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Continental Congress

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Continental Congress

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First Continental Congress. The Continental Congress became the government of the United States out of necessity, not design. The forty-five delegates who gathered in Philadelphia in September 1774 were not sure why they were there. Some members, such as Joseph Galloway, John Jay, and John Dickinson, thought their task was to propose common policies to pressure England to rescind its unreasonable policies. Their ultimate goal was to resolve the crisis and reconcile the colonies with England; they did not see the Congress as the beginning of a new, independent government. Some delegates, such as Patrick Henry and Samuel and John Adams, did. The reconcilers carried the day, and the first Congress rejected the idea of independence but called for a boycott of British goods to take effect in December 1774. The Congress also empowered local Committees of Safety to enforce this boycott and to set prices for goods in communities.

Choosing Delegates. Each colony had chosen its delegates to Congress in different ways. In four colonies, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts, the assembly chose its delegates to Congress. The Massachusetts assembly made its choices behind locked doors; outside, Governor Gage’s secretary was proclaiming the legislature suspended. In Virginia, when the governor, Lord Dunmore, dissolved the assembly, it had reconvened in a nearby tavern to choose delegates; New York held a general election for delegates; and an open meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, chose that colony’s delegation. In other colonies delegates were selected at provincial conventions that had not been called by the established authorities. This created a problem, made more acute by the colonists’s grievances with England: the colonists were resisting what they regarded as unconstitutional British authority and objecting to British government policy that was contrary to their written charters. How, then, could the colonists have conventions or other meetings not authorized by charter or law to choose new governments or delegates to a Continental Congress? It was a difficult question, one the delegates did not have the leisure to consider though it restrained Congress from asserting more power.

Representation. Did the delegates represent the people of the colonies, or did they represent the colonies? Should the delegates vote according to their colony’s relative population or according to its wealth? Or should each colony have one vote? As soon as Congress met, it had to grapple with these questions. At the Albany Conference each colony had one vote, and the roll was called from north to south, starting with New Hampshire. The Stamp Act Congress had followed this precedent. Congress continued the custom of voting geographically. But the problem of representation was less easy to solve. Virginia, the largest colony, believed it should have the most votes. Delegates from the smaller colonies believed each colony should have one vote. Samuel Chase of Maryland proposed a compromise: give each colony one vote except in cases involving money, then each would vote in proportion to its contributions to the cause. Ultimately the delegates agreed that each colony would have one vote. This was done both to appease the smaller colonies and because discovering a practical alternative was too difficult. Neither Virginia nor Massachusetts thought this solution either fair or reasonable.

Summer 1775. The Second Continental Congress met in May 1775. This time war had broken out in Massachusetts. British forces occupied Boston, and two governments attempted to govern the province. Moderates in Congress still resisted the ideas that the Congress was a government and that the colonies could become independent states. Congress voted to raise a Continental Army to defend the beleaguered citizens of Massachusetts and appointed George Washington, a delegate from Virginia, to be its commander. Congress also voted to print paper money to help pay for this army and to establish a post office and appoint commissioners to negotiate with Indians. John Dickinson drafted a conciliatory petition to the king, called the Olive Branch petition. The Congress considered the Prime Minister, Lord North’s, conciliatory proposal: Parliament would not tax the colonies, but the colonial assemblies would tax the colonists and forward the receipts to London. This proposal might have averted the crisis in 1765, but by 1775 the colonial mood had shifted. After Congress learned of the Battle of Bunker Hill, it rejected North’s proposal. At about the same time King George III rejected the Olive Branch petition and declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion. In the fall, when South Carolina and New Hampshire requested instruction from Congress on what government was legitimate, Congress told each to have “full and free representation of the people, and that the Representatives if they think it necessary, establish such a form of Government, as in their judgment will best produce the happiness of the people.”

Plans for Union. All delegates understood the importance of unity: in 1754, when the colonies were threatened by France, Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan of union that would have the colonies unite under a general council, with a governor appointed by the king. In 1774 Joseph Galloway proposed a similar plan of union, but by this time delegates from Massachusetts were not willing to support any concessions to British power. Galloway’s plan was struck from the record, and he would remain loyal to the king while his colleagues in Congress drifted toward independence. In the summer of 1775 Franklin proposed another plan of union, with Congress serving as a governing body for the colonies. Silas Deane of Connecticut proposed a similar plan, but Congress was consumed with other problems and did not seriously consider either. Farsighted delegates such as Franklin, Deane, and John Adams realized that unity was essential, but at the moment they were also trying to convince delegates that independence was achievable.

Independence. The convincing arguments were made by Thomas Paine’s Common Sense in January and by Washington’s forcing the British out of Boston in March. In May, Congress called on all the colonies to form new governments: this was not independence but was, as delegate James Duane said, “a Machine for fabricating Independence.” Five days later Virginia’s new provincial congress, which had replaced the old House of Burgesses as the government, called on Congress to declare that the American colonies “are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.” This resolution, which Congress received on 7 June and approved on 2 July, changed the necessity for union. The Albany Plan, and all subsequent plans for union, envisioned the colonies cooperating for specific external objectives: either to protect the frontier or to make common cause against British attacks. With independence, though, the union would be a government. The problem in constructing a union would be to make a government that would govern but would not interfere with each state’s power to govern itself.

