STIRRINGS OF REBELLION! The run-up to the Declaration of Independence

How to make your colonists angry…  Take out chart from yesterday so we can look at a few…  “Intolerable Acts” lead to forming of First Continental Congress (Sept. 1774) Declaration of colonial rights Support Massachusetts protests Authorize use of force if England uses force against them Agreed to reconvene in May of 1775 if demands are not met

Lexington and Concord  Spring 1775 – Rebels are rumored to have stockpiles of weapons/munitions in Concord  Rebel leaders John Hancock and Samuel Adams rumored to be in nearby Lexington  British General Gage plans to catch the two and destroy the munitions  Rebel informants hear plan – Paul Revere relays the message, ~70 Minutemen are ready when the British Army arrives at Lexington  Small skirmishes at Lexington and then Concord  munitions had all been removed, Hancock and Adams had escaped and many British soldiers are killed on the march back to Boston

Second Continental Congress  Delegates from colonies debate what to do after Lexington and Concord  Recognize militia as Continental Army under George Washington  Authorized printing money to pay troops  Organized a committee to deal with foreign nations  Essentially Second Cont. Congress operates as the Colonial government

Bunker Hill  Gen. Gage sends 2,400 soldiers after a group of around 1200 militiamen dug in at Breed’s Hill, near Bunker Hill, north of Boston.  British slog uphill, and are cut down by militia  First two attacks fail, third is successful only because militia ran low on ammo, retreated  British victory, but at great cost

Responses to Bunker Hill  Olive Branch Petition  Appeal to King George III to return to “the former harmony”  George rejects petition, urges Parliament to blockade ports  “Common Sense”  Author Thomas Paine advocates Independence America’s “destiny” Create a better society