On September 8, 1892 a Boston-based youth magazine "The Youth's Companion" published a 22-word recitation for school children to use during planned activities the following month to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America. Under the title "The Pledge to the Flag", the composition was the earliest version of what we now know as the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE.

I pledge allegiance to the Flag
of the United States of America,
and to the Republic for which it stands:
one Nation under God, indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for all.

First Continental Congress

Fifty-six delegates met to consider the pressing matters before the First Continental Congress.  Half were lawyers but the delegation also included planters and merchants.  Despite their differences, they found a common ground in responding to their treatment by their mother country.  Patrick Henry echoed the sentiments of most when he stated...

One of the first orders of business was consideration of "The Suffolk Resolves" calling for the colonies to defy Parliament's Coercive Acts.  Initially proposed by the more radical delegates from Massachusetts, it was approved by the Congress on September 17.  A key element of the approved resolution called for the arming of a Colonial militia, the birth of the American military.

Not all of the delegates were so radical in their opposition to the crown.   Georgia's absence was due to their governor's loyalty to the King.  Even among the delegates present, there were those who sought to fend off talk of open rebellion.   Because the common thread among the delegates was the fact that they were all men of prominence and some degree of wealth, they had much to lose by rash action.  The delegates from the host Colony of Pennsylvania put before the Congress a resolution to resolve their differences with England.  The resolution was defeated on September 28th, BY ONE VOTE!

The defining moment of the two month proceedings came on October 14th when the delegates approved the DECLARATIONS AND RESOLVES.  In addition to condemning Parliament and the King of England for interfering in the matters of the Colonies, it granted to each of the Colonies the right to a Colonial treasury and a Colonial legislative process.

Before the First Continental Congress adjourned on October 26th the delegates took two very important steps that set the stage for events to follow.  First, a petition was issued to King George,III of England called the "Declaration of Rights and Grievances".  It was the precursor to the Declaration of Independence that would follow a year and a half later, and set forth the complaints the Colonists had with their treatment by the mother country.  Finally, before returning to their homes, the delegates called for a Second Continental Congress to convene in Philadelphia the following year on May 10, 1775. 

Second Continental Congress

The Second Continental Congress convened more than a year before Lee's historic resolution was presented on June 7, 1776.  In the months since the earlier Congress had sent their Declaration of Rights and Grievances to the King, much had happened.  Just three weeks before the delegates assembled, Paul Revere made his historic ride and British Troops were defeated at Lexington and Concord.  In Virginia the fires of revolution were igniting, soon to spill over to the other Colonies.

When the delegates of the Second Continental Congress met on May 10, 1775 they had no basis in law, so the very existence of that body of delegates was a defiant, revolutionary act.  This time the delegation included representation from Georgia.   Among those attending were Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton.  (Remember Jeff, Ben, John and Alex from our story of Royal, Inc.?)  As the delegates began their meetings, unrest continued throughout the colonies.  After the military actions of recent months, British soldiers had occupied the city of Boston and were fortifying the city.

Another of the delegates was a young Virginian named George Washington.   Washington had endured a somewhat unsuccessful military career in the British efforts during the French and Indian Wars.  When he arrived in Philadelphia in May he was in uniform...the only uniform in the delegation.  On the heels of the recent engagements at Lexington and Concord, and even as the Congress was meeting in Philadelphia, a body of colonial volunteers captured Fort Ticonderoga.  In Virginia the men of Patrick Henry's Hanover County were openly challenging the governor's authority.  The unrest had escalated to militancy, and George Washington stood out in the crowd.  During the proceedings of the Second Continental Congress on June 14th, Massachusetts delegate John Adams submitted the name of Colonel Washington to command an army.  George Washington appeared to be taken by surprise and slipped out of the room.  He continued his absence the following day when it was resolved by the delegates that "a General be appointed to command all the continental forces raised for the defence of American liberty."  A Maryland delegate formally nominated George Washington, and he was unanimously elected. 

Two days after General George Washington took formal command of the Colonial militia at Boston on July 3rd, the Second Continental Congress approved a more moderate petition drafted by Pennsylvania's John Dickinson.  It called upon King George, III to repeal the Coercive Acts and work together with the Colonists in a happy and mutually beneficial relationship.  This concession to the desires of many of the delegates to avoid confrontation with Britain and reconcile the Colonies to the king was forwarded to Britain where Colonial agents attempted to persuade Lord Dartmouth to pass it on to King George.  Knowing that King George was unwilling to receive the controversial peace offering, Lord Dartmouth refused.  King George, III finally responded on August 23rd by declaring that the colonists were in open rebellion against England and the King.  He then responded by contracting for the use of 20,000 Hessian soldiers to suppress that rebellion.

Over the following year the members of the Second Continental Congress continued to take revolutionary steps.  The members by their actions, constituted their body as a government, with the ability to legislate and execute law.  The Congress established regulations for trade relations, issued their own currency, sent representative emissaries to other countries to represent the interests of the Colonies, and for all practical purposes operated as a nation free and independent of the Crown.

Since the delegates to the Second Continental Congress were meeting in Philadelphia, it was hard to miss the pamphlet issued on January 10th by local printer Robert Bell.  Titled "Common Sense", the provocative words were penned by Thomas Paine, an English immigrant who had arrived in the Colonies only two years prior.   General George Washington read the pamphlet and wrote to military colleague Joseph Reed on January 31st saying, "Common Sense will not leave numbers at a loss to decide upon the propriety of separation (of the Colonies from England)."  Not everyone agreed.  Reverend William Smith of Pennsylvania referred to Paine's "common sense" as  "NONSENSE".