Do Now 1. Read pages 152 & 153 and answer questions 1 & 2

Sept 1774, 55 men (delegates) from all of the colonies except Georgia met to create a political body to represent Americans

Decisions of the Congress 1st they drafted a statement of grievances calling for the repeal of 13 acts of Parliament passed since 1763 These laws violated the colonists’ rights Their rights were based on the “laws of nature, the principles of the English constitution, and the several charters” of the colonies.

They voted to boycott all British goods and trade No British products could be brought into or consumed in the colonies No colonial goods could be shipped to Britain Endorsed the Suffolk Resolves, resolutions prepared by Bostonians and others who lived in Suffolk County Massachusetts that called on the people to arm themselves against the British Militia- Groups of citizen soldiers

“Let’s Get Ready to Rumble”

Britain Sends Troops April 1775, British general Sir Thomas Gage had several thousand soldiers under his command in and around Boston They were instructed to take away the weapons of the Massachusetts militia and arrest the leaders General Gage learned that the militia was storing weapons at Concord, MA He ordered 700 troops under Lieutenant-Col. Francis Smith to seize the weapons

“The regulars are out”

Alerting the Colonist! On April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren alerted leaders of the Sons of Liberty, Paul Revere and William Dawes that he saw the British army preparing for war Revere and Dawes rode to Lexington, a town east of Concord, to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock that the British were coming

Shot Heard Around the Word! April 19, 1775 Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts Redcoats approach Lexington at dawn and discover a group of 700 minutemen who had been alerted by Dawes and Revere After the 1st shot was fired, both sides began to shoot and when it was over 8 minutemen were dead

Shot cont… The British continued to march to Concord and when they arrived to seize their weapons, at the North Bridge of the town, minutemen were waiting for them As they kept marching, the minutemen began to fire By the time the redcoats reached Boston, at least 174 were wounded and 73 were dead

Tactics used by the Americans Americans out witted the British because they used “hit and run” tactics during battles The proper term for this style is guerilla tactics

You’re a Benedict Arnold!

Benedict Arnold Benedict he was first a captain in the Connecticut militia who helped defeat the British in May 1775 However, later during the war, he teamed with the British to surrender the key fort of West Point to the British and led British raids against the Americans in Virginia and Connecticut. He became a general in the British Army He was known at a TRAITOR

Battle of Bunker Hill June 16, 1775 there were 1,200 militiamen under the command of Col. William Prescott set up fortifications at Bunker Hill across from Boston Harbor Americans opened fire, forcing the British to retreat at first The British charged back two more times and at the end Americans ran out of gunpowder and withdrew. British victory but they learned beating the Americans wouldn’t be easy

Loyalist v. Patriots Loyalist where colonist who chose to stay with Britain. They believed the taxes were unfair but not a good reason to rebel Some stayed loyal because they did not want to loose their powerful positions Others were loyal because they lived isolated and had not been affected by any of the events Some stayed because they expected Britain to win

Cont. Patriots were the people who were determined to fight Britain until Americans won independence.

Second Continental Congress Assembled on May 10, 1775 for the first time The Congress began to govern the colonies. Authorized the printing of money and set up a post office with Ben Franklin in charge The established committees to communicate with Native Americans and with other countries (foreign affairs) They created the Continental Army headed by George Washington to fight against Britain in a more organizes way

Olive Branch Petition An olive branch is seen as a symbol of peace. Delegates offered Britain one last chance to avoid all-out war through the Olive Branch Petition. The petition asked the king to protect the colonists’ rights, which Parliament seemed determined to destroy. Unfortunately George III refused to sign it.

Thomas Paine’s Common Sense In late 1775 and early 1776 some Americans still hoped to avoid a complete break with Britain. In January 1776, Thomas Paine published a pamphlet called Common Sense that captures the attention of the American colonists that called for COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN! He said it was simply”common sense” to stop following the “royal brute,” King George III. He said it was not just a fight over taxes, but for freedom- “in great measure the cause of all mankind”

Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence In Philidelphia of 1776, the Second Continental Congress questioned should the colonies declare themselves independent. June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee proposed that the colonies should be free and independent states. While the Congress debated Lee’s proposal, they chose a committee to draft a declaration. Thomas Jefferson was selected to write the Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence Jefferson used the ideas of thinkers such as John Locke to set out the colonies’ reason for declaring their freedom Locke wrote that people were born with certain natural rights to life, liberty, and property; that people formed governments to protects these rights; and that government interfering with these rights might rightfully be overthrown.

Cont. On July 2, 1776 Congress voted on Lee’s resolution for independence. 12 colonies voted for it. ( NY did not vote but later supported) The delegates then took Jefferson’s draft and made somes changes and approved the document on July 4, 1776.

John Hancock Hancock was the president of the Second Continental Congress He was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence He said that he signed his name large enough for KGIII to read it without his glasses. Hancock is also a familiar name because many people still use it today in reference to his very large signature when they are asking people for their “John Hancock” it means= Can I have your signature?