The story begins with Massachusetts delegates, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, traveling to Philadelphia to join Congress for its first meeting, scheduled to take place on May 10, 1775. In the time between the First Continental Congress adjourning in October 1774 and the Second Continental Congress assembling in May 1775, popular sentiment coalesced around a rejection of British tyranny. The catalyst for this change was the British troops’ attacks on Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. Delegates from the other colonies united in support of Massachusetts. Not all of them, however, were prepared to consider the issue of Independence—self-defense was the foundation of Congress’s justification for fighting the British.

1. Congress

Many delegates hoped to reconcile with Great Britain, but the Second Continental Congress rejected such a reconciliation. Instead, the Congress voted to amass armed forces and take on the responsibilities of a wartime government.  Congress’s duties extended beyond the war to practical issues affecting different colonies, making it the first national American government. Congress’s responsibilities were many and so varied that Congress developed an efficiency problem: The division of labor was convoluted and burdensome, and delegates couldn’t propose a policy or resolution until they had ascertained that the entire Congress would unanimously approve it.