Until the advent of the American Revolutionary War the congress frequently moved its meeting site, because a number of its leaders (John Hancock and Samuel Adams among them) were liable to be arrested by British authorities.

After the war began, the provincial congress established a number of committees to manage the rebel activity in the province, starting with the need to supply and arm the nascent Continental Army that besieged Boston after the April 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord.

With the dismissal of the Provincial Assembly by the Royal Governor Thomas Gage the people of Massachusetts with patriot sympathies desired to form their own provisional government.

Firstly the convention acknowledged King George III is the rightful monarch of the British Realm and that the colonists were the lawful subjects of the Crown.

The convention stated the Province is not required to follow or abide by these recent laws because they are the result of a "wicked administration"[3] seeking to "enslave America.

[6] It was further stated at the convention through resolution that as long as those who are fighting for the rights of their countrymen are being apprehended that officials of the government will be seized and held until the release of such persons.

There was also a call to further boycott any and all merchandise that is the result of commerce with Great Britain, or any of its crown territories in the West Indies and Ireland.

[12] The delegates resolved that the Parliament of Great Britain has passed acts detrimental to all the colonies in North America but to the Province of Massachusetts Bay in particular.

According to the delegates by undermining the authority of the constitutionally elected assembly and by enforcing acts of Parliament that are detrimental to the liberty of the inhabitants of Massachusetts Bay.

The final resolution of the assembly was to urge all the inhabitants of Hampshire County to "acquaint themselves with the military art"[16] and to furnish all the lawful weaponry at their disposal.

Wheras, the British administration, instead of cultivating that harmony and affection, which have so long subsisted, to the great and mutual advantage of both Britain and the colonies, have, for a series of years, without provocation, without justice, or good policy, in breach of faith, the laws of gratitude, the natural connections and commercial interest of both countries, been attacking with persevering and unrelenting injustice, the rights of the colonists; and have added, from one time to another, insults to oppressions, till both have become, more especially in this colony, intolerable, and every person who has the feelings of a man, and any sense of the rights of mankind, and the value of our happy constitution, finds it now necessary.

to exert himself to the utmost of his power, to preserve them...The convention's first resolution was to declare that all the inhabitants of the American colonies are entitled to their natural rights and are to not to be governed by any entity that they do not consent to.

The delegates said that the current Royal government is a "barrier of liberty, and security of life and property..."[19] Because these officials are members of an unjust system, by accepting their positions they have marked themselves as enemies to the people they are supposed to be serving and living with.

Another resolution passed urged the people to interrupt and impede an attempt at the civil government to any business that runs counter to the constitutional order of society, even though the convention was ended with a plea to avoid any riots or any acts that would greatly disturb the Province.

They went on to add that the destruction of this relationship, i.e. the cancelling of the agreement by one party without the consent of the other, ensures not only the severing of the union between the province and Royal Government politically but also destroys the allegiance of the people to the Crown.

For military resolutions the convention determined that every member of the committee should obtain a full stock of gunpowder and that the town of the county should be properly armed in the event on an invasion.

The subsequent meetings in Concord, Massachusetts dealt with the political crisis and the congress formed various committees in order to deal with territory still under Colonial occupation.

The congress also called into question the constitutionality of the decisions made by the royal government in regards to the dismissal of the province's assemblymen and councilors.

Delegates responding to meetings of Committees of Correspondence voted and argued on resolutions concerning the management of supplies and information for the militia and their encampment in and around Boston.

Congress also reaffirmed that tax and revenue are to be paid to the then Receiver-General Henry Gardner instead of any Royal Officers who remained in an official post.

[31] FRIENDS AND FELLOW SUFFERERS: When a people entitled to that freedom, which your ancestors have nobly preserved, as the richest inheritance of their children, are invaded by the hand of oppression, and trampled on by the merciless feet of tyranny, resistance is so far from being criminal, that it becomes the christian and social duty of each individual.With the escalating military conflict with Great Britain the Congress adopted measures as to safeguard and preserve supplies in the event of the confiscation of materials by Royal authorities or further hardship brought on by war.

The delegates further resolves that any person who did business with the Royal Army would mark themselves as an enemy of the people of Massachusetts Bay.

[33] Delegates then decided that an agent ought to be sent to the Province of Quebec in order to determine what the political atmosphere was and where public opinion regarding the Intolerable Acts resided.

[34] Congress also sent correspondence to the Board of Selectmen of each town to organize and train the militia due to the immediate military threat from Great Britain.

[35] March 16 was designated by Congress to be a public day of fasting and or prayer, and was to be done in respect to the current political crisis but also as continuation of custom from their forebears.

This included the institution of an oath of allegiance for the head of the Provincial militia/army to the President of the Congress, the regulation of the Committee of Safety, and the forced disarmament of all persons in the Province who were suspected of not having a willingness to join in the militia.

[39][40] With the conflict with the Kingdom of Great Britain expanding and the military of Massachusetts existing as a militia to be ready at a moments notice, the Congress saw a need for a permanent committee to oversee the martial affairs.

This meant the committee had the authority to muster the militia whenever it saw fit, determine the number of men it saw as necessary, as well as naming officers it desired for commission.

The Council of War was created in the Congress while it was in session to serve as the "oversight committee" of the group as well as give it official orders.

Fearful of overstepping its own authority the Committee made constant recommendations to the Provincial Congress in matters it believed were outside its control.