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2
Ideas Help Start a Revolution
KEY IDEA
Tensions increased throughout the colonies
until the Continental Congress declared
independence on July 4, 1776.
OVERVIEW
ASSESSMENT
HOME
2
Ideas Help Start a Revolution
OVERVIEW
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
Tensions increased throughout
the colonies until the
Continental Congress declared
independence on July 4, 1776.
The Declaration of
Independence continues to
inspire and challenge people
everywhere.
TERMS & NAMES
• Olive Branch Petition
• Patriots
• Second Continental Congress
• Common Sense
• Loyalists
• Declaration of Independence
• Thomas Jefferson
ASSESSMENT
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2
Ideas Help Start a Revolution
ASSESSMENT
1. Summarize the causes, ideas, and results related to
the Declaration of Independence.
Second Continental Congress met.
George III rejected the Olive
Branch Petition.
Thomas Paine published
Common Sense.
Colonies should be independent.
Government should be based on a
social contract.
Everyone has certain unalienable
rights.
The Declaration of Independence
Colonies declared independence.
Colonists forced to choose between
loyalty to the crown and independence.
continued . . .
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2
Ideas Help Start a Revolution
ASSESSMENT
2. Imagine that King George had accepted the Olive Branch
Petition and sought a diplomatic resolution with the
Congress. Do you think colonists would still have pressed for
independence? Think About:
• the attitudes of the king and Parliament toward the colonies
• the impact of fighting at Lexington, Concord, and Breed’s Hill
• the writings of Thomas Paine
ANSWER
Yes: Colonists may have felt anger over the loss of fellow citizens in recent battles
and other oppressive British actions; colonists may have remained inspired by
Common Sense.
No: Many American colonists were still loyal to the king and did not want independence.
continued . . .
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Ideas Help Start a Revolution
ASSESSMENT
3. Thomas Paine wrote in the introduction to Common Sense:
“ The cause of America is in a great measure the
cause of all mankind.”
Evaluate the significance of Paine’s statement. Think About:
• Locke’s ideas about natural rights
• Jefferson’s ideas about “unalienable rights”
ANSWER
Paine made colonists aware that their struggle for freedom
wasn’t just a whim but was part of a universal struggle.
Every human being possesses natural and unalienable rights,
and when those rights are violated, it is every human being’s
obligation to seek their restoration.
End of Section 2