CONGRESS, Continental. The first recog nition of a solidarity of interests among the English colonies in America, and attempts at joint action against a common foe, were made in 1690, by Jacob Leisler, revolutionary dictator of New York; and his efforts were stimulated by the fact that New York bore the first brunt of Canadian invasion, and needed help. He invited the other colonies to send delegates to New York and contribute men and money for a counter-invasion; but none farther south than Maryland responded. A much more com prehensive plan was devised by Franklin in 1754 (see ALBANY CONGRESS), but fell through. In 1765, on occasion of the Stamp Act (q.v.), a colonial congress from all the North except New Hampshire, and only South Carolina of the South below Maryland, met at New York 7-25 October, but took no action except to petition Parliament. In 1773, when the Revolu tion was impending, Franklin renewed his former suggestion in a letter to the assembly of Massachusetts, whose agent in London he was, but still nothing was done.
The next year, however, on receiving news of the Boston Port Bill, Virginia proposed to the other colonies a Continental Congress in the fullest sense; that is, including Canada, for it was not doubted that this recently subjugated province would gladly join in a revolt against its conqueror. Massachusetts responded 7 June, others followed, and the first real American Congress met in Philadelphia, 5 Sept. 1774, sitting till 26 October. Canada, however, was not represented; nor was Georgia, though it shared in all succeeding Congresses. The in structions to the delegates did not contemplate separation or forcible resistance, but only the proposal of measures to (restore harmony' with Great Britain; and the Congress merely drafted addresses to the king and the people of that country, to the Canadians, and to their own constituents, and recommended non-im portation and non-exportation agreements, and the forcible resistance to any forcible attempt to carry out the Parliament's taxation measures. It also advised the immediate election of dele gates to a fresh Congress in Philadelphia 10 May 1775; which was carried out by various bodies—legislative assemblies in some cases, popular conventions or committees of safety (q.v.) in others. None of these had any legal
power to act for this purpose, and the title of all alike was the will of the force majeure of the people; for the loyalist section had equal right to oppose the elections, and it was tacit acceptance of superior fighting force that gave the title. The fact that this Congress was con sidered necessary at all, and was to have power to organize combined resistance to Great Brit ain, would be conclusive evidence that the leaders of public opinion had determined on independence unless highly improbable conces sions were made, were it not for the extreme reluctance the Congress displayed in declaring it, only doing so under irresistible urgency from public opinion. A parallel case is the memory of the hopes of accommodation and conciliation by Union leaders not only in 1860-61, but all through the Civil War. The frequent charge of hypocrisy against the Revolutionary leaders involves one against all the patriotic statesmen of the decade before 1860.
As soon as war was actually proclaimed by Great Britain the second Congress assiuned the fullest powers of sovereignty; much greater than those of the British Parliament, for it combined the powers of that body with those of the ldng, being itself both executive and legislative head of the nation. It raised military and naval forces and directed belligerent opera tions with them, authorized privateering, con tracted treaty alliances, issued national cur rency, etc., in both capacities. This was by no usurped power, but by the urgency of the people, who were far more anxious to have it talce the powers than it was to exercise them. The provincial congresses appealed to it for authorization, and the people urged it to more energetic action. Its crowning act was the Declaration of Independence; its business from 12 July to 20 August the debating of the scheme of government it had drafted (see UNITED STATES-ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION), but which was not put in force for fivt. years, and for which it was perhaps slight misfortune to, have waited. It sat till 12 Dec. 1776.