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How about a list of delegates? For example, I took a guess and looked up James Mitchell Varnum and discovered that he was the delegate from Rhode Island from 1780-1782 and 1786-1787. I suspect that much of this information exists on Wikipedia, but is not organized to be included in this article.38.121.138.113 (talk) 17:22, 13 January 2012 (UTC)[reply]
As the terms Continental Congress and Confederation Congress are used interchangeably by some, perhaps a section or simply a link to the Confederation Congress page should be included? -Daniel T — Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.115.123.19 (talk) 18:22, 28 May 2012 (UTC)[reply]
We may want to mention all three incarnations in the lede, and mention the third was the governing body under the Articles of Confederation. Bms4880 (talk) 21:26, 5 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The organization of the Congress is not described. There is a debate over whether the traditional or conventional wisdom view that the weak Congress was a failure, or the flexible Congress was a success, due to its organization. A section describing the organization of the institution, and its processes, would put the more detailed history and timeline in context. Both views should be presented.Harrycroswell (talk) 07:57, 14 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]
The last paragraph of the Legacy section rather grandiosely interprets the opening line of the Gettysburg Address ("Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.") as a paean in praise of the Continental Congress for establishing the United States. The paragraph doesn't have any citation, and by assuming that by "our fathers" Lincoln meant only "the members of the Continental Congress", it relies on an extremely narrow and counterintuitive reading of the text that I don't think very many readers would arrive at naturally. Lincoln praises "our fathers" for bringing forth a new nation, not for the narrower acts of drafting and signing the Declaration of Independence, coordinating and supplying the Continental Army, and conducting foreign diplomacy. As such it seems pretty clear that Lincoln is praising the Spirit of '76 as a whole, and that by "our fathers" he includes not just the few dozen men who served in the Continental Congress during the war, but also the thousands of men and women who served in the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the fourteen state governments, and who served the Revolutionary cause outside any institutional hierarchy. The author of the paragraph even seems to know what a stretch this reading is, as they specify that Lincoln's praise for the Continental Congress is only "by implication". Unless a citation can be found indicating that historians tie the Gettysburg Address specifically to the Continental Congress, I think the paragraph is a clear instance of WP:SYNTH. Binabik80 (talk) 16:22, 27 May 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I think all commentators on Lincoln say he had reference to the Declaration, which is is not a synthesis to say it was a product of the Contl Congress. They also count 13 states not 14. Rjensen (talk) 05:27, 17 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]
I don't see any implication in the Gettysburg Address. The date is straightforward. The foundation of the U.S. is generally agreed to be in 1776 because of the Declaration of Independence. The Congress was the body that promulgated the Declaration but it itself did not constitute the foundation. This paragraph seems clearly subjective opinion, mind-reading (of Lincoln), or at best original research (but I don't see how it's credible research). Can it be backed up by any citation? Pending a citation I am removing the paragraph to here:
Whether it was successful as an organizational culture, or a failure when judged as a modern institution, the men, and by implication, the Continental Congress, were praised by a later President, whose words may serve as a balance to Madison's. President Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg Address on November 19, 1863, summed up their core accomplishment in thirty words: "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." — Preceding unsigned comment added by Zaslav (talk • contribs) 02:33, 26 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]
Does anyone know why the link to volume 14 is no good? Also, according to the Library of Congress website, there were 34 - not 33 - volumes published. Where is number 34? Elsquared (talk) 05:13, 17 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Currently the article reads, "The Declaration of Independence was issued two days later declaring themselves a new nation: the United States of America." However, most Americans of the day, both within and without the Continental Congress, considered their State to be their country and the United States to be little more than a military alliance of thirteen separate nations. The Declaration itself reads, "That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States...that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States..." The title further reads, "The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America." Note the lower case in "united," indicating that it was not the title of a nation. It was not until the Articles of Confederation were drafted that "United States of America" was adopted as the, " Stile of this Confederacy." It was only gradually over time, particularly after the adoption of the Constitution, that people began to see the U.S. as a single nation, particularly after the War of 1812 and the Civil War. Perhaps the line in the article should be shortened to, "The Declaration of Independence was issued two days later," to acknowledge that many delegates at the time thought they were creating thirteen nations, not one. Emperor001 (talk) 20:43, 9 March 2018 (UTC)[reply]
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