At the meeting of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Richard Henry Lee of Virginia introduced a resolution that “these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.”
The colonies offered the Olive Branch Petition to King George III. In the petition, the colonies offered to remain loyal to the Crown if their grievances were addressed. Parliament and King George rejected the petition.
Parliament passed the Prohibitory Act, which instituted a naval blockade of all American ports and halted the colonies’ trade with the world and among each other.