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Chapter III - The Continental Congress,
A Commander-In-Chief The Continental Congress, A Commander-In-Chief
Whereas the British at least had the bureaucracy and means to engage in war, the colonists had only the Second Continental Congress for leadership. Delegates who convened on May 10, 1775, discovered that they had to assume control in a power vacuum. They hesitantly authorized the printing of money, formed a committee to supervise foreign relations, strengthened the state militias and created the Continental Army. At no point did the Continental Congress ever intend to become the governing body of an independent nation.
Delegates to the Continental Congress selected George Washington to lead the Continental Army. Washington, an aristocrat planter and slave owner from Virginia, was neither a fiery rebel nor a reflective political thinker. Rather, he was a dignified, conservative and respectable man of unimpeachable integrity. Though an aristocrat, he never wavered in his belief in the Revolution and representative government. Most importantly, he insisted on discipline and order, qualities severely needed by the untrained and inexperienced militia facing the most powerful military force in the world.
Throughout the summer of 1775, the Continental Congress remained indecisive over the issue of independence, preparing for war while begging for peace, proclaiming steadfast determination to protect American liberties while petitioning Parliament for a reconciliation, expressing great respect for King George III while promising death and destruction to his armies, Parliament and the king did not craver, however. Giving patriot leaders ample reason to call for independence, they declared the colonists in official rebellion on August 23 and ended all trade with the colonies on December 22. The patriots desperately needed someone to clearly articulate their position. Ironically, they found such a man in Thomas Paine, an Englishman.
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