees had only 3 members.[14] They created 3,294 committees[15] over the 14.5 year calendar life of the congress – nearly 19 committees a month.
At the opening of the Congress, when one delegate suggested they appoint a committee on rules and voting, the motion was rejected, as "every Gent. was acquainted" with the British House of Commons usage, and such a committee would be a "waste of time."[16] They did write up rules of debate that guaranteed equal rights to debate and open access to the floor for each delegate. Voting was by the "unit rule": each state cast a single vote. Votes were first taken within each state delegation. The majority determined vote was considered the vote of the state on a motion: in cases of a tie the vote for the state was not counted.
The Continental Congress took on powers normally held by the British monarch and his council, such as the conduct of foreign and military affairs. However, the right to tax and regulate trade was reserved for the states, not the Congress. They had no formal way to enforce their motions on the state governments. Delegates did not report directly to the President, but to their home state assemblies: its organizational structure has been described as "an extreme form of matrix management".[17] It ran with very low overhead of 4 men for the 56 delegates, having only Secretary Charles Thomson as its operating officer for the whole period from 1774 to 1789, supported by a scribe, a doorman, and a messenger. They also appointed initially one, and later two, Congressional Chaplains.
Legacy[edit]
There is a long running debate on how effective the Congress was as an organization.[18] The first critic may have been General George Washington. In an address to his officers, at Newburgh, New York, on March 15, 1783, responding to complaints that Congress had not funded their pay and pensions, he stated that he believed that Congress would do the army "complete justice" and eventually pay the soldiers. "But, like all other large Bodies, where there is a variety of different Interests to reconcile, their deliberations are slow."
In addition to their slowness, the lack of coercive power in the Continental Congress was harshly criticized by James Madison when arguing for the need of a Federal Constitution. His comment in Vices of the Political System of April 1787 set the conventional wisdom on the historical legacy of the institution for centuries to come:
A sanction is essential to the idea of law, as coercion is to that of Government. The federal system being destitute of both, wants the great vital principles of a Political Cons[ti]tution. Under the form of such a Constitution, it is in fact nothing more than a treaty of amity of commerce and of alliance, between so many independent and Sovereign States. From what cause could so fatal an omission have happened in the Articles of Confederation? From a mistaken confidence that the justice, the good faith, the honor, the sound policy, of the several legislative assemblies would render superfluous any appeal to the ordinary motives by which the laws secure the obedience of individuals: a confidence which does honor to the enthusiastic virtue of the compilers, as much as the inexperience of the crisis apologizes for their errors.
—  James Madison, Vices of the Political System
Many commentators take for granted that the leaderless, weak, slow, and small-committee driven, Continental Congress was a failure, largely because after the end of the war the Articles of Confederation no longer suited the needs of a peacetime nation, and the Congress itself, following Madison's recommendations, called for its revision and replacement. Some also suggest that the Congress was inhibited by the formation of contentious partisan alignments based on regional differences.[19] Others claim that Congress was less ideological than event driven.[20][21] Others note that the Congress was successful in that the American people "came to accept Congress as their legitimate institution of Government",[22] but the "rather poor governmental record" [23] of the Congress forced the constitutional convention of 1787.
Political scientists Calvin Jillson and Rick Wilson in the 1980s accepted the conventional interpretation on the weakness of the Congress due to the lack of coercive power. They explored the role of leadership, or rather the lack of it, in the Continental Congress. Going beyond even Madison's harsh critique, they used the "analytical stance of what has come to be called the new institutionalism"[24] to demonstrate that "the norms, rules, and institutional structures of the Continental Congress" were equally to blame "for the institution's eventual failure", and that the "institutional structure worked against, rather than with, the delegates in tackling the crucial issues of the day."[25]
The Historian Richard P. McCormick rendered a more nuanced judgment. He suggested that Madison's "extreme judgment" on the Congress was "motivated no doubt by Madison's overriding desire to create a new central government that would be empowered veto the acts of state legislatures,"[26] but that it fails "to take any notice of the fact that while the authority of the Confederation Congress was ambiguous, it was not a nullity".[27]
