1. Moving Toward Independence
5.4
Moving Toward Independence

2. Colonial Leaders Emerge
May 10, 1775 the Second Continental Congress meets.
People:
John and Samuel Adams
Patrick Henry
Thomas Jefferson
Richard Henry Lee
George Washington
Ben Franklin

3. Colonial Leaders Emerge
The Second Continental Congress authorizes printing money, Setting up a post office, Continental Army with George Washington as commander, set up committees to communicate with Nat. Am., French, and the Spanish, and gave Brit. One last chance for peace.- Olive Branch Petition

4. Colonial Leaders Emerge
The Colonies Take the Offensive
The British are planning an invasion from Canada BUT we strike first!
We capture Montreal but fail to capture Quebec, however we stayed outside of Quebec.
Washington goes to Boston in July of 1775.
He leaves but comes back in 1776.
He gets cannons from Ft. Ticonderoga and positions himself over Boston, forcing British out.

5. Colonial Leaders Emerge
Moving toward Independence
Most people are not thinking about independence.
However Thomas Paine writes pamphlets called Common Sense which urged for complete independence from Brit.
“This is not a squabble over taxes but a struggle for freedom.”- Thomas Paine

6. The Colonies Declare Independence
The majority of the Second Cont. Congress was spent discussing if the colonies should be independent.
North Carolina was the first to support independence.
While they talk about independence they:
-Write a draft of the Declaration of Independence
-July 2, 1776 they vote to be independent.
- July 4, 1776, they sign it and send it to all the colonies.

7. The Colonies Declare Independence
The Declaration of Independence
There are 4 major sections
Preamble- states that if people wish to form a new country have to state reasons to do so
Declaration of Natural Rights- “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Accepted rights in England

8. The Colonies Declare Independence
The Declaration of Independence
There are 4 major sections
Government exists to protect the rights of the citizens
They listed grievances against Britain
If the government doesn’t protect the rights of their citizens “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it and to institute new Government.”
It ends with America announcing their new status of independent country