The Second
Continental Congress
Lesson 5.4 Outline
Question 1
• On what date did the Second Continental Congress
meet?
Answer
• The Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775.
Question 2
• List the delegates of the Second Continental Congress.
Answer
• Some of the delegates of the Second Continental
Congress were John and Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry,
Richard Henry Lee, George Washington…
Key Facts
• Benjamin Franklin, who represented the colonies in
London and helped win repeal of the Stamp Act, was
also present.
Key Facts
• John Hancock of Massachusetts was the president of
the Second Continental Congress. He was a wealthy
merchant who funded many Patriot groups, including
the Sons of Liberty.
Key Facts
• Thomas Jefferson, only 32, was also a delegate. He
served in the Virginia legislature. Jefferson was already
known as a brilliant thinker and writer.
Question 3
• What were the key actions of the Continental Congress?
Answer
a. It authorized the printing of money and set up a post
office.
Answer
b. The Congress also formed committees to handle
relations with Native Americans and foreign countries.
Answer
c. Most important, it created the Continental Army.
Question 4
What was the Olive Branch petition?
Answer
The Olive Branch Petition assured the king that the
colonists wanted peace. It also asked him to protect the
colonists’ rights.
Question 5
What were 3 responses the king had to the Olive Branch
Petition?
Answer
The king rejected the petition. Instead, he prepared for
war. He hired more than 30,000 German troops, called
Hessians, to fight alongside British troops.
Question 6
Who was Thomas Paine? What did he publish?
Answer
• Thomas Paine arrived in the colonies from England in
1774. He published a pamphlet called Common Sense.
Question 7
• Describe Thomas Paine’s pamphlet.
Answer
• In bold language, Paine called for a complete break with
British rule. Common Sense listed powerful reasons
why Americans would be better off free from Great
Britain. The pamphlet greatly influenced opinions
throughout the colonies.
Thomas Paine and Common Sense
According to Paine, society was everything constructive and
good that people join together to accomplish.
Thomas Paine and Common Sense
• He believed that government's only purpose was to protect
life, liberty, and property, and that a government should be
judged only by how well it accomplishes this goal.
Thomas Paine on the American Colonies
• Some people felt that America had thrived under British rule,
and therefore ought to stay under the king.
• Paine said that such an argument failed to realize that America
had evolved and no longer needed Britain's help.
Thomas Paine on the American Colonies
• Paine felt that Britain has only watched over America in order
to gain more money.
Thomas Paine on the American Colonies
• Paine added that instead of watching over the colonies, the
British had been attacking them, and therefore did not
deserve American loyalty.
• Paine said that the colonies had little to gain from remaining
attached to Britain.
Thomas Paine on the American Colonies
• He believed that if America became independent, then trade
would improve, and the rest of the world would gain more
respect for America.
Thomas Paine on the American Colonies
• Paine recommended that the colonists adopted a
representative democracy in which citizens elected other
people to make decisions for them. He wanted this system to
give each of the colonies an almost equal say in government.
Question 8
• In your own words, what does Richard Henry Lee’s quote
mean?
Quote
• “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to
be, free and independent States…and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain
is, and ought to be, totally dissolved.”
– Richard Henry Lee, resolution for Independence, 1776
Answer
Richard Henry Lee is basically saying that we need to
completely break free from England.
Question 9
What were the 3 opinions of Lee’s resolution?
Answer
Some delegates still thought the colonies should not form
a separate nation.
Answer
Others argued that war had already begun and they
should be free from Great Britain.
Answer
Still others feared Britain’s power to crush the rebellion.
Question 10
Thomas Jefferson used the ideas of John Locke to write the
Declaration of Independence. What 3 principles did this
philosopher consider natural rights?
Answer
John Locke considered life, liberty, and property to be
natural rights.
Question 11
What were Locke’s thoughts on government?
Answer
Locke wrote that people form governments to protect
those rights, and that a government interfering with
those rights could rightfully be overthrown.
Question 12
Who signed the Declaration of Independence first? What
was unique about his signature?
Answer
John Hancock signed the Declaration first. He remarked
that he wrote his name large enough for King George to
read without his glasses.
Wrap Up
• What was the Olive Branch petition?
• What was the king’s response?
• Who was Thomas Paine? Whose ideas did he borrow?
• Did everyone at the continental Congress want
independence? Why or why not?