Although the date of the Second Continental Congress had been set at the end of the First Congress, the meeting proved timely after the outbreak of hostilities at Lexington and Concord in April 1775 and the ensuing siege of Boston. The Congress moved to adopt this spontaneous act of rebellion by appointing George Washington Commander in Chief of the American Army on 15 June 1775. Washington took up his post around July 1st. The Congress drew up arrangements for financing the new colonies, a postal service and a navy and eventually accepted the need for complete independence from Britain, issuing the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1775 and drafting the Articles of Confederation which would become the basis for the Constitution of the United States, ratified in March 1781.…

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Citation: Editors, Litencyc. "Second Continental Congress". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 December 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=4200, accessed 23 November 2024.]