Benjamin Irvin in his social and cultural history of the Continental Congress, praised "the invented traditions by which Congress endeavored to fortify the resistance movement and to make meaning of American independence." [28] But he noted that after the war's end, "Rather than passively adopting the Congress's creations, the American people embraced, rejected, reworked, ridiculed, or simply ignored them as they saw fit."[29]
An organizational culture analysis of the Continental Congress by Neil Olsen, looking for the values, norms, and underlying assumptions that drive an organization's decisions, noted that "the leaderless Continental Congress outperformed not only the modern congress run by powerful partisan hierarchies, but modern government and corporate entities, for all their coercive power and vaunted skills as 'leaders'."[30] Looking at their mission as defined by state resolutions and petitions entered into the Congressional Journal on its first day,[31] it found that on the common issues of the relief of Boston, securing Colonial rights, eventually restoring harmonious relations with Great Britain, and repealing taxes, they overachieved their mission goals, defeated the largest army and navy in the world, and created two new types of republic.[32] Olsen suggests that the Congress, if slow, when judged by its many achievements – not the least being recognizing its flaws, then replacing and terminating itself – was a success.
Timeline[edit]
1774
September 5: First Continental Congress convenes at Philadelphia's Carpenter's Hall
October 14: Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress is adopted
October 18: Continental Association is adopted
October 25: First Petition to the King is signed
October 26: Congress adjourns, resolving to reconvene the following May if grievances were not redressed
1775
April 19: War begins at the Battles of Lexington and Concord
May 10: Second Continental Congress convenes at Philadelphia's State House
June 14: Congress establishes the Continental Army
June 15: Congress appoints one of its members, George Washington, as commander of the Continental Army
July 1: King George III addresses Parliament, stating they will "put a speedy end" to the rebellion
July 6: Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms is approved
July 8: Second petition to the king (the Olive Branch Petition) is signed and sent to London
August 23: In his Proclamation of Rebellion (officially titled "A Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition"), King George III declares elements of the American colonies in "open and avowed rebellion" and orders officials of the British Empire "to use their utmost endeavours to withstand and suppress such rebellion"
October 13: Congress establishes the Continental Navy
November 10: Congress establishes the Continental Marines
1776
January 10: Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense
June 7: Richard Henry Lee of Virginia presents a three-part resolution to Congress, calling on Congress to declare independence, form foreign alliances, and prepare a plan of colonial confederation
June 10: Congress votes on June 10 to postpone further discussion of Lee's resolution for three weeks to allow time for the delegates to confer with their state assemblies
June 11: Congress appoints a "Committee of Five", Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman of Connecticut and Robert R. Livingston of New York, to draft a declaration justifying independence.
June 12: Congress appoints a Committee of Thirteen to draft of a constitution for a union of the states
July 2: Lee Resolution (also known as "The Resolution for Independence"), asserting the independence of the 13 colonies from Great Britain, is adopted
July 4: Final text of the Declaration of Independence is adopted
July 12: John Dickinson presents the Committee of Thirteen's draft constitution to Congress
August 2: Delegates sign an engrossed copy of the Declaration of Independence
December 12: Congress adjourns to move to Baltimore, Maryland
December 20: Congress convenes in Baltimore at the Henry Fite House
1777
February 27: Congress adjourns to return to Philadelphia
March 4: Congress reconvenes at Philadelphia's State House
June 14: Flag Resolution, defining the design of the flag of the United States of America, is adopted
September 18: Congress adjourns in order to move to Lancaster, Pennsylvania
September 27: Congress convenes for one day in Lancaster, at the Court House
September 30: Congress reconvenes at York, Pennsylvania at the Court House
November 15: Final text of the Articles of Confederation is approved and sent to the states for ratification
1778
June 27: Congress adjourns to return to Philadelphia
July 2: Congress reconvenes in Philadelphia, first at College Hall, then at the State House
1780
January 15: Congress establishes the Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture
1781
March 1: Having been ratified by all 13 states, the Articles of Confederation becomes effective; Continental Congress becomes the Congress of the Confederation
May 26: Proposed plan from Robert Morris to establish Bank of North America approved by Congress
October 17: Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia
December 31: Bank of North America chartered by Congress
1783
June 21: The Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 forces congress to flee Philadelphia.
