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67-647: Kentucky County (aka Kentucke County ), later the District of Kentucky , was formed by the Commonwealth of Virginia from the western portion (beyond the Big Sandy River and Cumberland Mountains ) of Fincastle County effective 1777. The name of the county was taken from a Native American place name that came to be associated with a river in east central Kentucky, and gave the Kentucky River its name and eventually

134-822: A quorum . When the Articles of Confederation were superseded by the Constitution of the United States , the Confederation Congress was superseded by the United States Congress . The Confederation Congress ultimately established a suitable administrative structure for the Federal government, which placed into operation a federal government comprising three departments (finance, war, and foreign affairs), led by three ministers for each respective department. Robert Morris

201-478: A "free and independent state, to be known by the name of the Commonwealth of Kentucky". On June 1, 1792, Kentucky County officially became a state. Like Virginia , the official title of the elected local prosecutor in each of Kentucky 's political subdivisions is the Commonwealth's Attorney, as opposed to State's Attorney in other states or the more standard District Attorney. Kentucky is the only state outside of

268-573: A large squadron of French warships under Comte de Grasse to the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina . These French warships were decisive at the Battle of Yorktown along the coast of Virginia by preventing Lord Cornwallis 's British troops from receiving supplies, reinforcements, or evacuation via the James River and Hampton Roads . Robert Morris, the Minister of Finance, persuaded Congress to charter

335-420: A part of colonial Virginia . As such, they share a strong influence of English common law in some of their laws and institutions. However, the "commonwealth" appellation has no legal or political significance, and it does not make "commonwealth" states any different from other U.S. states. The term commonwealth does not describe or provide for any specific political status or legal relationship when used by

402-460: A quasi- federation to fight for their freedom, the president functioned as head of state (not of the country, but of its central government). Otherwise, the office was "more honorable than powerful". Congress also elected a secretary, scribe, doorman, messenger, and Chaplain. The rules of Congress guaranteed the right to debate and open access to the floor for each delegate. Additionally, to ensure that each state would be on an equal footing with

469-558: A specified number of acres depending on the soldier's rank and length of service. A claim was validated by building a cabin and planting corn. A survey establishing the bounds would be made, and a patent thereafter issued. In December 1795, an act of the Kentucky Legislature required military claims to be presented before January 1796 or become void (although the Act was amended several times to grant extensions). Thereafter, unclaimed areas of

536-454: A state. Those that do use it are equal to those that do not. A traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good , it is used symbolically to emphasize that these states have a "government based on the common consent of the people" as opposed to the British crown . It refers to the common "wealth", or welfare, of the public and is derived from a loose translation of

603-579: A united front in their opposition, delegates from several provinces met in the Stamp Act Congress , which convened in New York City from October 7 through 25, 1765. It issued a Declaration of Rights and Grievances , which it sent to Parliament . Under pressure from British companies hurt by the embargo, the government of Prime Minister Lord Rockingham and King George III relented, and the Stamp Act

670-501: Is a long-running debate on how effective the Congress was as an organization. The first critic may have been General George Washington . In an address to his officers, at Newburgh, New York , on March 15, 1783, responding to complaints that Congress had not funded their pay and pensions, he stated that he believed that Congress would do the army "complete justice" and eventually pay the soldiers. "But, like all other large Bodies, where there

737-616: Is a traditional English term used to describe a political community as having been founded for the common good , and shares some similarities with the Latin phrase " res publica " ('the public thing') from which ultimately is derived the word republic . The four states are all in the Eastern United States , and prior to the formation of the United States in 1776 were British colonial possessions , although Kentucky did not exist as an independent polity under British rule, instead being

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804-603: Is a variety of different Interests to reconcile, their deliberations are slow." In addition to their slowness, the lack of coercive power in the Continental Congress was harshly criticized by James Madison when arguing for the need of a Federal Constitution . His comment in Vices of the Political System of April 1787 set the conventional wisdom on the historical legacy of the institution for centuries to come: A sanction

871-406: Is essential to the idea of law, as coercion is to that of Government. The federal system being destitute of both, wants the great vital principles of a Political Cons[ti]tution. Under the form of such a Constitution, it is in fact nothing more than a treaty of amity of commerce and of alliance, between so many independent and Sovereign States. From what cause could so fatal an omission have happened in

938-678: Is known as Virginia Commonwealth University ; there is also a Virginia State University , located in Ettrick . Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies , with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War . The Continental Congress refers to both

