The Declaration of Independence: And the Second Continental Congress

The Declaration of Independence is a document in which the 13 colonies unanimously declared independence from Great Britain.

In 1775 people all around the colonies thought that the only way to gain alliances for the war was to be independent from Great Britain. So the colonies gathered for the second Continental Congress. At first the delegates weren't so sure that they should take such a giant move but the war started and they would need an alliance from another country if they wanted to win the war. But nobody was going to ally colonies of Great Britain, so they ended up asking Thomas Jefferson to write a declaration of independence. It was accepted by the congress on July 2^nd, 1776 and signed and sent to the colonies to be ratified on July 4^th, 1776. But it wasn't ratified by all of the now states until five years later in 1781.

In the document it states all the things the King has not done for the states. For example:

"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures."

And these are just a few of the many things the states didn't like. Thomas Jefferson also mentioned that they had written petitions to the king in a very gentle way but they were returned with, “repeated injury.”

And to wrap up the document it states this,

"We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

The result of the Declaration of Independence was this;

The delegates thought that now they were a free country they needed to put a governing document into place, so they decided to write a whole new document called the Articles of Confederation.

When the second Continental Congress started, they weren't so sure about the Declaration, so they wrote another petition. This petition was called the Olive Branch Petition. This was sent to the King in one last hope that a war could be avoided. But the King refused to read it and declared the colonies to be in full rebellion. After that, the King officially declared war on the colonies. So, seeing that the King wanted war, the delegates asked Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence. After they had written this they saw the need to put a governing document into place. So, in November of 1777 they approved the Articles of Confederation and sent it to the new states for ratification. Just like the Declaration, it wasn't ratified by all the states until 1781. Of course we all know they weren't officially a country until 1784 when the Revolutionary War ended. But at least they were ready to be a full running country when it did end. 

The Continental Congress: As Told by George Wilson

“No, I think we should send that letter to the king!” I said. “Yeah!!” Shouted most of the rest here in the Pennsylvania State House.

“Oh, Hello! My name is George Wilson and I am a delegate in the Continental Congress representing North Carolina. Right know we're discussing whether to send a letter of grievances to the King or not. I think it's pretty unanimous that we will be. But let me take you back to where it started.”

“It started around two weeks ago, I received a letter from John Adams saying that there was going to be a gathering of all 13 colonies in two weeks. (It ended up only being 12 because Georgia needed British troops for fighting Indians) Anyway where was I? Ah yes, so I received a letter that said I was chosen to be a delegate of the fine colony of North Carolina. I was really excited about that because now I could speak for all of North Carolina in the Continental Congress. But that also put a lot of responsibility on my shoulders. But George Wilson was ready! So I made preparations, met with the other delegates of North Carolina to see what their point of views were. And we also met with a lot of the authorities from around the colony to see what the people wanted. So in ten days we were ready to leave, we said goodbye and left for Philadelphia. We arrived on the evening of the third day on the road. Philadelphia was magnificent big brick buildings, cobblestone roads, and best of all, the Pennsylvania State House! Wow! The tall spire, the length of the building, and just the grandeur of the building. Inside and out.

We arrived just in time for roll call of the different colonies' delegates. Everyone was present, other than the Georgian delegates. And a couple of other people who couldn't make it for other reasons.

The next day at nine o'clock all the delegates met for the first discussion topic, boycotting British goods. Now this was pretty much already in action throughout the colonies but there had never been an executive decision to boycott. Colonists just started one day and it spread.

So as you may have guessed already by 11:30 we took a vote. It was a unanimous vote to keep boycotting British goods until the taxes were lifted. After a break for dinner (lunch was called dinner in the old days, Editor) we met back at the State house in two hours and discussed the letter to the King. The points of view were mixed at first with 3/4ths of the delegates being in favor but the other ¼ weren't so sure. They thought that it might anger the King and Parliament even more than they already were. But others, like myself, thought differently. We thought that if we sent a calm and peaceful letter of grievances maybe the King would actually listen to us. “No, I think we should send that letter to the king!” I said. “Yeah!!” Shouted most of the delegates. “Lets vote.” said one of the delegates from Virginia. So we voted. It came out almost unanimous that we would send a petition to the King.

Now the final discussion, who would write the letter/petition? It was decided after unanimous vote once again that John Dickinson would write the letter/petition.

And that my friends is what happened at the First Continental Congress. The next day we came back to the State House and told John what the colonies wanted in the letter. We went all went back to our homes and a week and a half later went back to Philadelphia to read and edit the letter.

The End