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This week in our series, we continue the story of the American Revolution. The year was seventeen seventy-five. Colonists in Massachusetts had fought battles with British troops in the towns of Lexington and Concord. War had not been declared. But citizen soldiers in each of the thirteen American colonies were ready to fight. Who was going to organize the colonists into an army? This was the first question that faced the Second Continental Congress when delegates met in May in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The delegates decided that the man for the job was George Washington. He had experience fighting in the French and Indian War. He seemed to know more than any other colonist about being a military commander. The delegates elected him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. He accepted the position, but he said he would not take any money for leading the new army. George Washington left Philadelphia for Massachusetts, where he took command on July third, seventeen seventy-five. Jayne Gordon at the Massachusetts Historical Society says Washington looked very impressive. "He was tall, he was very elegant, very well put together. It's very interesting because when he came to take command of the Continental Army, many of the New England soldiers were not quite sure what to make of this man who was, after all, from Virginia, not from New England. Washington won them over. His conduct, his grace, I think his discipline was extremely important." | 
