History Fact Finder | Government and Politics - Why Were There Two Continental Congresses?

Why were there two Continental Congresses?

The First Continental Congress and the Second Continental Congress were meetings called by American colonial leaders to plan a response to attempts by the British Parliament (main governing body of Great Britain) to assert its control over the thirteen colonies. Two meetings were held because Britain rejected the plan developed at the First Continental Congress, so delegates (representatives from each colony) convened the Second Continental Congress to draft a stronger response. (The thirteen colonies were New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.) At the second meeting the colonists drafted the Declaration of Independence.

The First Continental Congress convened on September 5, 1774, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to plan a response to...

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