1005-732: Is the Commonwealth's Attorney , as opposed to State's Attorney in other states or the more standard District Attorney . In Virginia, the term state is sometimes used in an official manner, usually in a compound structure rather than as a standalone noun. This is evident in the names of the Virginia State Corporation Commission , the Virginia State Police , and the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University . The state university in Richmond

1072-697: The Bank of North America on December 31, 1781. Although a private bank, the Federal Government acquired partial ownership with money lent by France. The Bank of North America played a major role in financing the war against Great Britain . The combined armies of George Washington and Nathanael Greene , with the help of the French Army and Navy, defeated the British in the Battle of Yorktown during October 1781. Lord Cornwallis

1139-959: The Boston Massacre of 1770. Three years later, the Tea Act , which granted the British East India Company the right to directly ship its tea to North America and the right to the duty-free export of tea from Great Britain, became law, exacerbating the colonists' resentment toward the British government, inciting the December 1773 Boston Tea Party , and inspiring the September 1774 Suffolk Resolves . The First Continental Congress met briefly in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , from September 5 to October 26, 1774. Delegates from twelve of

1206-625: The British Parliament and many of their own colonial assemblies had powerful speakers of the house and standing committees with strong chairmen, with executive power held by the British Monarch or the colonial Governor. However, the organization of the Continental Congress was based less on the British Parliament or on local colonial assemblies than on the 1765 Stamp Act Congress. Nine delegates to that congress were in attendance at

1273-709: The Continental Army , and elected George Washington commander of the new army. After the king issued the Proclamation of Rebellion in August 1775 in response to the Battle of Bunker Hill , some members of the Second Congress concluded that peace with Britain would not be forthcoming, and began working towards unifying the colonies into a new nation. The body adopted the Lee Resolution for Independence on July 2, 1776, and

1340-570: The Declaration of Independence two days later, on July 4, 1776, proclaiming that the former colonies were now independent sovereign states . The Second Continental Congress served as the provisional government of the U.S. during most of the Revolutionary War. In March 1781, the nation's first Frame of Government , the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union , came into force , and thus

1407-587: The First and Second Congresses of 1774–1781 and at the time, also described the Congress of the Confederation of 1781–1789. The Confederation Congress operated as the first federal government until being replaced following ratification of the U.S. Constitution . Until 1785, the Congress met predominantly at what is today Independence Hall in Philadelphia , though it was relocated temporarily on several occasions during

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1474-548: The Journals of the Continental Congress contain the official congressional papers , letters, treaties, reports and records. The delegates to the Continental and Confederation congresses had extensive experience in deliberative bodies , with "a cumulative total of nearly 500 years of experience in their Colonial assemblies , and fully a dozen of them had served as speakers of the houses of their legislatures." The initial idea for

1541-558: The Northern Mariana Islands . When used in connection with areas under U.S. sovereignty that are not states, the term broadly describes an area that is self-governing under a constitution of its own adoption and whose right of self-government will not be unilaterally withdrawn by the United States Congress . On September 28, 1786, the residents of Kentucky County began petitioning the Virginia legislature for permission to become

1608-697: The Pennsylvania . Peyton Randolph of Virginia was its president. Benjamin Franklin put forward the idea of such a meeting the year before, but he was unable to convince the colonies of its necessity until the Royal Navy instituted a blockade of Boston Harbor and Parliament passed the punitive Intolerable Acts in 1774, in response to the Boston Tea Party . During the congress, delegates organized an economic boycott of Great Britain in protest and petitioned

1675-597: The Revolutionary War and the fall of Philadelphia . The First Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in 1774 in response to escalating tensions between the colonies and the British, which culminated in passage of the Intolerable Acts by the British Parliament following the Boston Tea Party . The First Congress met for about six weeks, mainly to try to repair the fraying relationship between Britain and

1742-544: The Second Continental Congress became the Congress of the Confederation , which was officially styled as the "United States in Congress Assembled", a unicameral body composed of delegates from the several states. A guiding principle of the Articles was to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. The weak central government established by the Articles received only those powers which

1809-593: The Thirteen Colonies that would ultimately join in the Revolutionary War participated. Only Georgia , where Loyalist feelings still outweighed Patriotic emotion, and which relied upon Great Britain for military supplies to defend settlers against possible Indian attacks, did not, nor did East and West Florida, which at the time were also British colonies . Altogether, 56 delegates attended, including George Washington , Patrick Henry , and John Adams . Other notable delegates included Samuel Adams from Massachusetts Bay and Joseph Galloway and John Dickinson from

