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The Continental Congress was the first de facto national government of the United States. It was a provisional government without a legal basis and was completely dependent on the colonies for political direction, funding and other resources. It comprised two successive bodies of representatives of provinces of the Thirteen Colonies in 18th century British North America. The colonies all became states in 1776 when they rejected colonial status:

• The First Continental Congress met from September 5, 1774, to October 26, 1774.
• The Second Continental Congress met from May 10, 1775, to the ratification of the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781.

Upon the ratification of the Articles, the Continental Congress was succeeded by the first legislative or de jure federal government of the United States:

• The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled ran from March 1, 1781, until a more effective federal government under the Constitution became operative on March 4, 1789. The membership of the Second Continental Congress automatically carried over to the Congress of the Confederation.

Initially formed to coordinate a common American response to the Intolerable Acts, the Continental Congress rapidly evolved from a de facto to a de jure governing body of a new nation as the dispute with the British government escalated into the American Revolutionary War. Once independence was declared (July 4, 1776) the Congress served as the governing body of the United States of America, organized as a new national legislature, which made war and peace.

• July 2, 1776 Initial Declaration of Independence passed by Congress
• July 4, 1776 Revised Declaration of Independence adopted by Congress (Independence Day)
• August 2, 1776 Declaration of Independence signed by Congress
• November 15, 1777 Articles of Confederation
• March 1, 1781 Ratification of the Articles of Confederation.
• September 17, 1787 Adoption of Constitution

• Bancroft, George. History of the United States of America, from the discovery of the American continent. (1854–78), vol. 4–10 online edition
• Miller, John C. Triumph of Freedom, 1775–1783 (1948) online edition
• Miller, John C. Origins of the American Revolution (1943) online edition
• Journals of the Continental Congress September 5, 1774 to March 2, 1789 online

Continental Congress

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