June 30: Congress reconvenes in Princeton, New Jersey, first at a house named "Prospect," then Nassau Hall
November 4: Congress adjourns to move to Annapolis, Maryland
November 26: Congress reconvenes at Annapolis, in the State House
December 23: George Washington resigns from the Army
1784
January 14: The Treaty of Paris is ratified
May 7: Thomas Jefferson is appointed as a minister to France
August 19: Congress adjourns to move to Trenton, New Jersey
November 1: Congress reconvenes at Trenton, at the French Arms Tavern
December 24: Congress adjourns to move to New York City
1785
January 11: Congress reconvenes in New York City, first at City Hall, then at Fraunces Tavern
March 25–28: Maryland–Virginia Conference held at Mount Vernon
March 28: Mount Vernon Compact is signed between Maryland and Virginia covering the use of the Potomac River
1786
August 29: Shays' Rebellion begins
September 11–14: 1786 Annapolis Convention held; delegates issues a report calling for another meeting in the spring with delegates from all states
1787
February 21: Congress calls a constitutional convention "for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress and the several legislatures such alterations and provisions therein and when agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the States render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of Government and the preservation of the Union"
May 25: Constitutional Convention convenes in Philadelphia; every state except for Rhode Island sends delegates
July 13: Congress passes the Northwest Ordinance
September 17: Constitutional Convention adjourns after completing work on the United States Constitution
September 28: Congress votes to transmit the proposed Constitution to the 13 states for ratification
1788
July 2: Congress President Cyrus Griffin informs Congress that New Hampshire has ratified the Constitution and notes that it is the ninth ratification, thereby allowing for the establishment of the new government[33]
July 8: A committee is formed to examine all ratifications received and to develop a plan for putting the new Constitution into operation.[33]
September 13: Congress certifies that the new constitution has been duly ratified and sets date for first meeting of the new federal government and the presidential election[34]
October 10: The last session during which the Continental Congress succeeded in achieving a quorum; and passes its last ordinance[35]
November 15: Cyrus Griffin, the 10th president of Congress under the Articles of Confederation, resigns
1789
March 2: Last meeting of the Continental Congress, held at Fraunces Tavern, is adjourned sine die; Philip Pell is the only member in attendance
March 4: First session of the 1st United States Congress begins at Federal Hall
April 30: George Washington inaugurated as first President of the United States
July 23: Charles Thomson transmits to President Washington his resignation of the office of Secretary of Congress
July 25: In accordance with President Washington's directions, "the books, records, and papers of the late Congress, the Great Seal of the Federal Union, and the Seal of the Admiralty" are delivered over to Roger Alden, deputy secretary of the new Congress, who had been designated by President Washington as custodian for the time being[36]
See also[edit]
Albany Congress
List of delegates to the Continental Congress
Juan de Miralles
Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies
William Wright Abbot, Leading scholar and authority on Continental Congress
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Rakove, Jack N. (1979). The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress. pp. 42–62.
Jump up ^ Rakove, Beginning pp 45–49
^ Jump up to: a b "Confederation Congress". Ohio Historical Society. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
Jump up ^ Rakove, Beginnings, pp 133–330
Jump up ^ Joseph J. Ellis, His Excellency: George Washington (2004) p 131
Jump up ^ Jillson, Calvin, and Wilson, Rick, Congressional dynamics: structure, coordination, and choice in the first American Congress, 1774–1789, Stanford University Press, 1994, p. 5
Jump up ^ Jillson and Wilson, p. 76
Jump up ^ Olsen, Neil, Pursuing Happiness: the Organizational Culture of the Continental Congress, Nonagram Publications, 2013, pp. 114–114
Jump up ^ Jillson and Wilson, p. 156
Jump up ^ Olsen, p. 114
Jump up ^ Jillson and Wilson, p. 157
Jump up ^ Jillson and Wilson, p. 3
Jump up ^ Olsen, p. 112
Jump up ^ Olsen, p. 57
Jump up ^ Jillian and Wilson, p. 91
Jump up ^ Burnett, Edmund Cody, Letters of Members of the Continental Congress, The Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1921, Volume1, p. 9
Jump up ^ Olsen, p. 71
Jump up ^ Laver, Henry S., "Continental Congress", Reader's Guide to American History, editor Peter J. Parish, Routledge, 2013, pp. 178–179
Jump up ^ Henderson, James, Party Politics in the Continental Congress, McGraw Hill, 1974
Jump up ^ Rakove, Jack N. The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress, Knopf, 1979
Jump up ^ Ammerman, David L., In the Common Cause: American Response to the Coercive Acts of 1774, University Press of Virginia, 1974
Jump up ^ Marston, Jerrilyn Green, King and Congress: The Transfer of Political Legitimacy, 1774–1776
