Opening of the Sixth Continental Congress

Background. The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies with some executive function that acted as the provisional government for the Thirteen Colonies and the newly declared United States before, during, and after the Revolutionary War. Both the First and Second Congresses normally convened in Philadelphia, but when that city was captured during the war, the Second Congress was forced to meet in other locations for a time.

The Move from Philadelphia. According to the timeline of the Second Continental Congress, on September 18 the Congress adjourned in order to move to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Twelve days later, on September 30, it reconvened at York, Pennsylvania, meeting at the Court House. The supplied passages do not name the British advance or any delegates involved in the relocation.

Context within the Congress. The Second Continental Congress had convened in 1775 at Pennsylvania's State House in Philadelphia and adopted independence in 1776. Its relocation to York in 1777 preceded the Congress's approval of the Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777, which was sent to the states for ratification, though the passages do not tie that approval to the York session.