The Movement Toward Independence
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law, and legislative enactments in conflict with it are ‘‘unconstitutional’’
and unenforceable. Here in embryo, then, was the distinctly American
doctrine of judicial review, the rule of interpretation adopted by the Supreme Court in the landmark decision of Marbury v. Madison (1803).
The First Continental Congress, we may now observe, stands as an
important milestone in American constitutional development. Here, for
the first time, political leaders from throughout the colonies—many of
whom would later serve in the Constitutional Convention of 1787—met
for an extended period of time to discuss basic principles of constitutional government. For many, it was the first time they had met face-toface, and it was the beginning of a long and close relationship among the
Founding Fathers. In 1787 there were forty-one surviving members of the
First Continental Congress. Ten were elected to the Constitutional Convention. Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, and Richard Caswell refused
to serve, but the remaining seven—John Dickinson, William Livingston, Thomas Mifflin, George Read, John Rutledge, Roger Sherman, and
George Washington—signed the Constitution and supported its ratification. In addition, twenty of the surviving members of the First Congress were elected to the State ratifying conventions of 1787–1788; most
of them supported adoption.
On May 10, 1775, three weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to consider
‘‘the state of America’’ and prepare the nation for armed rebellion. One
of the first orders of business was the selection of a commander-in-chief
for the Continental army. A number of New Englanders favored Artemus Ward, who was in command of troops around Boston, but the southerners, fearful of New England’s imperial ambitions, successfully urged
the unanimous election of George Washington. The Virginian reluctantly
accepted, confiding to a friend that the ‘‘partiality of the Congress, added
to some political motives, left me without choice.’’
While the delegates maneuvered to gain support for their States’ ‘‘favorite sons’’ in the debate over the selection of Washington’s generals, the
bloody Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17. News reached Philadelphia on June 22, the same day Congress elected eight brigadier generals
and voted to issue