Dickinson’s Plan. Congress appointed a committee of thirteen to draw up a plan of confederation. John Dickinson took the lead in drawing up the plan of union, which he presented to the Congress on 12 July. South Carolina’s Edward Rutledge complained to John Jay that Dickinson’s plan “has the Vice of all his Productions...; I mean the vice of Refining too much.” Dickinson’s plan created a confederation of states but left ambiguous how much power the states would retain. Debate centered on three issues: the division of powers between the states and the confederation, representation of states in Congress and and contributions of states to the union, and control of the western lands claimed by several states. After Dickinson left Congress, the debate continued on

his plan, and on 20 August a committee presented to Congress a somewhat amended plan of union, which Congress debated over the next year. Ultimately Congress decided to continue allowing each state one vote, making it clear that “Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence.” Congress could not resolve the issue of land claims. On 15 November 1777 Congress approved the Articles of Confederation and submitted them to the states for approval.

CONTINENTAL CONGRESS: WHO AND WHERE AND WHERE

Presidents, First Continental Congress:
Peyton Randolph, Virginia (elected 5 September 1774)

Henry Middleton, South Carolina (22 October 1774)
Presidents, Second Continental Congress:
Peyton Randolph, Virginia (10 May 1775)
John Hancock, Massachusetts (24 May 1775)
Henry Laurens, South Carolina (1 November 1777)
John Jay, New York (10 December 1778)
Samuel Huntington, Connecticut (28 September 1779)
Thomas McKean, Delaware (10 July 1781)

Congress under the Articles of Confederation:
John Hanson, Maryland (5 November 1781)
Elias Boudinot, New Jersey (4 November 1782)
Thomas Mifflin, Pennsylvania (3 November 1783)

Meeting Places of Congress:
5 September 1774, Philadelphia
10 May 1775, Philadelphia
20 December 1776, Baltimore
4 March 1777, Philadelphia
27 September 1777, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
30 September 1777, York, Pennsylvania
2 July 1778, Philadelphia
30 June 1783, Princeton, New Jersey
26 November 1783, Annapolis, Maryland

The Articles. The Articles of Confederation created “a firm league of friendship.... For... common defence, the security of their liberties, and... mutual and general welfare” while each state remained sovereign and independent. Under the articles, each state could send between two and seven delegates to Congress, but each state would only have one vote. The delegates would be paid by their respective states. Because the Congress was not elected directly by the people, it could not tax the people, nor could it draft people into military service. Instead Congress could determine how much each state should send to the common treasury and how many men each state should contribute to the Continental Army, and then Congress could request each state to honor its commitments. No state could engage in foreign affairs, or tax goods sent into or out of other states, nor could any states enter into treaties or agreements with one another. Congress would be given the power to decide issues between

states over land claims and other matters, as well as matters of foreign affairs and relations with Indians. Congress submitted the articles to the states for ratification, requesting that the states do so by 10 March 1778.

Awaiting Ratification. Only Virginia ratified by 10 March, but most of the states ratified by July 1778. New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland held out because the articles did not give the union control of the Western lands. New Jersey (20 November 1778) and Delaware (1 February 1779) would ratify, but Maryland held out until both New York and Virginia agreed to cede their land claims to the union in 1781. Until the articles took effect, Congress continued to act, coordinating the military and attempting to raise money to pay for the army. But inflation skyrocketed, and the currency issued in 1777 became virtually worthless. In April 1780 one Spanish dollar, the basic unit of value, was worth four hundred dollars in Continental currency.

Political Divisions. With no political parties, divisions occurred based on personality and regional differences, the most notable being an attempt by some members of Congress, after Horatio Gates’s brilliant victory at Saratoga and George Washington’s failure to prevent the British from capturing Philadelphia, to replace Washington with Gates. The controversy over Silas Deane also bitterly divided the Congress in 1779–1780. The problems of war prevented further political divisions though within the states there were controversies over paper money and raising troops.

Executive Government. When the articles came into effect in the spring of 1781, Congress was empowered to create executive boards to better manage affairs. Robert Morris was appointed minister for finance, and he immediately undertook to make sense of the country’s debts and currency problems, which were immense. The country owed approximately $42 million, and the continental currency was virtually worthless. Morris proposed two solutions. First, he suggested creating a national bank. But since Congress did not have the power to charter a bank, Morris persuaded Pennsylvania’s legislature to charter the Bank of North America. Second, to help Congress raise revenue, Morris and the reformers in Congress, led by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, proposed amending the Articles to allow Congress to levy a 5 percent tax on imports. To change the Articles required the unanimous consent of the states, and Rhode Island’s refusal killed the plan. Morris tried to use his considerable political skill in reorganizing the finances, but failed, in part because the war’s end in September 1781 removed from the minds of many the pressing necessity to take action.

Woes. Congress’s lack of power became too apparent after the war. In 1783 Congress could not pay the soldiers who had helped to win independence. Pennsylvania’s soldiers mutinied, marched on Philadelphia, and surrounded Congress. State authorities would not call the militia to disperse the soldiers, and Congress was forced to flee the city, taking refuge in Princeton, then deciding to build two permanent capitals, one on the Delaware River in New Jersey, the other near George-town, Maryland, on the Potomac. Americans made fun of the powerless, wandering Congress, “not... stars of the first magnitude, but rather... inferior luminaries, or wandering comets, [who] again appear in their eccentric orb, assuming various directions and courses, sometimes regular and uniform, at other times, vain and retrograde.” Another suggested putting Congress into a balloon, so the members could “float along from one end of the continent to the other, ... and when occasion requires can suddenly pop down into any of the states they please.” The Congress, called into existence to meet the crisis of British power, threatened to dissolve.

Sources

Merrill Jensen, The Articles of Confederation (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1940);

Andrew C. McLaughlin, A Constitutional History of the United States (New York: Appleton-Century, 1936);

Jack Rakove, The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretive History of the Continental Congress (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1979).

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