Download A Colonist petition that was disregarded by King George III during

A Colonist petition that was disregarded by King George III during the
First Continental Congress led to the outbreak of war and revolution.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE [ edit ]
Examine how the approach of the Second Continental Congress differed from the First
KEY POINTS [ edit ]
With the need for coordinated pressure on the BritishParliament and king, delegates from
the colonies assembled to create the First Continental Congress for coordinated action.
The result of the Congress was the Continental Association, which was a system for implementing
a trade boycott with Great Britain.
When the petition citing grievances was disregarded by King George III, a Second Continental
Congress was planned.
By the time of the Second Continental Congress, fighting was underway.
TERMS [ edit ]
Coercive Acts
A series of laws (also called the Intolerable Acts) passed by the British Parliament in 1774 relating
to Britain's colonies in North America. The acts triggered outrage and resistance in the Thirteen
Colonies, and were important developments in the growth of the American Revolution.
New England Restraining Act
Acts passed in 1775 by the Parliament of Great Britain in response to the unrest in Massachusetts
and overall colonial boycott on British goods conducted by the Continental Congress early in the
American Revolution.
Continental Association
A system created by the First Continental Congress in 1774 for implementing a trade boycott with
Great Britain; often known simply as the "Association".
Give us feedback on this content: FULL TEXT [ edit ]
With the need for coordinated pressure on the British Parliament and king, delegates from
the colonies assembled to create the First Continental Congress for coordinated action. The
result of the Congress was the Continental Association, which was a system for implementing
a trade boycott with Great Britain. When the petition citing grievances was disregarded by
King George III, a Second Continental Congress was planned. By the time of the Second
Continental Congress, fighting was underway .
Independence Hall Assembly Room
The Assembly Room in Philadelphia's Independence Hall, where the Second Continental Congress
adopted the Declaration of Independence.
Continental Association
The Continental Association was a system created by the First Continental Congress in 1774
for implementing a trade boycott with Great Britain. The Association aimed to alter Britain's
policies towards the colonies without severing allegiance and was fairly successful while it
lasted. Trade with Great Britain fell sharply, and the British responded with theNew
England Restraining Act of 1775. The Petition to the King was also formed during the First
Continental Congress and sent to George III of Great Britain. The petition expressed loyalty
to the king and hoped for redress of grievances relating to the Coercive Acts and other issues
that helped foment the American Revolution.
The British Parliament passed the Coercive Acts in 1774 toreform colonial administration in
British America and, in part, to punish the Province of Massachusetts for the Boston Tea
Party. Many American colonists saw the Coercive Acts as a violation of the British
Constitution and a threat to the liberties of all of British America, not just Massachusetts. As
they had done during the 1760s (most effectively during the Stamp Act crisis of 1765),
colonists turned to economic boycotts to protest what they saw as unconstitutional
legislation. The word "boycott" had not yet been coined; colonists referred to their economic
protests as, depending upon the specific activity, "non­importation", "non­exportation", or
"non­consumption". In May 1774, the Boston Town Meeting, with Samuel Adams acting as
moderator, passed a resolution that called for an economic boycott in response to the Boston
Port Act, which was one of the Coercive Acts.
The articles of the Continental Association imposed an immediate ban on British tea and a
ban on importing or consuming any goods (including the slave trade) from Britain, Ireland,
and the British West Indies to take effect on December 1, 1774. It also threatened
an export ban on any products from the American colonies to Britain, Ireland, or the West
Indies, to be enacted only if the complained­of acts were not repealed by September 10, 1775.
The Articles stated that the export ban was being suspended until this date because of the
"earnest desire we have not to injure our fellow­subjects in Great­Britain, Ireland, or the
West­Indies. "
The ban did succeed for the time it was in effect. However, the British retaliated by blocking
colony access to the North Atlantic Fishing Area. Only one colony failed to establish local
enforcement committees; in the others, the restrictions were dutifully enforced (by violent
measures, on some occasion). Trade with Britain subsequently plummeted. Parliament
responded by passing the New England Restraining Act, which prohibited the northeastern
colonies from trading with anyone but Britain and the British West Indies, and barred
colonial ships from the North Atlantic fisheries. These punitive measures were later extended
to most of the other colonies as well.
Second Continental Congress
By the time the Second Continental Congress met, the American Revolutionary War had
already started with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. For the first few months of the
struggle, the Patriots had carried on their struggle in an ad hoc and uncoordinated manner.
They had seized arsenals, driven out royal officials, and besieged the British army in the city
of Boston. On June 14, 1775, the Congress voted to create the Continental Army out of
the militia units around Boston, and quickly appointed Congressman George Washington of
Virginia as commanding general of the Continental Army. On July 6, 1775 Congress
approved a Declaration of Causes outlining the rationale and necessity for taking up arms in
the Thirteen Colonies.
On May 10, 1776, Congress passed a resolution recommending that any colony lacking a
proper government should form such. On May 15, Congress adopted a more radical preamble
to this resolution, drafted by John Adams, in which it advised throwing off oaths of
allegiance and suppressing the authority of the Crown in any colonial government that still
derived its authority from the Crown. That same day, the Virginia Convention instructed its
delegation in Philadelphia to propose a resolution that called for a declaration of
independence, the formation of foreign alliances, and a confederation of the states. The
resolution of independence was delayed for several weeks as revolutionaries consolidated
support for independence in their home governments.
Broadside Copy of the Continental Association
The Association adopted by the Continental Congress was published and often signed by local
leaders. Thomas Jefferson, who was not yet a delegate to Congress, signed this copy (lower left)
with other Virginians.