The Second Continental Congress, also called the Confederation Congress, convened on May 10, 1775, and, except for a few recesses, met until the U.S. Constitution took effect in 1789. This body issued the Declaration of Independence (1776), prosecuted the Revolutionary War (1775-83), and governed the new nation.

There was significant continuity between the First and Second Continental Congresses. Fifty of the 65 delegates who attended the initial session of the Second Continental Congress had also served in the First Continental Congress (1774). When the meeting was called, it seemed that this Congress would face many of the same issues as the first one had, but by the time delegates arrived in Philadelphia, circumstances had changed significantly. The Congress convened three weeks after the Battles of Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775) and only a little more than a month before the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 17, 1775).

While the Continental Congress continued to give advice and direction to the colonies, particularly Massachusetts, about the course of resistance, it began to transform itself from a purely deliberative body into one that assumed executive responsibilities as well. In mid-June 1775, Congress created the Continental army and appointed George Washington as commanding general. Thus, it established the first national institution, an entity that it would now have to supply, finance, and regulate. To begin to fulfill these obligations, Congress issued its first bills of credit to finance the expanding war that same month. Funding the war by printing money and issuing loan certificates to maintain the army became the body's major preoccupations. However good the delegates' intentions, Congress struggled throughout its existence since it had no power to compel the states to contribute either to troop quotas or to revenue to conduct the war.

Although many great men served in the Second Continental Congress, it was plagued by poor attendance even as early as December 1775. Some of the most noted members included Virginia's George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Pendleton, Peyton Randolph, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison; Massachusetts's John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock; and Pennsylvania's Benjamin Franklin. Concerns about political events at home and their own livelihoods and families, however, made many delegates reluctant to spend months in Philadelphia or wherever Congress was meeting. Despite a rule adopted in November 1775 that no member could be absent without congressional permission, and several entreaties from Congress to the states to maintain their representation, absenteeism plagued the institution. The problem became particularly acute in the 1780s after the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, which stipulated that two delegates be present for a state to be able to record its vote. Consequently, because the Articles also required that nine states agree on many issues, Congress often found it difficult to conduct business. Expertise, continuity, and stability were hard to achieve.

The exigencies of war encouraged the necessary unity among the states but also allowed delegates to delay addressing particularly prickly issues, whether substantive or organizational. Like the First Continental Congress, delegates voted by state and not individually. The president of Congress carried out many ceremonial and administrative duties but could not act without being directed to do so by Congress. Thus, leadership was collective and variable rather than individual and institutionalized. Between 1774 and 1781, Congress experimented with several administrative arrangements to try to overcome the problems of a large workload and rampant absenteeism. At first, members relied on ad hoc committees, each intended to tackle a crisis or issue as it was raised, but by autumn 1775 Congress had begun to name permanent standing committees for specific purposes. Starting in September 1775, the Secret Committee was responsible for importing munitions and procuring supplies for the army. The Committee on Secret Correspondence, formed in November 1775, conducted all diplomatic communications. In January 1776 Congress organized the Marine Committee to oversee naval operations, but it took until June 1776 to finalize a Board of War to manage the conduct of the war. In February 1776 Congress established a treasury committee, which, along with a Committee on Accounts, was responsible for finances. Committees would propose actions that would be accepted or rejected by the whole Congress and could not make decisions without such approval. Congress relied on provincial officials, military personnel, or its own delegates to implement any resolutions adopted. Thus, New Jersey delegates were charged with transporting gunpowder to Dobbs Ferry, New York, and James Wilson of Pennsylvania was instructed to report on how much "Duck, Russian sheeting [etc.] . . . could be procured . . ." in Philadelphia. Many delegates felt overburdened by the workload and Congress's inefficiency.

This growing frustration culminated in December 1776, when Robert Morris of Pennsylvania complained that Congress should be relieved of the more mundane tasks and utilize the expertise of others outside the institution. The outcome was the creation of executive boards composed of delegates, who would retain the ultimate control and authority, and nondelegates, who could provide the necessary expertise. From autumn 1777 through late 1779, Congress created four boards: the Board of War, the Board of Admiralty, the Board of Treasury, and the Committee of Foreign Affairs. Ultimately, members never fully trusted these quasi-independent organizations and could not resolve how much authority to delegate to them. The line between making policy and simple execution of congressional directives was difficult to delineate, and Congress never found a comfortable position vis-a-vis the boards.

As can be seen from some of the responsibilities of the committees and boards, the Continental Congress controlled foreign affairs since it provided a vehicle through which other nations could interact with the new United States. The body thus dealt with diplomatic correspondence and appointed representatives and ambassadors to foreign nations. The most important mission was to France, which signed mercantile and military treaties with the United States in 1778. Congressional agents also negotiated foreign loans and dealt with a wide array of business on the international front.

In late 1780, encouraged by nationalists who wanted a stronger central government, Congress abandoned the board system and began to establish civil executive departments with one administrator in command who was accountable to and elected by Congress. Members created four departments: war, marine affairs, treasury, and foreign affairs. Robert Morris served as the superintendent of finance and became something of a prime minister for the United States because his control over finances meant he often set the agenda for the nation. Morris became so identified with the national government that he even issued notes in his own name--popularly called "Morris Notes"-- to sustain the Revolution when government finances were on the verge of collapse. Because of the problems with raising revenue, Morris pushed for an independent source of income from an impost for the United States. Since the states had decided that such a measure was an amendment to the Articles of Confederation, all states had to consent to the impost. When Rhode Island refused to ratify the impost in 1782, the nationalist program was dealt a severe blow. The department system, although an improvement over the more cumbersome boards, never functioned smoothly since even if the departments relieved delegates of the day-to-day operations, they did not significantly reduce their workload because Congress insisted on retaining final control.

Organizational issues were not the only ones that vexed the Continental Congress during its 15-year existence. During and after the war, the body moved a number of times. When British troops came too close to Philadelphia in autumn 1776, Congress retreated to Baltimore. In 1777 the British occupied Philadelphia, forcing delegates to meet in York, Pennsylvania. Even the Continental army caused problems: After mutinous soldiers surrounded Independence Hall in 1783, the delegates left Philadelphia for good, first reconvening in Princeton, then moving to Annapolis and Trenton before settling in New York City.

After the Treaty of Paris (1783), the underlying reason for unity among the states disappeared. The Continental Congress was ill-equipped to resolve some difficult issues, especially regarding repaying Revolutionary War debts, securing an independent source of revenue, regulating western lands, resolving disputes between states, and finding a permanent national capital. Despite these weaknesses, Congress did provide national leadership during the War of Independence and created the first national government. Perhaps its most singular achievement after the war was the passage of the Northwest Ordinances in 1785 and 1787.

The Confederation Congress contributed to its own demise in that its members belatedly approved the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation. Although Congress did not positively endorse the resulting Constitution, which abandoned the Articles, it did send the Constitution to the states for ratification. The Second Continental Congress continued to meet until the First Federal Congress convened in 1789.

Bibliography:

1) Calvin Jillson and Rick K. Wilson, Congressional Dynamics: Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the First American Congress, 1774-1789 (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1994).

2) Peter Onuf, The Origins of the Federal Republic: Jurisdictional Controversies in the United States, 1775-1787 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983).

3) Jack N. Rakove, The Beginnings of National Politics: An Interpretative History of the Continental Congress (New York: Knopf, 1979).

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