The Second Continental Congress
On July 13, 1775, the Congress appealed to the Native American tribes, to stand by the colonies and not assist the British. It became clear that Britain was prepared to fight against colonial independence. A royal proclamation declared that the King's American subjects were "engaged in beginning a rebellion," and Parliament passed the American Prohibitory Act, which made all American cargoes pay a penalty to the Crown. In May 1776 the Congress learned that the King had hired German mercenaries to fight in America. The Congress continued to cut the colonies' ties to Britain. By the middle of May 1776, eight colonies had decided that they would support Independence. On May 15, 1776, the Virginia Convention passed a resolution that "the delegates appointed to represent this colony in General Congress be instructed to propose that the United Colonies were free and independent states."
On May 10, 1775, the members of the Second Continental Congress met at the State House in Philadelphia. There were several new delegates including: John Hancock from Massachusetts, Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, and Benjamin Franklin from Pennsylvania. The day that the Second Continental Congress met, Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold had captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain in New York. The Second Continental Congress meeting started with the battle of Lexington and Concord fresh in their memories. The New England militia was still outside of Boston trying to drive the British out of Boston. The Second Continental Congress decided many important things. At the Congress, they decided to completely break away from Great Britain. On May 15, 1776, they decided to officially put the colonies in a state of defense.
The Congress discussed was if they were going to print paper money. This passed and paper money started to be printed later in the year. The Second Continental Congress was one of the most important government meetings in the history of the United States of America. It decided some of the most important ideas that the colonists fought for in the Revolutionary War, at that meeting, members of the Second Continental Congress wrote and signed The Declaration of Independence.
At the signing of the Declaration of Independence, John Hancock wrote his name first and biggest on the Declaration of Independence. He said, "The British ministry can read that name without spectacles; let them double their reward." He was talking about the reward offered by King George III that was to be given to anyone who could capture one of the Sons of Liberty, especially Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
| Another thing they decided they had to do was to organize the militia of the colonies better. So, they decided to form an army called the American Continental Army. On June 14, 1776, the Congress officially appointed George Washington as commander-in-chief of the army. He was elected unanimously. George Washington knew that this army would face great difficulty. He later wrote that Americans were "not then organized as a nation, or known as a people upon the earth. We had no preparation. Money, the nerve of war, was wanting." Great Britain was the most powerful nation on earth. It was a frightening thought that the Continental Army would need to fight Great Britain. |
0 comentarios:
Publicar un comentario