The correct answer is D) increased open public support for independence.
Increased open public support for independence had the greatest influence in prompting the Second Continental Congress to declare independence.
The First Continental Congress had been held in 1774. The Second Continental Congress was held in 1775, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. During this Second Continental Congress, the delegates. Having initiated the hostilities of the Revolutionary War with the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 1775, the Delegates of the Congress named George Washington as the leader of the Continental Army. The Delegates of the colonies were in Philadelphia to discuss and later support the war effort to get independence from England.
