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Objectives
• Explain why fighting broke out to begin the
American Revolution and the response of the
Second Continental Congress.
• Describe the Loyalists’ view of the Patriots.
• Analyze the impact of Thomas Paine’s Common
Sense.
• Assess why Congress declared independence and
the ideas underlying the Declaration of
Independence.
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Terms and People
• militia – a civilian group that trains as soldiers to
serve in emergencies
• Loyalists – colonists who remained loyal to Britain
during the Revolution
• Second Continental Congress – colonial delegates
who met in Philadelphia in May 1775 to organize a
bigger fight against the British
• Continental Army – volunteers who supported the
Patriot siege of Boston and were put under control of
Congress
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Terms and People (continued)
• George Washington – Virginian chosen to
command the Continental Army
• Thomas Paine – author of the pamphlet
Common Sense that proposed independence
• Declaration of Independence – 1776 document
that explained the reasons for American
independence from Great Britain
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Terms and People (continued)
• Thomas Jefferson – Virginia patriot and main
author of the Declaration of Independence
• natural rights – Enlightenment idea embodied
by the Declaration of Independence that all men
have rights which governments cannot take away
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What events led the colonists to declare
their independence from Britain?
In 1776, colonists made three important decisions:
• To
declare their independence
• To
choose a republican model of government
• To
confederate the thirteen colonies into the
United States of America
Their strength surprised and changed the world.
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In early 1775, Boston Patriots
responded to the Intolerable Acts
• John Hancock and Samuel Adams organized
a Provincial Congress to run Massachusetts.
• The Patriots began to stockpile weapons and
ammunition in towns outside of Boston.
• Colonial militia calling themselves
minutemen began to organize.
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The Revolution began on April 19, 1775.
Redcoats marched toward Concord to seize weapons
and ammunition.
In Lexington, they met colonial militia. The Redcoats
killed eight minutemen.
Marching on to Concord, the British met hundreds of
armed Patriots in a skirmish.
As the Redcoats marched back to Boston,
the Patriots killed or wounded 200 of them.
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Aroused by
the events at
Lexington
and Concord,
thousands of
Patriots
surrounded
the British in
Boston.
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• Provincial assemblies seized control in the
other New England colonies while colonial
militia pinned down British troops in Boston.
• In May 1775 the Second Continental
Congress met in Philadelphia to take
control of the fighting.
• As volunteers arrived in Boston, George
Washington was chosen to command
the new Continental Army.
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Congress made one final attempt at
reconciliation in July 1775.
The Olive
Branch Petition
was sent to
Britain
reaffirming
allegiance to
King George,
but not
Parliament.
The petition was
rejected.
Britain responded
by sending more
troops.
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Not all colonists
favored independence.
•
About one-fifth remained British Loyalists.
•
Some believed Britain was too powerful to beat.
•
Some feared a loss of business and income.
•
Some feared abuse from lawless Patriots.
•
Some resented Patriot taxes and militia demands.
•
Native Americans feared settlers moving westward.
•
Many slaves hoped for freedom under the British.
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• Paine depicted the king as an
enemy of liberty.
Thomas Paine’s
pamphlet
Common Sense
crystallized
colonial ideas in
early 1776.
• He called for a republic where
opportunity is based on merit
not on inherited privilege.
• He said the government
should be elected by the
common people.
• Paine reinforced the
Enlightenment idea that
all men have natural rights.
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In the spring of
1776, Congress
selected a
committee to
declare, and explain
reasons for,
independence.
So Thomas Jefferson
drafted the
Declaration of
Independence.
Congress approved it
on July 4, 1776.
It stated that “All men
are created equal.”
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The Declaration was organized into four sections:
• The Preamble stated the reasons for writing
the Declaration.
• The second paragraph stated the purpose of
government − to protect people’s rights.
• Then came a long list of grievances against
the King.
• The final paragraph actually declared
independence.
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The signers pledged,
“our Lives, our
Fortunes, and our
sacred Honor.”
Just as Patriots tore
down this statue of
the king for bullets,
the signers of the
Declaration knew
there was no turning
back.
Declaring Independence