Jump up ^ Laver, p. 178
Jump up ^ Jillson and Wilson, p. 1
Jump up ^ Jillson and Wilson, p. 4
Jump up ^ McCormick, Richard P., "Ambiguous Authority: The Ordinances of the Confederation Congress, 1781–1789", The American Journal of Legal History, Vol. 41, No. 4 (Oct., 1997), pp. 411–439, p. 438
Jump up ^ McCormick, p. 438
Jump up ^ Irvin, Benjamin H., Clothed in Robes of Sovereignty : The Continental Congress and the People Out of Doors, Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 5
Jump up ^ Irvin, p. 28
Jump up ^ Olsen, p. 54
Jump up ^ U.S. Congress, Journals of the Continental Congress, Government Printing Office, 1904, Volume, 1, pp. 13–24
Jump up ^ Olsen, p. 278
^ Jump up to: a b Maier, Pauline (2010). Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 376–377. ISBN 978-0-684-86854-7.
Jump up ^ Maier, Pauline (2010). Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787–1788. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 429. ISBN 978-0-684-86854-7.
Jump up ^ Taylor, Hannis. The Origin and Growth of the American Constitution, page 268 (1911).
Jump up ^ Burnett, Continental Congress, 726.
Further reading[edit]
Burnett, Edward Cody (1941). The Continental Congress. New York: Norton.
Fremont-Barnes, Gregory, and Richard A. Ryerson, eds. The Encyclopedia of the American Revolutionary War: A Political, Social, and Military History (5 vol. 2006) 1000 entries by 150 experts, covering all topics
Henderson, H. James (1974). Party Politics in the Continental Congress. New York: McGraw–Hill. ISBN 0-07-028143-2.
Horgan, Lucille E. Forged in War: The Continental Congress and the Origin of Military Supply and Acquisition Policy (2002)
Grossman, Mark. Encyclopedia of The Continental Congress (two volumes, 2015)
Irvin, Benjamin H. Clothed in Robes of Sovereignty: The Continental Congress and the People Out of Doors (Oxford University Press; 2011) 378 pages; analyzes the ritual and material culture used by the Continental Congress to assert its legitimacy and rally a wary public.
Jensen, Merrill. The Articles of Confederation: An Interpretation of the Social-Constitutional History of the American Revolution, 1774–1781 (1959) excerpt and text search
Jillson, Calvin, and Wilson, Rick, Congressional dynamics: structure, coordination, and choice in the first American Congress, 1774–1789, Stanford University Press, 1994
Olsen, Neil, Pursuing Happiness: the Organizational Culture of the Continental Congress, Nonagram Publications, 2013
Rakove, Jack N. (1979). The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0-8018-2864-3.
Resch, John P., ed. Americans at War: Society, Culture and the Homefront vol 1 (2005), articles by scholars
Primary sources[edit]
Smith, Paul H., ed. Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789. 26 volumes. Washington: Library of Congress, 1976–1998.
External links[edit]
Wikisource has the text of a 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article about Continental Congress.
Journals of the Continental Congress: September 5, 1774 to March 2, 1789. (1904–1936)
Volumes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33
Library of Congress – Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1789
Library of Congress – Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789
Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention From the Collections at the Library of Congress
The 14 Presidents of Congress before George Washington, The Treaty of Paris Center
show
v
t
e
United States articles
History
By event
Timeline of U.S. history
Pre-Columbian era
Colonial era
Thirteen Colonies
military history
Continental Congress
American Revolution
War
American frontier
Confederation Period
Drafting and ratification of Constitution
Federalist Era
War of 1812
Territorial acquisitions
Territorial evolution
Mexican–American War
Civil War
Reconstruction Era
Indian Wars
Gilded Age
Progressive Era
African-American civil rights movement 1865–1896 / 1896–1954 / 1954–1968
Spanish–American War
Imperialism
World War I
Roaring Twenties
Great Depression
World War II
home front
Nazism in the United States
American Century
Cold War
Korean War
Space Race
Feminist Movement
Vietnam War
Post-Cold War (1991–2008)
War on Terror
War in Afghanistan
Iraq War
Recent events (2008–present)
By topic
Outline of U.S. history
Demographic
Discoveries
Economic
debt ceiling
Inventions
before 1890
1890–1945
1946–91
after 1991
Military
Postal
Technological and industrial
Geography
Territory
counties
federal district
federal enclaves
Indian reservations
insular zones
minor outlying islands
populated places
states
Earthquakes
Extreme points
Islands
Mountains
peaks
ranges
Appalachian
Rocky
National Park Service
National Parks
Regions
East Coast
West Coast
Great Plains
Gulf
Mid-Atlantic
Midwestern
New England
Pacific
Central
Eastern
Northern
Northeastern
Northwestern
Southern
Southeastern
Southwestern
Western
Longest rivers
Arkansas
Colorado
Columbia
Mississippi
Missouri
Red (South)
Rio Grande
Yukon
Time
Water supply and sanitation
Politics
Federal
Executive
Cabinet
Civil service
Executive departments
Executive Office
Independent agencies
Law enforcement
President of the United States
Powers
Public policy
Legislative
House of Representatives
current members
Speaker
Senate
current members
President pro tempore
