Objective: To examine the success of the Green Mountain
Boys and the formation of the 2nd Continental Congress.
The Green Mountain Boys
- In 1775, Vermont
blacksmith Ethan Allen led
a group known as the
Green Mountain Boys in a
surprise attack on Fort
Ticonderoga, located at the
Southern tip of Lake
Champlain.
• In the spring of 1775,
Ethan Allen and
Benedict Arnold led a
raid to capture Fort
Ticonderoga.
• The British
surrendered the fort to
Allen, along with large
quantities of cannons
and gunpowder.
Ethan Allen, with drawn sword, capturing Fort Ticonderoga
on May 10, 1775, as depicted in a 19th-century engraving.
* The cannons and gun powder seized at Ticonderoga allowed the
American rebels to break the stalemate at the siege of Boston,
which caused the British to evacuate the city in March of 1776.
2nd Continental Congress
(Philadelphia, 1775-1776)
- In 1775, delegates sent King George III the Olive Branch
Petition.
* The delegates declared
their loyalty to Great
Britain, and asked the
King to repeal the
Intolerable Acts.
E PLURIBUS UNUM
“OUT OF MANY, ONE’
American signatures upon
the Olive Branch Petition
- King George III refused to repeal the Intolerable Acts!
* Delegates also set up the Continental Army, naming George
Washington as commander.