REVOLUTIONARY BEGINNINGS AND

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

INTRODUCTION• Lexington and Concord

mark turning pt for colonies

• 2 choices: declare independence or continue with petitions and protests

• Patrick Henry supporter of independence “Give me liberty or Give me death”

The Revolution BeginsThe Big Idea

The tensions between the colonies and Great Britain led to armed conflict in 1775.

Main Ideas

• The First Continental Congress demanded certain rights from Great Britain.

• Armed conflict between British soldiers and colonists broke out with the “shot heard ’round the world.”

• The Second Continental Congress created the Continental Army to fight the British.

• In two early battles, the army lost control of Boston but then regained it.

Main Idea 2: Armed conflict between British soldiers and colonists broke out with the “shot

heard ’round the world.”The Ride of Paul Revere

Battles at Lexington and Concord

• Massachusetts governor, Thomas Gage, sent British troops to seize weapons at Concord.

• Paul Revere and two others rode to warn colonists.

• Local militia, minutemen, readied for battle.

• April 19, 1775– British troops arrived in Lexington and colonists fire the “shot heard ‘round the world.”

• British Redcoats continue on to Concord but are forced to retreat back to Boston. Their red uniforms made an easy target for Patriot marksmen.

The War Begins• Second Continental Congress –

decide G Washington will command troops

• Bunker and Breeds hill – overlooked Boston

• Breed’s Hill: took British 3 attempts to take this hill, only did so b/c colonists ran out of gun powder

• Misnamed Bunker Bill, really happened on Breed’s Hill

Main Idea 4: In two early battles, the army lost

control of Boston but then regained it.Battle of Bunker Hill

• Patriots attacked British at Fort Ticonderoga on May 10, 1775, to seize large supply of weapons.

• Colonial forces fortified Breed’s Hill to prevent British escape from Boston.

• Army of 2,400 Redcoats fought 1,600 Americans at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

• Americans forced to retreat, but only after causing more than 1,000 British casualties.

Dorchester Heights

• General Washington arrived in Boston and took command.

• Cannons were brought in from Fort Ticonderoga.

• On March 4, 1776, Washington moved his army to Dorchester Heights and placed the cannons on Nook’s Hill.

• American troops fired down upon the British.

• The British were forced to retreat from Boston.

SIEGE OF BOSTON

• G. Washington was a man of order

• Ticonderoga: army only has 36 barrels of gun powder

• Rumor they have 1800 barrels• Sent letters to colonists • for powder and got it

• Needed artillery – heavy guns and cannons

• Henry Knox goes to Ft. Ticonderoga to get these

• Ticonderoga was old British fort the colonists had seized

• Knox brought 59 cannons onto sleds and dragged them for 300 miles to Boston

POP QUIZ!!!

• Who said “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”?

• Who was put in charge of the Continental Army?

• True or False: The colonists held the British off at the Battle of Bunker Hill

BRITISH ABANDON BOSTON

• March 4, 1776 colonists lined the ridges of Dorchester Heights with cannons aimed at British

• British left Boston

• Loyalists went with them, rather leave than live with rebels

• Some hoped war was over, Washington knew it was just beginning

TOWARD INDEPENDENCE

• Olive Branch Petition: asking King George III to end quarrel

• By the time he got it he had called the colonist traitors and ordered to be brought to justice

• This angered colonists and convinced them they needed independence

COMMON SENSE• Thomas Paine• Stated Americans didn’t owe loyalty

to the King• Americans were suffering under

British control• Sold 120,000 copies in a few months

time• Persuaded that independence was

key to brighter future

Main Idea 1: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

led many colonists to support independence.

• Common Sense: 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine, published in January 1776.

– Urged separation from Great Britain.

– Argued that citizens, not monarchs, should make laws.

– Argued for economic freedom and the right to military self-defense.

– Cried out against tyranny, the abuse of government power.

– Reached a wide audience, selling some 500,000 copies.

THOMAS JEFFERSON

• Excellent writer, chosen as part of committee to write declaration

• Natural Rights: all people born equally and governments are formed to secure personal rights

• King’s Crimes: list of what king had done to colonists

FINAL BREAK• July 2 - 12 colonies voted for

independence, NY cast no vote• Slavery: took out one of

Jefferson’s passages referring to slavery

• Independence Day: July 4 approved final draft

• “we must all hang together or surely we will all hang separately”

Main Idea 3: The Declaration of

Independence did not address the rights of all colonists.

• Declaration ignored many colonists.

– Did not address the rights of women.

– Did not recognize the rights of enslaved African Americans.

– Did not address the rights of Native Americans to life, liberty, or property.

POP QUIZ!!!

• What was the main impact of Common Sense?

• Declaration was written to explain what?

• What was purpose of Olive Branch petition?