Vice President
Judicial
Courts of appeals
District courts
Supreme Court
Law
Bill of Rights
civil liberties
Code of Federal Regulations
Constitution
federalism
preemption
separation of powers
Federal Reporter
United States Code
United States Reports
Intelligence
Central Intelligence Agency
Defense Intelligence Agency
Federal Bureau of Investigation
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
National Reconnaissance Office
National Security Agency
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Uniformed
Armed Forces
Army
Marine Corps
Navy
Air Force
Coast Guard
National Guard
NOAA Corps
Public Health Service Corps
51st state
political status of Puerto Rico
District of Columbia statehood movement
Elections
Electoral College
Foreign relations
Foreign policy
Hawaiian sovereignty movement
Ideologies
anti-Americanism
exceptionalism
nationalism
Local government
Parties
Democratic
Republican
Third parties
Red states and blue states
Purple America
Scandals
State government
governor
state legislature
state court
Uncle Sam
Economy
By sector
Agriculture
Banking
Communications
Energy
Insurance
Manufacturing
Mining
Tourism
Trade
Transportation
Companies
by state
Currency
Exports
Federal budget
Federal Reserve System
Financial position
Labor unions
Public debt
Social welfare programs
Taxation
Unemployment
Wall Street
Society
Culture
Americana
Architecture
Cinema
Cuisine
Dance
Demography
Education
Family structure
Fashion
Flag
Folklore
Languages
American English
Indigenous languages
ASL
Black American Sign Language
HSL
Plains Sign Talk
Arabic
Chinese
French
German
Italian
Russian
Spanish
Literature
Media
Journalism
Internet
Newspapers
Radio
Television
Music
Names
People
Philosophy
Public holidays
Religion
Sexuality
Sports
Theater
Video games
Visual art
Social class
Affluence
American Dream
Educational attainment
Homelessness
Home-ownership
Household income
Income inequality
Middle class
Personal income
Poverty
Professional and working class conflict
Standard of living
Wealth
Issues
Ages of consent
Capital punishment
Crime
incarceration
Criticism of government
Discrimination
Ableism
affirmative action
antisemitism
intersex rights
Islamophobia
LGBT rights
racism
same-sex marriage
Drug policy
Energy policy
Environmental movement
Gun politics
Health care
abortion
health insurance
hunger
obesity
smoking
Human rights
Immigration
illegal
International rankings
National security
Mass surveillance
Terrorism
Separation of church and state
Outline
Index
Book
Category
Portal
show
v
t
e
Government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation
Congresses
1st Continental Congress
2nd Continental Congress
The US in Congress Assembled
Delegates
Committee of the States
Congressional Officers
President
Secretary
Civil Offices/Officers
Postmaster General
Superintendent of Finance/Agent of the Marine
Secretary at War
Secretary of Foreign Affairs
Court of Appeals
Military
Board of War
Continental Army
Commander in Chief
Continental Navy
Continental Marines
show
v
t
e
Historical documents of the United States
show
Constitution
Preamble
and Articles
Preamble
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
Amendments
Ratified
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
Pending
Congressional Apportionment
Titles of Nobility
Corwin (State Domestic Institutions)
Child Labor
Unsuccessful
Equal Rights
District of Columbia Voting Rights
See also
List of Constitutional Amendments
Bill of Rights (Amendments 1–10)
Reconstruction Amendments (Amendments 13–15)
Amendment proposals in Congress
Conventions to propose amendments
State ratifying conventions
Formation
History
Articles of Confederation
Mount Vernon Conference
Annapolis Convention
Philadelphia Convention
Virginia Plan
New Jersey Plan
Connecticut Compromise
Three-Fifths Compromise
Committee of Detail
Signing
Independence Hall
Syng inkstand
The Federalist Papers
Anti-Federalist Papers
Massachusetts Compromise
Virginia Ratifying Convention
Hillsborough Convention
Drafting and ratification timeline
Clauses
Appointments
Appropriations
Assistance of Counsel
Bill of credit
Case or Controversy
Citizenship
Commerce
Compact
Compulsory Process
Confrontation
Contract
Copyright and Patent
Double Jeopardy
Due Process
Equal Protection
Establishment
Exceptions
Excessive Bail
Ex post facto
Extradition
Free Exercise
Free Speech
Fugitive Slave
Full Faith and Credit
General Welfare
Guarantee
Impeachment
Import-Export
Ineligibility (Emolument)
Militia
Natural-born citizen
Necessary and Proper
New States
No Religious Test
Oath or Affirmation
Origination
Petition
Postal
Presentment
Privileges and Immunities
Privileges or Immunities
Recommendation
Self-Incrimination
Speech or Debate
Speedy Trial
State of the Union
Supremacy
Suspension
Take Care
Takings
Taxing and Spending
Territorial
Title of Nobility
Treaty
Trial by Jury
Vesting
Vicinage
War Powers
List of clauses
Interpretation
Concurrent powers
Congressional enforcement
Constitutional law
Criminal procedure
Criminal sentencing
Dormant Commerce Clause
Enumerated powers
Equal footing
Executive privilege
Incorporation of the Bill of Rights
Judicial review
Nondelegation doctrine
Preemption
Saxbe fix
Separation of church and state
Separation of powers
Taxation power
Unitary executive theory
Signatories
Convention President
George Washington
New Hampshire
