Rate your agreement with the
following statement:
The media influences your opinion
about important issues.
A. Strongly agree
B. Somewhat agree
C. Somewhat disagree
0%
D. Strongly disagree
A
A.
B.
C.
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Chapter 5 The Spirit of
Independence (1763-1776)
Section 4 Moving Toward
Independence
Why did the American colonies
choose to declare independence?
Colonial Leaders Emerge
• May 10, 1775 at the
Second Continental
Congress
• Many were NOT ready to
break with Britain
• Many of the same
delegates from the First
Continental Congress
• Also Ben Franklin- he had
represented the colonies in
London and helped repeal
the act
• John Hancock was also
there- Hancock had funded
the Sons of Liberty
• Hancock was chosen
president of the First
Continental Congress
• 32 year old Thomas
Jefferson was also there
Second Continental Congress
• Began to govern the
colonies
• Authorized printing money
• Set up a post office with
Franklin in charge
• Committees were set up to
communicate with Indians
and other countries
• Most important, Congress
created the Continental
Army
• Would be more organized
than the militias
• George Washington was
unanimously chosen as the
army’s commander
Continental Congress and Peace
• The delegates offered
Britain one last chance to
avoid war
• Congress sent a petition
(formal request) to King
George III
• Called the Olive Branch
Petition
• Said the colonists wanted
peace
• Asked the King to protect
their rights
• George III refused the
petition
• Instead he prepared for
war
• Hired more than 30,000
German troops (Hessians)
to fight beside the British
The Colonies Take Offense
• The Colonist found out the
British were going to
invade New York
• The Americans decided to
strike first and attack
Montreal (They captured it)
• The Americans failed to
take Quebec
• Washington reached
Boston in 1775 and
realized the army lacked
discipline, organization,
and leadership
• Washington began to
shape the citizens into an
army
Continental Army
• March 1776,
Washington decided
they were ready
• The army was set in a
semicircle around
Boston
• Washington gave the
order to bombard the
British with cannons
• The redcoats under
General Howe withdrew
from the city
• March 17th, Washington
led the jubilant troops
into Boston
• The British sailed to
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Early 1776
• Support for absolute
independence was
growing
• Thomas Paine published
a pamphlet called
Common Sense
• Paine called the King
“the Royal Brute”
• Paine said “’Tis time to
part”
• The call for
independence became a
roar
Who published a very influential
pamphlet called Common Sense?
A. Thomas Paine
B. George Washington
C. Samuel Adams
D. Patrick Henry
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Second Continental Congress
• Second Continental
Congress was filled with
debate
• Should the colonies
declare themselves an
independent nation or
stay under British rule?
• Richard Henry Lee said
“all political connection
between them and the
State of Great Britain is,
and ought to be, totally
dissolved”
Debate over Independence
• Congress debated Lee’s
resolution
• Some thought the
colonies were not ready
to form a separate nation
• Others argued that war
had already begun
• Still others feared
Britain’s power to crush
the rebellion
• Congress decided to
draft a Declaration of
Independence
Declaration of Independence
• Jefferson wrote
• Used John Locke’s idea
that people were born
with certain natural rights
including
• Life, liberty, and property
• People formed
governments to protect
these rights
• Also that a government
that interferes with these
rights might be
overthrown
Who wrote the Declaration of
Independence?
A. Thomas Paine
B. George Washington
C. Thomas Jefferson
D. Patrick Henry
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D.O.I. Final Touches
• July 2nd, 1776 Congress voted on
Lee’s resolution for independence
• 12 colonies voted for it (New York
later announced support)
• Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration
of Independence was approved
with some changes on July 4th,
1776
• John Hancock was the first to sign
• Signed it so large that King
George could read it without his
glasses
• 56 delegates signed the paper
announcing the Birth of the United
States
• Copies of the Declaration of
Independence were distributed to
the newly declared states
Parts of the D.O.I
• Four major sections
• 1. Preamble (Introduction)
• 2. Lists the rights colonists
believed they should have
and the right of people to
abolish a government that
does not protect these
rights
• 3. List of grievances against
the King and Parliament
• 4. Announcement of
Independence
Why did the American colonies choose to
declare independence?
-King George ignored the colonists’ Olive Branch
petition, in which they tried to avoid war.
-The Colonists learned the British were planning
to invade New York.
-Thomas Paine published an influential pamphlet,
Common Sense, which called for complete
independence.
Chapter 5 Section 4 Quiz
The king of Great Britain accepted the Olive
Branch Petition offered by Congress.
ls
e
50%
Fa
50%
Tr
ue
1. True
2. False
The king hired German troops
to fight in America.
ls
e
50%
Fa
50%
Tr
ue
1. True
2. False
ls
e
Fa
Tr
ue
The Declaration of Independence explains
why the colonies chose to form a new
nation.
1. True
50%
50%
2. False
The first commander of the
Continental Army was
1. George
Washington.
2. Benjamin
Franklin.
3. John Adams.
4. Thomas
Jefferson.
G
Je
om
as
Th
Jo
hn
A
ffe
rs
on
.
da
m
s.
in
.
Fr
an
kl
ja
m
in
en
B
eo
rg
e
W
as
hi
n
gt
on
.
25% 25% 25% 25%
What did the Olive Branch
Petition ask the king to do?
1. protect the
colonists' rights
2. leave America
3. start another war
4. stop taxation
pr
ot
at
io
n
rw
ar
op
ta
x
th
e
st
e
av
le
ar
ta
no
st
ec
t
th
e
co
lo
n
Am
is
t
...
er
ic
a
25% 25% 25% 25%
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