<P> The government of the First and Second Continental Congress , the period from September 1774 to March 1 , 1781 is referred to as the Revolutionary Congress . Beginning in 1777 , the substantial powers assumed by Congress `` made the league of states as cohesive and strong as any similar sort of republican confederation in history '' . The process created the United States `` by the people in collectivity , rather than by the individual states '' , because only four had state constitutions at the time of the Declaration of Independence founding the nation , and three of those were provisional . Prior to the Articles of Confederation , and the Articles Congress , the Supreme Court in Ware v. Hylton and again in Penhallow v. Doane 's Administrators , perceived Congress as exercising powers derived from the people , expressly conferred through the medium of state conventions or legislatures , and , once exercised , `` impliedly ratified by the acquiescence and obedience of the people '' . </P>
<P> The government of the First and Second Continental Congress , the period from September 1774 to March 1 , 1781 is referred to as the Revolutionary Congress . Beginning in 1777 , the substantial powers assumed by Congress `` made the league of states as cohesive and strong as any similar sort of republican confederation in history '' . The process created the United States `` by the people in collectivity , rather than by the individual states '' , because only four had state constitutions at the time of the Declaration of Independence founding the nation , and three of those were provisional . Prior to the Articles of Confederation , and the Articles Congress , the Supreme Court in Ware v. Hylton and again in Penhallow v. Doane 's Administrators , perceived Congress as exercising powers derived from the people , expressly conferred through the medium of state conventions or legislatures , and , once exercised , `` impliedly ratified by the acquiescence and obedience of the people '' . </P>
when did our first form of government began to govern the united states
when did our first form of government began to govern the united states
September 1774
September 1774