The Collaborative International Dictionary
Continental \Con`ti*nen"tal\, a.
Of or pertaining to a continent.
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Of or pertaining to the main land of Europe, in distinction from the adjacent islands, especially England; as, a continental tour; a continental coalition.
--Macaulay.No former king had involved himself so frequently in the labyrinth of continental alliances.
--Hallam. -
(Amer. Hist.) Of or pertaining to the confederated colonies collectively, in the time of the Revolutionary War; as, Continental money.
The army before Boston was designated as the Continental army, in contradistinction to that under General Gage, which was called the ``Ministerial army.''
--W. Irving.Continental Congress. See under Congress.
Continental system (Hist.), the blockade of Great Britain ordered by Napoleon by the decree of Berlin, Nov. 21, 1806; the object being to strike a blow at the maritime and commercial supremacy of Great Britain, by cutting her off from all intercourse with the continent of Europe.
Wikipedia
The Continental Congress, also known as the Philadelphia Congress, was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies which became the governing body of the United States (USA) during the American Revolution.
The Congress met from 1774 to 1789 in three incarnations. The first call for a convention was made over issues of the blockade and the Intolerable Acts penalizing the Province of Massachusetts, which in 1774 enabled Benjamin Franklin to convince the colonies to form a representative body. Much of what we know today comes from the yearly log books printed by the Continental Congress called "Resolutions, Acts and Orders of Congress" which gives a day to day description of the debates and issues.
Although the delegates were divided early on as to whether to break from Crown rule, the second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, passed a resolution asserting independence, with no opposing vote recorded. The Declaration of Independence was issued two days later declaring themselves a new nation: the United States of America. It established a Continental Army, giving command to one of its members, George Washington of Virginia. It waged war with Great Britain, made a military treaty with France, and funded the war effort with loans and paper money.
The third Continental Congress was the Congress of the Confederation, under the Articles of Confederation.
Usage examples of "continental congress".
In all the surviving record of official and private papers pertaining to the Continental Congress, there is only one member or eyewitness to events in Philadelphia in 1776 who wrote disparagingly of John Adams, and that was Adams writing long years afterward.
At one time the Continental Congress had even discussed a scheme to arm American infantrymen with pikes (in lieu of British bayonets) and bows and arrows, due to the lack of powder and shot.
Where in the name of the Continental Congress did you get the lad?
Then at the request of the Continental Congress, our adjutant read aloud to the troops a document newly received from Philadelphia.
Their business wholly domestic, and subject to the authority of a Continental Congress.
True, a Continental Congress had convened, but 13 separate colonial assemblies vied with it for power and authority.
Many with whom he had served in the Continental Congress had passed from the scene&mdash.
The motto was chosen by a committee appointed by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and was officially adopted on June 20, 1782.
He had also volunteered for the final siege at Yorktown and for his services had received a printed promise from the Continental Congress that at some future date he would receive $480.
In order to pay for the war, both the government of Maryland and the Continental Congress issued paper money.
On his arrival in Philadelphia he was chosen a member of the Continental Congress and in 1777 he was despatched to France as commissioner for the United States.