Objective:
Explain how the Continental Army gained control of Boston
Materials
1) Get a notes page from the table
Colonel William Prescott’s army at Bunker Hill
Homework
Notebook Quiz (tomorrow)
Last day for States Test & makeup work
Within a few days of Lexington and
Concord, between 10,000 and 15,000
militia rushed to Boston. They
surrounded the city and the British
troops stationed there.
On May 10, 1775 (a few weeks after
Lexington and Concord), colonial
delegates met at the Second
Continental Congress in Philadelphia.
Most hoped to avoid a break with
Britain, however, while at the meeting,
the fighting spread.
The delegates decided to send a petition to
King George. In the Olive Branch Petition,
they declared their loyalty to the king and
asked him to repeal the Intolerable Acts.
The king was furious about the
petition and ordered 20,000 more
troops to the colonies to crush the
revolt.
Ethan Allen (a Vermont blacksmith)
decided to lead a band of Vermonters
known as the Green Mountain Boys
in a surprise attack on British Fort
Ticonderoga. Allen knew the fort
held cannons that the colonists could
use.
Allen and his men were successful in
capturing the fort and gave the
colonists a valuable supply of cannons
and gunpowder.
In June of 1775, the Second Continental Congress
set up the Continental Army. They appointed
George Washington of Virginia as commander.
The colonists who favored war against Britain called
themselves Patriots
These men entered the war with many
disadvantages:
Poorly organized and untrained.
Few cannons little gunpowder & no navy
Also had some advantages:
Owned rifles and were good shots
Determined to fight to defend their homes &
property.
The British were a powerful foe
Highly trained, experienced
troops.
Their navy was the best in the
world.
Britain also faced some problems:
Its armies were 3,000 miles from
home.
News and supplies took months
to travel from Britain to America.
British soldiers risked attacks from
colonists in the countryside.
American colonists who
remained loyal to Britain were
called loyalists
There were more loyalists in the
Middle & Southern Colonies
than in New England.
Patriots tarred & feathered
Loyalists during the war.
During the 1st year of conflict, much of
the fighting centered around Boston
The British prevailed, but more than
1,000 British troops lay dead or
wounded.
On June 16, 1775, Colonel William
Prescott led 1,200 minutemen up
Bunker Hill, across the river from
Boston.
Battle of Bunker Hill was the 1st
major battle of the Revolution.
They could fire on British ships in
Boston harbor.
Prescott noticed that nearby Breed’s
Hill was better so he ordered his men
to move there.
British General William Howe ordered
2,400 redcoats to attack the hills.
After Bunker Hill, General Washington
found 16,000 troops camped in huts and
tents near Boston.
He quickly started to train the men and
turned them into an army.
In January 1776, the cannons from Fort
Ticonderoga arrived in Boston so
General Washington had the cannons
placed on elevated land, overlooking the
Boston Harbor.
British General Howe had his men sail
from Boston to Canada in March of 1776
to avoid being killed by the colonists.
King George III ordered a blockade of
all colonial ports and also used
mercenaries (troops for hire), from
Germany to help fight the colonists.
As you are watching the video clip…write down 5 things that
are important in the Battle of Bunker Hill