The Second Continental Congress was de facto the American government for most of the period of the American Revolution. With no real executive and uncertain support from the thirteen states, the Congress operated with notorious inefficiency. In its daily work the Congress functioned by committee (John Adams served on dozens), and it was hard to fix responsibility for any task anywhere. Money was chronically short, and the states still thought of themselves as separate entities merely gathered for the conduct of the war.
Shortly before the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, however, John Dickinson headed a committee that began drafting a plan for association that eventually became the Articles of Confederation. The articles were presented in July of that year and were debated for more than a year. Congress eventually approved the articles in October 1777, and the articles were submitted to the states for ratification.
Because unanimous consent of all the states was required for ratification, and because the states—which were engaged in a war of rebellion against what they saw as a tyrannical au-thority—were reluctant to take any action threatening their sovereignty, the Articles were not ratified until March 1781.
Despite its shortcomings, the Continental Congress achieved much. They declared independence, successfully conducted the war, sent ambassadors to foreign nations and gained the powerful support of France, oversaw the negotiation of an extremely favorable treaty, and, for better or worse, kept the Revolution alive through some very dark days. It was government by committee, not always a good thing, but under the circumstances it was probably better than having a strong leader who would inevitably have caused resentment.
World History