1876-604: The U.S. state of Kentucky . During the almost four years of Kentucky County's existence, its seat of government was Harrodstown (then also known as Oldtown, later renamed Harrodsburg ). The entire existence of Kentucky County was in the context of the Western theater of the American Revolutionary War . Except for the old French settlements in Illinois country, Kentucky was the western theater, and several major battles of

1943-419: The 1980s accepted the conventional interpretation on the weakness of the Congress due to the lack of coercive power. They explored the role of leadership , or rather the lack of it, in the Continental Congress. Going beyond even Madison's harsh critique, they used the "analytical stance of what has come to be called the new institutionalism " to demonstrate that "the norms, rules, and institutional structures of

2010-559: The 343 serving delegates, only 55% (187 delegates) spent 12 or more months in attendance. Only 25 of the delegates served longer than 35 months. This high rate of turnover was not just a characteristic, it was due to a deliberate policy of term limits . In the Confederation phase of the Congress, "no delegate was permitted to serve more than three years in any six". Attendance was variable: while in session, between 54 and 22 delegates were in attendance at any one time, with an average of only 35.5 members attending between 1774 and 1788. There

2077-525: The Articles of Confederation? From a mistaken confidence that the justice, the good faith, the honor, the sound policy, of the several legislative assemblies would render superfluous any appeal to the ordinary motives by which the laws secure the obedience of individuals: a confidence which does honor to the enthusiastic virtue of the compilers, as much as the inexperience of the crisis apologizes for their errors. Political scientists Calvin Jillson and Rick Wilson in

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2144-495: The Confederation Congress: Under the Articles of Confederation, the Confederation Congress had little power to compel the individual states to comply with its decisions. More and more prospective delegates elected to the Confederation Congress declined to serve in it. The leading men in each State preferred to serve in the state governments, and thus the Continental Congress had frequent difficulties in establishing

2211-437: The Continental Congress" were equally to blame "for the institution's eventual failure", and that the "institutional structure worked against, rather than with, the delegates in tackling the crucial issues of the day." Historian Richard P. McCormick suggested that Madison's "extreme judgment" on the Congress was "motivated no doubt by Madison's overriding desire to create a new central government that would be empowered to veto

2278-864: The Falls of the Ohio in 1778–79. During its 4 years, the population of Kentucky County rose from about 300 to a little less than 1000 in 1780. In the Land Act of May 3, 1779, the Virginia General Assembly allocated the Military District in Kentucky County. What had been necessity became policy: Virginian Revolutionary War veterans as well as veterans from the French and Indian War and Lord Dunmore's War , would receive land grants in lieu of pay for their service in either

2345-605: The First Congress in 1774, and their perspective on governance influenced the direction of both the Continental Congresses and the later Confederation Congress. Congress took on powers normally held by the British King-in-Council , such as foreign and military affairs. However, the right to tax and regulate trade was reserved for the states, not Congress. Congress had no formal way to enforce its ordinances on

2412-469: The King for a redress of grievances . The colonies were united in their effort to demonstrate to the mother country their authority by virtue of their common causes and their unity, but their ultimate objectives were inconsistent. Most delegates were not yet ready to break away from Great Britain, but they most definitely wanted the king and parliament to act in what they considered a fairer manner. Delegates from

2479-511: The Latin term res publica . Premodern English used the alternative term "commonwealth" in such sense in place of the now singularly standard term "republic." Criminal charges in these four states are brought in the name of the Commonwealth. Besides the four aforementioned states, other states have also on occasion used the term "commonwealth" to refer to themselves: Two U.S. territories are also designated as commonwealths : Puerto Rico and

2546-550: The Military District were open to general settlement. Kentucky County was abolished effective November 1, 1780, when it was divided into Fayette , Jefferson , and Lincoln counties. Afterward, these counties and those set off from them later in that decade were designated collectively as the District of Kentucky by the Virginia House of Delegates . On March 7, 1789, the Virginia General Assembly officially changed

2613-609: The Name of the commonwealth of Virginia, and bear test by the Governor with the Seal of the Commonwealth annexed." The Secretary of the Commonwealth still issues commissions in this manner. Among other references, the constitution furthermore dictated that criminal indictments were to conclude "against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth". Additionally, the official title of the elected local prosecutor in each of Virginia's political subdivisions

2680-614: The Transylvania colony were excluded from allocation, as well as the grant to Richard Henderson along the Green River. The District remained a separate area when Kentucky County was divided into subsidiary counties in 1780. Later, in 1784, Virginia allocated another district north of the Ohio River, because it was afraid that the Kentucky district was inadequate. Claims resulted in a warrant for

