Jump Start• Pick up a notes packet from the

front desk

• Write your name at the top

• Get out a highlighter

First Continental Congress

• In Sept1774, colonial delegates met– Agreed to send a

message to King George

– Called for a boycott of British goods until Intolerable Acts were repealed

– Planned to meet again in seven months

Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia

Lexington and Concord• Colonies began organizing militias

• British learned they were hiding gunpowder and weapons near Concord, Massachusetts

– 700 British troops were ordered to seize them

• Paul Revere and others rode through the countryside warning

• At Lexington, a town on the way to Concord, a small militia waited for the British

Shot Heard ‘Round the World• No one knows who fired the

first shot• 3 colonists were killed at

Lexington and 10 injured as the British continued onto Concord

• At Concord, the colonists claimed victory– Redcoats retreated

– 4,000 angry militia lined their route, shooting every Redcoat they saw

Second Continental Congress

Independence Hall, Philadelphia

• 1775 in Philadelphia• Agreed to form the

Continental Army• Chose Washington as

commander• Began printing money to

pay the soldiers

BEGINNING TO ACT LIKE A

GOVERNMENT!

Olive Branch Petition

• Many Americans still hoped for peace

• Second Continental Congress sent a petition to Britain asking for peace between the 2 groups

• King George III rejected the petition

• Washington continued training troops for battle…

Common Sense by Thomas Paine (1776)

• Paine was a writer and recent immigrant from England

• He claimed that: – Kings did NOT rule by the will of God

– All monarchies were corrupt

– No economic need to stay with Britain

• Sold over 100,000 copies in 3 months• Helped persuade colonists that

independence would bring them a better future

Jumpstart 10/28

• Pick up your folder and a highlighter (if needed).

• Please get out the Common Sense excerpts and your analysis worksheet. Also, get out your notes pages from yesterday.

Declaration of Independence (1776)• Congress chose a group to

create a declaration (formal statement) of independence – Jefferson was selected to

write the document• His job was to explain why the

colonies were choosing to separate

Declaration of Independence• Completed on July 2, 1776 and

adopted on July 4• Main idea was based on John

Locke’s idea of natural rights– “We hold these truths to be self-

evident, that all men are created equal…”

• Declared the colonies independent

• By signing, each man was committing treason– Could be killed if failed

– Example of civic virtue

Dear King George III,

We’re breaking up with you and I’m going to tell you why.

Here are our 27 complaints: You’ve violated our natural rights. We have no voice in Parliament. (etc)

We’ve tried to make things work, but you won’t listen.

We’re out of here. See ya!

We’re willing to risk everything to start a new country without you.

Signed,56 signers of the Declaration of Independence