John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts
Nathaniel Gorham
Rufus King
Connecticut
William Samuel Johnson
Roger Sherman
New York
Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey
William Livingston
David Brearley
William Paterson
Jonathan Dayton
Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robert Morris
George Clymer
Thomas Fitzsimons
Jared Ingersoll
James Wilson
Gouverneur Morris
Delaware
George Read
Gunning Bedford Jr.
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jacob Broom
Maryland
James McHenry
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer
Daniel Carroll
Virginia
John Blair
James Madison
North Carolina
William Blount
Richard Dobbs Spaight
Hugh Williamson
South Carolina
John Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler
Georgia
William Few
Abraham Baldwin
Convention Secretary
William Jackson
Display
and legacy
National Archives
Charters of Freedom Rotunda
Independence Mall
Constitution Day
Constitution Gardens
National Constitution Center
Scene at the Signing of the Constitution (painting)
A More Perfect Union (film)
Worldwide influence
show
Declaration of Independence
Primary author
Thomas Jefferson
Signatories
President of Congress
John Hancock (Massachusetts)
New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New York
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware
George Read
Caesar Rodney
Thomas McKean
Maryland
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
North Carolina
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward Jr.
Thomas Lynch Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Georgia
Button Gwinett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
Related
Virginia Declaration of Rights
Lee Resolution
Committee of Five
Document's history
signing
portrait
Second Continental Congress
"All men are created equal"
"Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"
"Consent of the governed"
Independence Hall
Syng inkstand
Signers Memorial
American Revolution
show
Articles of Confederation
Signatories
Primary drafter
John Dickinson
New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett
John Wentworth Jr.
Massachusetts
John Hancock
Samuel Adams
Elbridge Gerry
Francis Dana
James Lovell
Samuel Holten
Rhode Island
William Ellery
Henry Marchant
John Collins
Connecticut
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
Oliver Wolcott
Titus Hosmer
Andrew Adams
New York
James Duane
Francis Lewis
William Duer
Gouverneur Morris
New Jersey
John Witherspoon
Nathaniel Scudder
Pennsylvania
Robert Morris
Daniel Roberdeau
Jonathan Bayard Smith
William Clingan
Joseph Reed
Delaware
Thomas McKean
John Dickinson
Nicholas Van Dyke
Maryland
John Hanson
Daniel Carroll
Virginia
Richard Henry Lee
John Banister
Thomas Adams
John Harvie
Francis Lightfoot Lee
North Carolina
John Penn
Cornelius Harnett
John Williams
South Carolina
Henry Laurens
William Henry Drayton
John Mathews
Richard Hutson
Thomas Heyward Jr.
Georgia
John Walton
Edward Telfair
Edward Langworthy
Related
Continental Congress
Congress of the Confederation
American Revolution
Perpetual Union
show
Continental Association
Signatories
President of Congress
Peyton Randolph
New Hampshire
John Sullivan
Nathaniel Folsom
Massachusetts Bay
Thomas Cushing
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Rhode Island
Stephen Hopkins
Samuel Ward
Connecticut
Eliphalet Dyer
Roger Sherman
Silas Deane
New York
Isaac Low
John Alsop
John Jay
James Duane
Philip Livingston
William Floyd
Henry Wisner
Simon Boerum
New Jersey
James Kinsey
William Livingston
Stephen Crane
Richard Smith
John De Hart
Pennsylvania
Joseph Galloway
John Dickinson
Charles Humphreys
Thomas Mifflin
Edward Biddle
John Morton
George Ross
The Lower Counties
Caesar Rodney
Thomas McKean
George Read
Maryland
Matthew Tilghman
Thomas Johnson, Junr
William Paca
Samuel Chase
Virginia
Richard Henry Lee
George Washington
Patrick Henry, Junr
Richard Bland
Benjamin Harrison
Edmund Pendleton
North Carolina
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
Richard Caswell
South Carolina
Henry Middleton
Thomas Lynch
Christopher Gadsden
John Rutledge
Edward Rutledge
Related
Virginia Association
First Continental Congress
Carpenters' Hall
Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
GND: 64838-3
VIAF: 142488871
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Continental_Congress&oldid=866332375"
Categories:
1774 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies
1789 disestablishments in the United States
Continental Congress
Defunct unicameral legislatures
Philadelphia in the American Revolution
Hidden categories:
Wikipedia articles needing clarification from August 2017
Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers
Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Languages
العربية
Bân-lâm-gú
Башҡортса
Беларуская
Български
Català
Čeština
Dansk
Deutsch
Español
Esperanto
Euskara
فارسی
Français
Galego
한국어
Hrvatski
Ido
Bahasa Indonesia
Italiano
עברית
ქართული
Lietuvių
Magyar
Bahasa Melayu
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Scots
Simple English
Slovenčina
Српски / srpski
Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Suomi
Svenska
Українська
Tiếng Việt
粵語
中文
34 more
Edit links
This page was last edited on 29 October 2018, at 18:34 (UTC).
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

