The
Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the
Thirteen Colonies that started meeting in the summer of 1775, in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, that, soon after warfare, declared the
American Revolutionary War had begun. It succeeded the
First Continental Congress, which met between September 5, 1774 and October 26, 1774, also in Philadelphia. The second Congress managed the colonial war effort, and moved incrementally towards independence, adopting the
United States Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. By raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties such as the
Olive Branch Petition, the Congress acted as the
de facto national government of what became the United States.