HY 357 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: First Continental Congress
6 Jun 2018
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The Continental Congress
Twelve of the 13 colonies sent representatives to the First Continental Congress, which met in
Philadelphia in September 1774. At that meeting, resolutions and a statement of rights and
principles were adopted that still looked to a peaceful settlement with Great Britain. The Second
Continental Congress convened in May 1775, after the battles of Lexington and Concord.
Without legal authority to do so, the Second Continental Congress assumed governmental
functions. It established a postal system, created a navy and marine corps, negotiated treaties
with the Native Americans, and looked for allies overseas. Most important, the Congress
formally voted to declare independence from Great Britain.
The Declaration of Independence
Written chiefly by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence (adopted July 4, 1776, by
the Second Continental Congress) provided the specific reasons for the break with Great Britain.
Its philosophical justification drew heavily from John Locke's Two Treatises of Government
(1690). Locke argued that people have natural rights — "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness," in Jefferson's words — that cannot be taken away. Governments, which get their
power from the consent of the governed, are created to protect these rights. When a government
fails to do so, the people have a right to abolish it and create a new form of government.
State constitutions
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