2747-783: The Virginia militia or the Continental Army . The District was defined to lie between the Green River and the Carolina line stretching from the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers in the west and tapering to a point near the Cumberland Gap in the southeast. Most of it except a wedge adjacent to the Cumberland Mountains , lies in the geographic region of the Pennyroyal, and occupied over 35% of the land area of Kentucky County. Legitimate claims held under

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2814-442: The War occurred during its existence including the siege of Boonesborough , siege of Logan's Fort , and Bird's invasion of Kentucky . Other events include the invalidation of Transylvania Colony and the survey of Walker's Line , Kentucky's southern boundary. The Cherokee-American wars were initiated in Kentucky in 1776 by disgruntled Cherokee. General George Rogers Clark conducted his famous Illinois Campaign from his base at

2881-428: The acts of state legislatures," but that it fails "to take any notice of the fact that while the authority of the Confederation Congress was ambiguous, it was not a nullity". Benjamin Irvin in his social and cultural history of the Continental Congress, praised "the invented traditions by which Congress endeavored to fortify the resistance movement and to make meaning of American independence." But he noted that after

2948-410: The body became what later was called the Congress of the Confederation. This unicameral governing body would convene in eight sessions before adjourning in 1789, when the 1st United States Congress under the new Constitution of the United States took over the role as the nation's legislative branch of government. Both the First and Second Continental Congresses convened in Philadelphia , though when

3015-473: The city was captured during the Revolutionary War, the Second Congress was forced to meet in other locations for a time. The Congress of Confederation was also established in Philadelphia and later moved to New York City , which served as the U.S. capital from 1785 to 1790. Much of what is known today about the daily activities of these congresses comes from the journals kept by the secretary for all three congresses, Charles Thomson . Printed contemporaneously,

3082-449: The colonies while asserting the rights of colonists , proclaiming and passing the Continental Association , which was a unified trade embargo against Britain, and successfully building consensus for establishment of a second congress. The Second Continental Congress convened in 1775, soon after hostilities broke out in Massachusetts . Soon after meeting, the Second Congress sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III , established

3149-406: The declaration, and John Adams was a leader in the debates in favor of its adoption. Afterward, the Congress functioned as the provisional government of the United States of America through March 1, 1781. To govern the war effort and to foster unity among the states , Congress created various standing committees to handle war-related activities, such as the committee of secret correspondence,

3216-413: The demands made by the colonies; however, it took no official notice of Congress's petitions and addresses. On November 30, 1774, King George III opened Parliament with a speech condemning Massachusetts and the Suffolk Resolves, prompting the Continental Congress to convene again. The Second Continental Congress convened on May 10, 1775, at Pennsylvania's State House in Philadelphia shortly after

3283-413: The development of the Continental Congress, including the Thirteen Colonies in British America , first arose in 1754 at the start of the French and Indian War , which started as the North American front of the Seven Years' War between Britain and France . Initially known as the Albany Congress , the Congress met in Albany, New York from June 18 to July 11, 1754, and representatives from seven of

3350-405: The district until the legislature of the new state designated Frankfort as its capital in 1792. Militia officers The county militia was organized as follows: Commonwealth (U.S. state) Commonwealth is a term used by four of the 50 states of the United States in their full official state names: Kentucky , Massachusetts , Pennsylvania , and Virginia . " Commonwealth "

3417-437: The former colonies had recognized as belonging to king and parliament. Congress had the power to declare war, sign treaties, and settle disputes between the states. It could also borrow or print money, but did not have the power to tax. It helped guide the United States through the final stages of the Revolutionary War, but steeply declined in authority afterward. During peacetime, there were two important, long-lasting acts of

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3484-515: The modern congress run by powerful partisan hierarchies, but modern government and corporate entities, for all their coercive power and vaunted skills as 'leaders'." Looking at their mission as defined by state resolutions and petitions entered into the Congressional Journal on its first day, it found that on the common issues of the relief of Boston, securing Colonial rights, eventually restoring harmonious relations with Great Britain, and repealing taxes, they overachieved their mission goals, defeated

3551-447: The original Thirteen Colonies that uses commonwealth in its name. Massachusetts is officially named The Commonwealth of Massachusetts by its constitution . The name State of Massachusetts Bay was used in all acts and resolves up to 1780 and in the first draft of the constitution. The current name can be traced to the second draft of the state constitution, which was written by John Adams and ratified in 1780. In Massachusetts,

