Continental Congress from 1774-1781 and the Articles of Confederation

Write down some of your thoughts about what is happening in the picture provided in the
lecture presentation. Consider the captions, figures, and their actions.

Now, based on what you saw and what you already know, what does Federalism mean?
Republicanism? Democracy?

The First Continental Congress

The first meeting was September 5th to October 26th 1775.
o All colonies except ________ sent elected delegates. The colonies all
wanted to show solidarity vs. Britain but there were a lot of different
ideologies in the same room. Plans of action varied from
________________________________________________.
One thing they could all agree on was that the King and Parliament needed to be
aware of their _____________.
Keep in mind, the colonies are individual entities at this point there was a lot of
debate at this first meeting.
o Think about it: What happens when you and your friends are discussing
your plans for Saturday night?
October 14, they agreed on the Declaration and Resolves.
o This established the course of congress.
o They agreed to meet in a year if _________________________________.
October 20, they also agreed on ________________________, a pact for the
nonimportation of English goods.
October 26, delegates drafted a formal petition to ____________________.
The Second Continental Congress
War is already under way!
Congress had to form the ________________ and chose ___________________
as the commander
Delegates also drafted the Olive Branch Petition in hopes to avoid any more war
with Britain. King George ____________ it on July 8, 1775.
The king no longer had authority so the Continental Congress filled the void,
which overstepped what it was intended for.
o What was it intended for?

They continue to meet until:

o Britains actions leading up to 1781 continued to encourage support for

the ________________________ faction of congress.
Ex. __________________________________________________
o Poll: If you were a colonist in the midst of the American Revolution, which
side would you support? Would you want to reconcile with Britain or
would you support a fight for independence?
The Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was
a_______________________________________________________________.

o It establishes a _____________ government that mostly prevented states

from conducting their own foreign diplomacy.
Many states feared a ______________ emerging if the federal
government was given too much power.
This is why the ____________ (a preliminary document proposed
by Benjamin Franklin advocating the creation of a federal
government) failed before the Revolution.
Other states thought the reason they were successful during the war
was because of the states unity under a strong government, which
allowed them to ____________________________________.
o At this point, the Continental Congress was____________. But,
Philadelphia was _______________________! This made formation of a
national government urgent!
October of 1777 delegates formulated the Articles of Confederation
o They agreed on _______________________________________.
o It was sent to be ratified in November, but most realized this was a
____________________ that was better than nothing

Congress came back together in June 1778 and learned that _________,
________, and ________ refused to ratify the Articles. It needed
___________ approval to be ratified.
o Their condition was that the other states
_____________________________________. Maryland remained
opposed after Delaware and New Jersey ratified.
Maryland changed their mind when British forces began to
______________________________________. They asked
for __________ assistance, whose minister urged them to ratify

the Articles. Once Virginia gave up their claims, Maryland

ratified on _____________.
Issues the Articles of Confederation did not allow states to address:
o Georgias conflicts with Spanish Florida over _______,
______________________________________________________
o Exportation of __________ from Great Britain to the states
o Congress could not enforce provisions of the ____________ (1783),
which allowed British creditors to sue debtors for pre-Revolutionary
debts.
Many states ________ this treaty
o The Continental Congress did not respond effectively to
______________________.

Quickwrite: What early problems do you predict for this weak confederacy?