All of the men who were part of the Second Continental Congress were serious men who had businesses of their own back at home. So spending so much time in Philadelphia had to have been taxing on them, especially since the days were so long. Of course many of them were going to be homesick. Read the letters between John and Abigail Adams as an excellent example.

And remember: to go home to, say, Boston could take about a week in 1775. So they’d be away for two weeks at a minimum, and that’s entirely traveling time. Taking care of whatever they needed to only added to the absence.

We do know that many of them did go home from time to time, but they were obliged to return and continue the business of running a country while simultaneously ducking interference from the British.

Joseph Hewes’ letter to Samuel Johnston has a special poignancy about it.

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