The Second Continental Congress was the assembly of colonial delegates that met in Philadelphia starting May 1775, after Lexington and Concord, and acted as America's de facto national government, directing the war, adopting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and drafting the Articles of Confederation.
The Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in May 1775, just weeks after the fighting at Lexington and Concord. Here's the wild part. The colonies were suddenly at war with Britain but had no national government at all, so this gathering of delegates became one by default. It created the Continental Army (putting George Washington in command), printed money, conducted diplomacy, and coordinated the war effort across thirteen very independent-minded colonies.
Its two biggest products bookend Unit 3's story of independence and nation-building. First, in July 1776, it adopted the Declaration of Independence, turning Enlightenment ideas about natural rights and republican government into an official break with Britain (KC-3.2.I.B). Second, it drafted the Articles of Confederation, the first national constitution, which deliberately created a central government with limited power because the colonists had just fought a war against a strong central authority (KC-3.2.II.B). The Congress essentially governed the new nation until the Articles took effect in 1781.
This term sits at the hinge of Unit 3 (Independence and Nation-Building, 1754-1800), connecting Topic 3.4 to Topic 3.7. For APUSH 3.4.A, the Congress shows you how colonial attitudes about government changed in action, not just in pamphlets. Delegates moved from petitioning the king to declaring independence in about fourteen months, propelled by Enlightenment ideas and Paine's Common Sense. For APUSH 3.7.A, the Congress explains where the Articles of Confederation came from and why they were so weak. The same body that ran a war with no real taxing power designed a government with no real taxing power. That cause-and-effect chain (revolutionary fears of central authority producing a deliberately limited government) is exactly the kind of reasoning the exam rewards under the Politics and Power theme.
Keep studying APUSH Unit 3
Declaration of Independence (Unit 3)
The Declaration is the Second Continental Congress's most famous act. The Congress is the body, the Declaration is the document, and the exam expects you to know who adopted it and why July 1776 marks the official break with Britain.
Articles of Confederation (Unit 3)
The Congress drafted the Articles and then basically became the Confederation Congress once they were ratified in 1781. Its wartime struggles, like begging states for money and troops, were baked into the Articles' weaknesses, which is why calls for a stronger government followed.
Common Sense (Unit 3)
Paine's January 1776 pamphlet shifted public opinion toward independence and gave delegates political cover to act. Think of Common Sense as the argument and the Congress's Declaration as the answer, both expressing the same belief in republican government based on natural rights (KC-3.2.I.B).
Continental Army (Unit 3)
The Congress created the Continental Army in June 1775 and named Washington commander, which made it a real government rather than a debating society. Funding that army without the power to tax previews every problem the Articles would later have.
You'll most often see the Second Continental Congress in multiple-choice stems built around an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence or Common Sense, asking what the Congress was responding to or how its actions reflected changing attitudes about government (APUSH 3.4.A). No released FRQ has required the term verbatim, but it's high-value evidence in essays. In an LEQ or DBQ on the causes or effects of the Revolution, citing the Congress lets you show change over time (petitioning Britain in 1775, declaring independence in 1776, drafting the Articles after). The strongest move is connecting it forward, explaining how the Congress's powerless wartime experience shaped the deliberately weak Articles of Confederation (APUSH 3.7.A).
The First Continental Congress (1774) met before the war started, in response to the Intolerable Acts, and its goal was to pressure Britain into repealing them through boycotts, not to break away. The Second Continental Congress (1775) met after fighting had already begun at Lexington and Concord, so it had to govern, raise an army, and eventually declare independence. Quick check for the exam: First = protest and petition, Second = war and independence.
The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in May 1775, after Lexington and Concord, and served as the colonies' de facto national government during the Revolutionary War.
It created the Continental Army in June 1775 and appointed George Washington as its commander.
It adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, putting Enlightenment ideas about natural rights and republican government into official action (KC-3.2.I.B).
It drafted the Articles of Confederation, a deliberately weak central government that reflected revolutionary fears of concentrated power (KC-3.2.II.B).
Don't confuse it with the First Continental Congress of 1774, which met before the war and sought repeal of the Intolerable Acts, not independence.
Its lack of taxing power during the war foreshadowed the Articles' biggest weakness and helps explain why Topic 3.7 ends with calls for a stronger central government.
Starting in May 1775, it acted as the colonies' national government during the Revolutionary War. It created the Continental Army, named Washington commander, adopted the Declaration of Independence in July 1776, and drafted the Articles of Confederation.
No. When it convened in May 1775, most delegates still hoped for reconciliation with Britain, and it even sent the Olive Branch Petition to the king. Independence came over a year later, in July 1776, after Common Sense and continued fighting shifted opinion.
The First (1774) met before the war to protest the Intolerable Acts and organize boycotts while staying loyal to Britain. The Second (1775) met after fighting began and had to actually govern, run a war, and ultimately declare independence.
No. It drafted the Articles of Confederation, the first national constitution, which created a weak central government. The U.S. Constitution came later, written at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 to fix the Articles' failures.
It had no legal authority to tax or enforce its decisions, so it depended on the states voluntarily supplying money and troops. That experience, plus colonial distrust of central power after fighting Britain, explains why the Articles of Confederation kept the national government weak (KC-3.2.II.B).