This collection contains congressional publications from 1774 to 1875, including the Journals of the Continental Congress and the Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774-1789.

George Washington was unanimously selected as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army.

In a speech given to the Continental Congress, Washington accepted the commission and requested that he not receive a salary for his service, only that his expenses be paid at the conclusion of the war.

The Continental Congress drafted Washington’s commission as Commander in Chief.

"I can now inform you that the Congress have made Choice of the modest and virtuous, the amiable, generous and brave George Washington Esqr., to be the General of the American Army, and that he is to repair as soon as possible to the Camp before Boston."

"It has been determined in Congress, that the whole army raised for the defense of the American Cause shall be put under my care, and that it is necessary for me to proceed immediately to Boston to take upon me the Command of it. You may believe me my dear Patsy, when I assure you in the most solemn manner, that, so far from seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power to avoid it."

George Washington, a leader of the revolutionary movement in Virginia, a former commander of Virginia's frontier forces, and a British colonial army officer, was commissioned "commander-in-chief of the army of the United Colonies of all the forces raised and to be raised by them" on June 19, 1775, by the Continental Congress.

In his acceptance speech to the Continental Congress on June 16, 1775, Washington declined to receive a salary for his service as Commander in Chief. Instead, he asked only that his expenses be reimbursed at the end of the war. On July 1, 1783, Washington provided the Continental Board of Treasury with his Revolutionary War Expense Account.

Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army and returned to private life at Mount Vernon.

Contains an essay on the creation of the Continental Army and links to related primary source documents.

George Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the senate chamber of the Maryland State House in Annapolis, where the Continental Congress was meeting on December 23, 1783.