In celebration of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States, we’re focusing on key events in the history of independence. Today’s post looks at the early months of the Second Continental Congress.
Before the First Continental Congress adjourned in October 1774, its members agreed to reconvene in Philadelphia on May 10, 1775. By the time Congress met again, the Battles of Lexington and Concord had occurred and the siege of Boston was under way—the de facto government had a lot to do.
Peyton Randolph was elected president of the Congress but was forced to return to Virginia in late May. On May 24, 1775, Congress unanimously elected John Hancock to replace Randolph. The 39-year-old Hancock had already amassed an impressive resume. The Harvard College graduate was a multiterm selectman of Boston, was a member of the provincial legislature from 1766 to 1772, served as president of the Provincial Congress in 1774, and served as a delegate from Massachusetts to the First Continental Congress.
National Archives Identifier 135797826
Congress then turned its attention to raising an army and finding someone to lead it. After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, about 20,000 provincial militiamen had assembled in the Boston area to stave off British forces. Congress proposed using these men as the core of a Continental Army.
On June 14, 1775, Congress voted to create the Continental Army out of the militia units around Boston, and on June 15, 1775, Congress unanimously elected George Washington as the commander in chief of the Continental forces.
Washington had served in the Virginia militia as a major in the French and Indian War. Congress chose Washington in part because of his military experience, but also he was seen as someone who could help unite the colonies.
The following day Washington accepted, saying:
Mr President, Tho’ I am truly sensible of the high Honour done me in this Appointment, yet I feel great distress, from a consciousness that my abilities & Military experience may not be equal to the extensive & important Trust: However, as the Congress desire i⟨t⟩ I will enter upon the momentous duty, & exert every power I Possess In their service & for the Support of the glorious Cause: I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their Approbation.
While Congress was meeting, the so-called Battle of Bunker Hill occurred. After Lexington and Concord, the British troops were eager to quash the rebellion and in June planned to launch an attack on Boston. Details of their plan were leaked, and about 1,000 Massachusetts and Connecticut soldiers gathered to defend a hill in Charlestown.
The battle occurred on June 17 and was mistakenly known as the Battle of Bunker Hill (in reality, it was “Breed’s Hill”). Although the British prevailed, they incurred a high number of casualties, signaling to the Americans that they had a fighting chance.
Congress, however, had not yet fully given up on reconciliation with Britain. On July 6, 1775, Congress approved a Declaration of Causes outlining the rationale and necessity for the colonies taking up arms, arguing:
In our own native Land, in defence of the Freedom that is our Birthright, and which we ever enjoyed till the late Violation of it—for the protection of our Property, acquired solely by the honest Industry of our fore-fathers and ourselves, against Violence actually offered, we have taken up Arms. We shall lay them down when Hostilities shall cease on the part of the Aggressors, and all danger of their being renewed shall be removed, and not before.
Congress also sent King George III the Olive Branch Petition, a final attempt at resolving disputes between the colonies and Great Britain. The King, however, refused to receive it and in response to the Battle of Bunker Hill issued a Proclamation of Rebellion in which he declared the colonies to be in a state of open rebellion.
With Great Britain refusing to negotiate, the colonies were on their way to realizing that a reconciliation with the crown may not be possible and independence might be their best option.
Want to know more? Come visit the Road to Revolution and Opening the Vault exhibits in the National Archives Building.