This was the nation’s first national government HOWEVER…

• Rested on no constitutional base• Was condemned by British as an

UNLAWFUL ASSEMBLY and DEN OF TRAITORS

2nd Continental Congress met in Philadelphia with the intention of voting for independence

from England• However – recess called

– Delegates in few colonies had to return to seek further instruction

• In anticipation of this vote, the Congress selected a committee to draft a declaration of independence.

• The committee, composed of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman

Jefferson began his work on June 11 and toiled in seclusion writing a number of drafts.

• After presenting his final draft, the committee further revised the document and submitted it to the Continental Congress on June 28.

On July 2, the Continental Congress voted for independence and refined its Declaration of Independence before releasing it to the public on July 4th.

Declaration History• The original 1776 Declaration is lost• Once it was agreed upon, the original was sent to a

official printer (Dunlap) to print 200 broadsides (posters) of the Declaration with only the TYPED name of John Hancock (President) and Charles Thomson (Secretary)

- Also, he had the largest signature

GIVEN TO DELEGATES assemblies, conventions, commanders– Only 24 known copies TODAY

• King George III never received a signature copy • Declarations including the signatures not until 1777

– Not the same names… Delegates were away, NY (await new instructions), new delegates were allowed to sign their names, some refused to sign

The most famous signed copy is at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

In 1987 the National Archives and Records Administration installed a $3 million camera and computerized system to monitor the condition of the three documents (D. of. I, Con, and B. of R.)

Any flea market scavengers…? – a copy of Dunlap Declaration ($4 painting at flea market in BUCKS COUNTY, Pa)

$8.14 million

Would you be willing to put your name on

this document if there may be

consequences?

• - John Hancock

• New Hampshire:• Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton

• Massachusetts:• John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry

• Rhode Island:• Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery

• Connecticut:• Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott

• New York:• William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris

• New Jersey:• Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark

• Pennsylvania:• Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson,

George Ross

• Delaware:• Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean

• Maryland:• Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton

• Virginia:• George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter

Braxton

• North Carolina:• William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn

• South Carolina:• Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton

• Georgia:• Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton

STOP NOTES For Tues Test

Signing of Declaration nation faced new major tasks

(New Unit)

#1 – Fighting the Revolution

• Declaration sparked full-scale war against Britain– Problems:

• Nation lacked Experienced National ARMY

• State militias – little experience, poorly trained

• States had little experience working together

#2 Creating State Constitutions

• By 1780, most states had adopted written constitutions

• Some – revised Charter• Others – wrote new• Similarities between them…

– Rights of citizens– “Government existed only with the consent of

the governed”– Provided separation of powers– Each had elected legislature

#3 Establishing a Plan for Confederation

• 2nd Continental Congress began to write a constitution for the nation

However…Due to the feelings of the colonists

who had greater loyalty to their STATES, not the new nation they were weary about giving the

national government too MUCH POWER

Pulling down the statue of King George III in NYC

End of notes

*Flip over your notes

Debated for 18 monthsFinally November 1777 – Delegates approved a

plan of Government

*Established a firm league of friendship among the States

** Congress was wary of CENTRALIZED AUTHORITY (Heavy restrictions by crown)

**Government needs to have LIMITED POWERS

Articles of Confederation (1777)

•Congress would be national governing body

•Congress had powers to declare war, sign peace treaties

•Delegates from each state would represent their states

•Each state would have an equal vote in Congress

So, each State kept its… (look at notes)

• Believed the LOCAL legislature was closest to the people – National Government allowed them to develop their own policies

• Didn’t go into effect immediately – needed….

However there were weaknesses of the

Articles…

Let’s take a look at 4 Incidents…

Settling the National Debt

Western Lands

Soldiers in the Time of Peace

The Pirates of North Africa

America and the Barbary Pirates

Because of weaknesses – people began to questions the value of the Articles of Confederation…

In addition

Feelings of the colonists – greater loyalty to their

state, not the new nation

They TOO were cautious about giving national government too much power

Tomorrow…we will

examine a

major event known

as Shays’ Rebellion

and how the Articles

showed their

weaknesses