attrs: class href

values: mw-jump-link #mw-head

values: mw-jump-link #p-search

value: small

value: li

values: United States Declaration of Independence

values: List of delegates to the Continental Congress

values: Superintendent of Finance of the United States

values: padding:0.3em 0.4em 0.3em;font-weight:bold;border-top:#aaa 1px solid; border-bottom:#aaa 1px solid;

values: vertical-navbox nowraplinks vcard plainlist

values: float:right;clear:right;width:22.0em;margin:0 0 1.0em 1.0em;background:#f9f9f9;border:1px solid #aaa;padding:0.2em;border-spacing:0.4em 0;text-align:center;line-height:1.4em;font-size:88%

values:
/wiki/Province_of_Massachusetts
mw-redirect
Province of Massachusetts

values:
/wiki/Continental_Dollar
mw-redirect
Continental Dollar

values: checkbox button toctogglecheckbox toctogglecheckbox display:none

values:
/wiki/French_and_Indian_war
mw-redirect
French and Indian war

values: The text near this tag may need clarification or removal of jargon. (August 2017)

values:
noprint Inline-Template
margin-left:0.1em; white-space:nowrap;

values: Edit section: First Continental Congress, 1774

values:
/wiki/Carpenter%27s_Hall
mw-redirect
Carpenter's Hall

values:
/wiki/Thirteen_colonies
mw-redirect
Thirteen colonies

values: John Dickinson (Pennsylvania and Delaware)

values:
/wiki/British_monarchy
mw-redirect
British monarchy

values: Edit section: Second Continental Congress, 1775–1781

values: Edit section: Confederation Congress, 1781–1788

values:
/wiki/Philadelphia_Convention_of_1787
mw-redirect
Philadelphia Convention of 1787

values:
/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States
mw-redirect
Constitution of the United States

values:
/wiki/French_Government
mw-redirect
French Government

values:
/wiki/Comte_de_Grasse
mw-redirect
Comte de Grasse

values:
/wiki/Lord_Cornwallis
mw-redirect
Lord Cornwallis

values:
/wiki/Paris,_France
mw-redirect
Paris, France

values: Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies

values: Standing committee (United States Congress)

values:
/wiki/King_George_III
mw-redirect
King George III

values:
/wiki/Baltimore,_Maryland
mw-redirect
Baltimore, Maryland

values: Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis

values: Constitutional Convention (United States)

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values: s:The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Congress, Continental

values: Timeline of drafting and ratification of the United States Constitution

values: Territorial evolution of the United States

values:
/wiki/Reconstruction_Era
mw-redirect
Reconstruction Era

values: African-American civil rights movement (1865–1896)

values: African-American civil rights movement (1896–1954)

values: History of the United States (1865–1918)

values: Military history of the United States during World War II

values: United States home front during World War II

values: History of the United States (1991–2008)

values: History of the United States (2008–present)

values: Demographic history of the United States

values: Timeline of United States inventions (before 1890)

values: Timeline of United States inventions (1890–1945)

values: Timeline of United States inventions (1946–91)

values: Timeline of United States inventions (after 1991)

values: Postage stamps and postal history of the United States

values: Technological and industrial history of the United States

values: Lists of populated places in the United States

values: List of earthquakes in the United States

values: List of extreme points of the United States

values: List of mountain peaks of the United States

values: List of areas in the United States National Park System

values:
/wiki/Pacific_States
mw-redirect
Pacific States

values: Drinking water supply and sanitation in the United States

values: United States federal executive departments

values: Executive Office of the President of the United States

values: Independent agencies of the United States government

values: Federal law enforcement in the United States

values: Powers of the President of the United States

values: Current members of the United States House of Representatives

values: Speaker of the United States House of Representatives

values: Current members of the United States Senate

values: President pro tempore of the United States Senate

values: Separation of powers under the United States Constitution

values: United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps

values:
/wiki/Electoral_College_(United_States)
mw-redirect
Electoral College (United States)

