What was the purpose of the Second Continental Congress?

The Second Continental Congress was created to coordinate the colonial war effort against Britain after fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord, and once reconciliation proved impossible, to declare independence and lay the foundations of a new nation. The Congress convened on May 10, 1775 in the Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia, the building now known as Independence Hall. Delegates from all 13 colonies eventually attended, including Georgia, which had abstained from the First Continental Congress. John Hancock of Massachusetts replaced the ailing Peyton Randolph as president on May 24, 1775, with Charles Thomson continuing as secretary.

The Congress operated as the de facto national government for six years, until the Articles of Confederation took effect on March 1, 1781 and turned it into the Confederation Congress. Its purposes evolved through three phases. In the first phase, May to July 1775, the Congress tried to manage a war while still hoping for reconciliation. It adopted the New England army besieging Boston as the Continental Army on June 14, 1775 and named George Washington commander in chief on June 15, 1775. It sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III on July 8, 1775 expressing loyalty and seeking redress, while simultaneously approving the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms on July 6, 1775. King George rejected the petition unread and proclaimed the colonies in rebellion on August 23, 1775.

In the second phase, fall 1775 through summer 1776, the Congress moved toward independence. It opened American ports to non-British trade in April 1776, sent commissioners to seek French aid, authorized state governments to draft constitutions, and on June 7, 1776 received Richard Henry Lee's resolution declaring the colonies free and independent. Five delegates were appointed on June 11, 1776 to draft a Declaration: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston. On July 2, 1776 the Congress voted for independence, and on July 4, 1776 it adopted the Declaration of Independence.

In the third phase, 1776 through 1781, the Congress directed the war, negotiated the French alliance of February 6, 1778, drafted the Articles of Confederation in 1777, and tried to manage runaway inflation of the Continental currency. The Congress fled Philadelphia in 1776 and 1777 ahead of British armies and sat in Baltimore, Lancaster, and York at various times. Its purpose was always to wage and then to win the war, and to construct a continental political authority where none had existed.