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United States Continental Congress
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TheContinental Congress was initially a convention of delegates from severalBritish American colonies at the height of theAmerican Revolution era, who spoke and acted collectively for the people of theThirteen Colonies that ultimately became theUnited States. The term mostly refers to theFirst Continental Congress of 1774 and theSecond Continental Congress of 1775–1781. It also refers to theCongress of the Confederation of 1781–1789, which covers the period following the establishment of American independence with the end of theRevolutionary War. During this period, the Continental Congress served as the chieflegislative andexecutive body of theU.S. government.

Theunicameral Congress of the Confederation, officially styled "The United States in Congress Assembled," delegates elected by thelegislature of the variousstates. The Confederation Congress was the immediate successor to the Second Continental Congress; and delegates to it were similarly chosen. Many of the delegates to the initial 1775 session of the Second Continental Congress had also attended the previous First Continental Congress. Altogether, TheBiographical Directory of the United States Congress lists 343 men who served as delegates to the Continental Congress in three incarnations from 1774 to 1789; also listed are another 90 persons who were elected as delegates but never served.

Convened in response to theIntolerable Acts passed by theBritish Parliament earlier that year, the 56 delegates to theFirst Continental Congress sought to help repair the frayed relationship between the British government and its American colonies. They passed theContinental Association, an economic boycott of Great Britain, andpetitioned the king for a redress of grievances. They also resolved to reconvene in May 1775 if necessary.

Delegates from the various colonies did indeed reconvene for aSecond Continental Congress as scheduled, but by the time they gathered, theRevolutionary War had begun. Moderates in the Congress still hoped that the colonies could be reconciled with Great Britain, but a movement towards independence steadily gained ground. At this juncture Congress simultaneously sent anOlive Branch Petition toKing George III, hoping for a rapprochement, and issued aDeclaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, which contained the words "Our cause is just. Our union is perfect... being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves...".

Congress functioned as ade facto national government from the outset by establishing theContinental Army, directing strategy, and appointing diplomats. It eventually adopted theLee Resolution which established the newcountry on July 2, 1776, and it agreed to theDeclaration of Independence two days later.

Afterward, the Congress functioned as theprovisional government of the United States through March 1, 1781. During this period, in addition to successfully managing the war effort, its primary achievements included: drafting theArticles of Confederation, the first U.S. Constitution; securingdiplomatic recognition and support from foreign nations; and resolvingstate land claims west of theAppalachian Mountains. When the Articles of Confederationcame into force on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all 13 states, the Continental Congress became theCongress of the Confederation, which helped guide the new nation through the final stages of the Revolutionary War. Under the Articles, the Confederation Congress had limited power. It could declare war, sign treaties, and settle disputes between the states. It could also borrow or print money, but did not have the power to tax; nor could it compel the individual states to comply with its decisions. It convened in eight sessions (a ninth failed to achieve aquorum) prior to being supplanted in 1789, when theUnited States Congress became the nation'slegislative branch of government under a newConstitution.

Article V of theArticles of Confederation for the annual election of delegates to Congress bylegislatures of the various states to terms that commenced on the first Monday in November, in every year. Each state could send 2–7 delegates, and no person was permitted to serve as a delegate for more than three years within a span of six years. State legislatures also had the authority to recall or to replace its delegates at any time. Prior to 1781, delegates to the Continental Congress served at the pleasure of the state legislature that commissioned them; neitherterm limits nor specific start– / end–date of service existed.

For the most convenient management of the general interests of the United States, delegates shall be annually appointed in such manner as the legislatures of each State shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday in November, in every year, with a power reserved to each State to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time within the year, and to send others in their stead for the remainder of the year.

No State shall be represented in Congress by less than two, nor more than seven members; and no person shall be capable of being a delegate for more than three years in any term of six years; nor shall any person, being a delegate, be capable of holding any office under the United States, for which he, or another for his benefit, receives any salary, fees or emolument of any kind.

Each State shall maintain its own delegates in a meeting of the States, and while they act as members of the committee of the States.

In determining questions in the United States in Congress assembled, each State shall have one vote.

Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Congress, and the members of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrests or imprisonments, during the time of their going to and from, and attendance on Congress, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace.^[1]

The following tables list the 343 people who served in Congress: 1st Continental, 2nd Continental, or Confederation, between 1774 and 1789, as well as the year(s) of their active participation.

The following table lists the 90 people who were elected to Congress: 1st Continental, 2nd Continental, or Confederation, between 1774 and 1789, but who did not participate, as well as the year(s) of their election.

• Founding Fathers of the United States, includes a listing of which Founding Fathers signed one or more of the era's formative state documents
• Journals of the Continental Congress
• Charles Thomson, secretary of the Continental Congress
• History of the United States (1776–1789)
• Perpetual Union

• Burnett, Edward Cody (1941).The Continental Congress. New York, New York: Macmillan Company.
• Garraty, John A.; Carnes, Mark C., gen. eds. (1999, 2002 supplement).American National Biography. 24 volumes. New York, New York: Oxford University Press (for theAmerican Council of Learned Societies).OCLC 39182280.Official website(subscription required).
• Marshall, James V. (1856).The United States manual of biography and history: comprising lives of the presidents and vice presidents of the United States, and the cabinet officers, from the adoption of the Constitution to the present day. Also, lives of the signers of the Declaration of independence, and of the old Articles of confederation, of the framers of the Constitution of the United States, and of the chief justices of the Supreme court of the United States. With authentic copies of the Declaration of independence, the Articles of confederation, and the Constitution of the United States. To which is prefixed an introductory history of the United States. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: J. B. Smith & co. – via Internet Archive, April 30, 2009.
• Purcell, L. Edward (1993).Who Was Who in the American Revolution. New York, New York: Facts on File.ISBN 978-0-8160-2107-9.

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