Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm82082974
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The records of the United States Continental Congress were acquired by the Library of Congress from various sources during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The records of the United States Continental Congress were arranged and described in 1984. The collection and finding aid were revised in 2012.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the United States Continental Congress is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The records of United States Continental Congress are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
A microfilm edition of part of these papers is available on three reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, United States Continental Congress Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The records of the United States Continental Congress span the years 1765-1825, with the bulk of the material from 1774 to 1790. The collection consists of original and reproduction documents of the United States Continental Congress acquired by the Library from many sources.
Included are letters and extracts from letters, circular letters, orders, resolutions, contracts, oaths of allegiance to the United States, financial documents, extracts from journals and minutes of the Congress and its committees, committee reports, lists, and requisitions. Among the topics are finance, supplies, intelligence, personnel, political affairs, legislation, military matters, and Indian affairs. Charles Thomson, as secretary of the Continental Congress, is the signer of many of these documents. Other names represented include John Adams, John Dickinson, Horatio Gates, John Hancock, John Jay, John Paul Jones, Henry Laurens, Richard Henry Lee, James Madison, Robert Morris.
Of note in the collection is a bundle of forty-six bills of exchange payable to Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799), supplier of arms and military stores to the United States, June 15, 1779; a group of fifteen letters, January 17, 1777-November 17, 1781, to the Secret Committee of Congress and Robert Morris from William Bingham (1752-1804), merchant and agent for Congress in St. Pierre, Martinique, and after his return to the United States; and an incomplete set of monthly attendance reports for delegates to the Congress, September, 1785-May, 1788.
This collection is organized chronologically within three groups: original material; facsimiles, transcriptions, and photocopies; and microfilm.