[15] Letter of the Congress to Governor Gage, October 10, 1774. Journals, I. 25, 26.
[18] See the origin of these expressions explained, in Adams's Works, II. 373-375.
[20] Ibid. They adopted also an Address to the People of Great Britain, and a Petition to the King, embodying similar principles with those asserted in the Declaration of Rights. Ibid. 38, 67.
[22] This association, signed by the delegates, of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, as well as of the other colonies, contained, among other things, the following agreement:--"We will neither import nor purchase any slaves imported after the first day of December next; after which time we will wholly discontinue the slave-trade, and will neither be concerned in it ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels, nor sell our commodities or manufactures, to those who are concerned in it." Journals, I. 33.
THE SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS.--FORMATION AND CHARACTER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT.--APPOINTMENT OF A COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.--FIRST ARMY OF THE REVOLUTION.
A new Continental Congress assembled at Philadelphia on the 10th of May, 1775; and in order to observe the growth of the Union, it is necessary to trace the organization of this body, and to describe briefly the kind of sovereignty which it exercised, from the time of its assembling until the adoption and promulgation of the Declaration of Independence.[24]
The delegates to this Congress were chosen partly by the popular branch of such of the colonial legislatures as were in session at the time, the choice being afterwards ratified by conventions of the people; but they were principally appointed by conventions of the people held in the various colonies. All these appointments, except those made in New York, took place before the battle of Lexington, and most of them had been made in the course of the previous winter.[25] The credentials of the delegates, therefore, while they conferred authority to adopt measures to recover and establish American rights, still expressed, in many instances, a desire for the restoration of harmony between Great Britain and her colonies. In some cases, however, this desire was not expressed, but a naked authority was granted, to consent and agree to all such measures as the Congress should deem necessary and effectual to obtain a redress of American grievances.