values: Political ideologies in the United States

values: List of federal political scandals in the United States

values: List of companies of the United States by state

values:
/wiki/Federal_Reserve_System
mw-redirect
Federal Reserve System

values:
/wiki/Cuisine_of_the_United_States
mw-redirect
Cuisine of the United States

values: Chinese language and varieties in the United States

values: Educational attainment in the United States

values: Professional and working class conflict in the United States

values: Criticism of the United States government

values:
/wiki/Ableism_in_the_United_States
mw-redirect
Ableism in the United States

values: Federal drug policy of the United States

values: Environmental movement in the United States

values: Illegal immigration to the United States

values: International rankings of the United States

values: Separation of church and state in the United States

values:
/wiki/Book:United_States
mw-redirect
Book:United States

values: nowraplinks hlist collapsible collapsed navbox-inner mw-collapsible mw-collapsed mw-made-collapsible

values: Template:Government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation

values: Template talk:Government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation

values: United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs

values: Commanding General of the United States Army

values: nowraplinks collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner mw-collapsible mw-made-collapsible mw-collapsed

values: Template talk:Historical American Documents

values: Preamble to the United States Constitution

values: Article One of the United States Constitution

values: Article Two of the United States Constitution

values: Article Three of the United States Constitution

values: Article Four of the United States Constitution

values: Article Five of the United States Constitution

values: Article Six of the United States Constitution

values: Article Seven of the United States Constitution

values: First Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Second Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Third Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Eleventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution

values: Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution

values:
/wiki/Article_the_First
mw-redirect
Article the First

values: District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment

values: List of amendments to the United States Constitution

values: List of proposed amendments to the United States Constitution

values: Convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution

values: History of the United States Constitution

values: Signing of the United States Constitution

values:
/wiki/Bill_of_credit
mw-redirect
Bill of credit

values: Oath of office of the President of the United States

values: List of clauses of the United States Constitution

values: United States constitutional criminal procedure

values: United States constitutional sentencing law

values:
/wiki/Enumerated_powers
mw-redirect
Enumerated powers

values: George Read (American politician, born 1733)

values: Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States

values: United States Constitution and worldwide influence

values: nowraplinks collapsible collapsed navbox-subgroup mw-collapsible mw-collapsed mw-made-collapsible

values: Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence

values: Samuel Huntington (Connecticut politician)

values: William Williams (Connecticut politician)

values: Richard Stockton (Continental Congressman)

values: Physical history of the United States Declaration of Independence

values: Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness

values: Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence

values: Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

values:
/wiki/Province_of_North_Carolina
mw-redirect
Province of North Carolina

values:
nofollow
external text
https://d-nb.info/gnd/64838-3

values:
nofollow
external text
https://viaf.org/viaf/142488871

values: Category:1774 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies

values: Category:1789 disestablishments in the United States

values: Category:Philadelphia in the American Revolution

values: Category:Wikipedia articles needing clarification from August 2017

values: Category:Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers

values: Category:Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values:
/wiki/Continental_Congress
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values: portal navigation p-wikibase-otherprojects p-wikibase-otherprojects-label

values: مؤتمر فيلادلفيا – Arabic

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-min-nan
display: none;

values: Континенталь конгресс – Bashkir

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ba
display: none;

values: Кантынентальны кангрэс – Belarusian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-be
display: none;

values: Континентален конгрес – Bulgarian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-bg
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ca
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-cs
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-da
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-eo
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-eu
display: none;

values: کنگره قاره‌ای – Persian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-fa
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-gl
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ko
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-hr
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-io
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-it
display: none;

values: הקונגרס הקונטיננטלי – Hebrew

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-he
display: none;

values: კონტინენტური კონგრესი – Georgian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ka
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-lt
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-hu
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-nl
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ja
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-no
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-pl
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-ro
display: none;

values: Континентальный конгресс – Russian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sco
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-simple
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sk
display: none;

values: Континентални конгрес – Serbian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sr
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sh
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-fi
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sv
display: none;

values: Континентальний конгрес – Ukrainian

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-uk
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-vi
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue
display: none;

values: All languages (initial selection from common choices by you and others)

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Continental_Congress rootpage-Continental_Congress skin-vector action-view