The Continental Congress resulted from the American Revolution and was the de facto first national government of the United States. It was a provisional government without a legal basis and was completely dependent on the colonies for political direction, funding and other resources. It comprised two successive bodies of representatives of provinces of the Thirteen Colonies in 18th century British North America. The colonies all became states in 1776 when they rejected colonial status:
Upon the ratification of the Articles, the Continental Congress was succeeded by the first legislative or de jure federal government of the United States:
The Congress of the Confederation or the United States in Congress Assembled ran from March 1, 1781, until a more effective federal government under the Constitution became operative on March 4, 1789. The membership of the Second Continental Congress automatically carried over to the Congress of the Confederation.
Initially formed to coordinate a common American response to the Intolerable Acts, and assert the colonist's rights as Englishmen, the Continental Congress rapidly evolved from a de facto to a de jure governing body of a new nation as the dispute with the British government escalated into the American Revolutionary War. Once the Declaration of Independence was ratified (July 4, 1776) the Congress served as the governing body of the United States of America, organized as a new national legislature, which made war and peace.