3618-506: The others, voting on ordinances was done en bloc , with each state having a single vote. Prior to casting its yay or nay vote, preliminary votes were taken within each state delegation. The majority vote determined here was considered the vote of the state on the motion; in cases of a tie the vote for the state was marked as divided, and was not counted. Turnover of delegates was high, with an average year-to-year turnover rate of 37% by one calculation, and 39% by session-to-session. Of

3685-411: The provinces of Pennsylvania and New York were given firm instructions to pursue a resolution with Great Britain. While the other colonies all held the idea of colonial rights as paramount, they were split between those who sought legislative equality with Britain and those who instead favored independence and a break from the Crown and its excesses. In London, Parliament debated the merits of meeting

3752-418: The spelling of Kentucke to Kentucky. The counties of the district frequently petitioned both the Virginia legislature and the Continental Congress seeking statehood . Finally successful, the Commonwealth of Kentucky was admitted to the United States as the 15th state in 1792. Harrodsburg, which had become the seat of government for Lincoln County and then Mercer County, was the seat of the federal court for

3819-401: The start of the Revolutionary War . Initially, it functioned as a de facto common government by raising armies, directing strategy, appointing diplomats, and making formal treaties. The Thirteen Colonies were represented when in the following year it adopted a resolution for independence on July 2, 1776, and two days later approved the Declaration of Independence . Thomas Jefferson drafted

3886-449: The state governments. Delegates were responsible to and reported directly to their home state assemblies; an organizational structure that Neil Olsen has described as "an extreme form of matrix management ". Delegates chose a presiding president to monitor the debate, maintain order, and make sure journals were kept and documents and letters were published and delivered. After the colonies declared their independence in 1776 and united as

3953-517: The state. In 1776, Pennsylvania 's first state constitution referred to it as both Commonwealth and State , a pattern of usage that was perpetuated in the constitutions of 1790, 1838, 1874, and 1968. One of Pennsylvania's two intermediate appellate courts is called the Commonwealth Court . The name Commonwealth of Virginia dates back to its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain . Virginia's first constitution (adopted on June 29, 1776) directed that "Commissions and Grants shall run, In

4020-440: The term State is occasionally used in an official manner, usually in a compound structure rather than as a standalone noun. This is evident in the names of the Massachusetts State Police , the Massachusetts State House , and the Bridgewater State Hospital . The Seal of Pennsylvania does not use the term, but legal processes are in the name of the Commonwealth, and it is a traditional official designation used in referring to

4087-415: The thirteen colonial states. In 1765, the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act requiring that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp. The act provoked the ire of merchants in New York City , Boston , and Philadelphia , who responded by placing an embargo on British imports until the Stamp Act was repealed. To present

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4154-418: The thirteen colonies attended. Among the delegates was Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia , who proposed that the colonies join in a confederation . Though the idea of a confederation was rejected, Franklin and others continued to argue that the colonies should act more cohesively. At the beginning of the American Revolution , committees of correspondence began building the foundation for interaction between

4221-486: The treasury board, the board of war and ordnance, and the navy board. Much work was also done in small ad hoc committees. One such small group was tasked with developing a constitution to perpetuate the new Union . Such an agreement, the Articles of Confederation was approved by Congress on November 15, 1777, and sent to the states for ratification . The Articles of Confederation came into force on March 1, 1781, after being ratified by all Thirteen Colonies , and

4288-426: The war's end, "Rather than passively adopting the Congress's creations, the American people embraced, rejected, reworked, ridiculed, or simply ignored them as they saw fit." An organizational culture analysis of the Continental Congress by Neil Olsen, looking for the values, norms, and underlying assumptions that drive an organization's decisions, noted that "the leaderless Continental Congress outperformed not only

4355-420: Was forced to sue for peace and to surrender his entire army to General Washington. During 1783, the Americans secured the official recognition of the independence of the United States from Great Britain following negotiations with British diplomats in Paris , which culminated with the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783. The Treaty of Paris was later ratified by the British Parliament. Both

4422-424: Was repealed in March 1766. The colonists' resistance to the Stamp Act served as a catalyst for subsequent acts of resistance. The Townshend Acts , which imposed indirect taxes on various items not produced within the colonies, and created a more effective means of enforcing compliance with trade regulations, passed by Parliament in 1767 and 1768, sparked renewed animosity in the colonies, which eventually resulted in

4489-416: Was selected as the new Superintendent of Finance, and then Morris secured a loan from the French government to deal with his empty treasury and also runaway inflation, for a number of years, in the supply of paper money. As the ambassador to France, Benjamin Franklin secured the loan for a common budget, and also persuaded France to send an army of about 6,000 soldiers to the United States and to dispatch

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