ABSTRACT
When the Second Continental Congress convened on May 10, there were some new, distinguished representatives— George Wythe and, later, Thomas Jefferson from Virginia, John Hancock from Massachusetts, Benjamin Franklin and James Wilson from Pennsylvania. Adams himself listened to conversations and debates in meeting rooms, libraries, taverns, recording the tenor of opinion of this new Congress. Adams performed a far greater service than anything he could have done in the field. It was he who proposed Washington for the post of commander-in-chief of the American forces. "The modest and virtuous, the amiable, generous and brave George Washington, Esquire," as Adams described him, set off for Boston, only to be met on the way with the news that General Joseph Warren had fallen at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Adams was embarrassed, but he laughed, too; he would feel like an actor or gladiator, he said, trying to entertain the audience.
