The Two Continental Congresses
The First Continental Congress (by Alexander Schmidt)
The First Continental Congress took place from 5th September 1774 to 26th
October 1774 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 56 delegations from all the 13
colonies except Georgia wanted to resist against the restrictions of freedom of
American citizens.
The two Presidents of the First
Continental Congress
The aims were:
- the declaration of solidarity of all the colonies
- the imposition of a one-year suspension of exports and imports to Britain
- countermeasures against the Quartering Act
(This Act compelled American colonists to house and provide for British
soldiers)
During its meeting time, the Congress achieved two major successes:
- the draft of the Association Articles on 20th October 1774
- (These Articles compelled American colonists to boycott British goods
from the 1st December 1774)
- the preparation of the Second Continental Congress which started 10th
May 1775 where also Georgia took part in from July on
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An American colonist who has to
house British soldiers because of the
Quartering Act
except = außer
to resist = sich wehren
restrictions = Beschränkungen
imposition = Verhängung
countermeasures = Gegenmaßnahmen
to compel = zwingen/verpflichten
to house = beherbergen
to provide for = versorgen
to achieve = erreichen
draft = Entwurf
Quelle: Wikipedia
A newspaper of the First Continental Congress
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Why were most of the Delegates against the
Independence from England? (by Max Jaschick)
Most of the delegates were against the freedom from England,
because they didn’t want to have a war against England and if they
had war against another country they wouldn’t get help from England.
Besides they needed the manufactured goods they received from
England like weapons or machines, and they needed all the slaves the
English brought from Africa.
Quelle: Wikipedia
The Independence Hall in Philadelphia
Second Continental Congress (by Paul Kleinschmidt)
The Second Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from
the 13 colonies. They met the first time on May 10, 1775 in
Philadelphia. That was at the time when the American Revolutionary
War began. But there were also some other conferences:
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May 10, 1775 – December 12, 1776, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
December 20, 1776 – March 4, 1777, Baltimore, Maryland
March 5, 1777 – September 18, 1777, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 27, 1777 (one day only), Lancaster, Pennsylvania
September 30, 1777 – June 27, 1778, York, Pennsylvania
July 2, 1778 – March 1, 1781, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The sense of the Second Continental Congress was to prepare the
American Revolution against England. They created a currency,
named Continental-Dollar. They also had a Continental Army.
Thomas Jefferson composed the American Declaration of
Independence, which was signed the first time by John Hancock, the
president of the Continental Congress.
Quelle:Wikipedia
The Second Continental Congress
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Why the Declaration of Independence was signed
(by Max Jaschick)
The Declaration of Independence was signed at the end of the Second
Continental Congress.
The Declaration of Independence was signed because of the critical
situation in America.
The English crown had tremendous debts, so they took all money in
America they could find.
So they had not much money for goods, the English had less debts and
the American less money.
Most of the delegates were now for the freedom from England and
they all signed the Declaration of Independence.
tremendous = enorm
debts = Schulden
Quelle: Wikipedia
The Triangular Trade (one aspect of America’s exploitation
by the British)
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Declaration of Independence (The Unanimous
Declaration of The Thirteen United States of America)
(by Benedikt Saupp)
The Declaration of Independence was composed on the fourth July
1776 by Thomas Jefferson and the Second Continental Congress and
is the charter of the USA.
The Declaration of Independence was composed because the thirteen
British colonies of North America wanted the dissociation from Great
Britain.
Today the fourth July is an American national holiday.
The content of the Declaration of Independence
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Content of the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence is divided in three parts. In the first
part is written when a nation has the right to change an old form of a
government to a new form of a government. In the second part is
written that the crown had hurt the rights of the people in the colonies
so extremely that the crown has no right to the dutifulness of the
people.
The third and therefore the last part consists of a deduction in which is
written that the dissociation from Britain was needful and that the
thirteen colonies call for the right to act like an independent state.
Thomas Jefferson
unanimous = einstimmig
dissociation = Trennung
content = Inhalt
dutifulness = Gehorsamkeit
to consist (of) = bestehen (aus)
deduction = Schlussfolgerung
Quelle: Wikipedia
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Besiegement of Boston
(by Paul Kleinschmidt)
The besiegement of Boston lasted from April 19, 1775 until March 17,
1776. That was the start of the American War of Independence. The
city of Boston was controlled by England and so the Americans
wanted to stop military movements of the Redcoats (British Army), so
they besieged Boston. Although the besiegement wasn't really
successful, after 11 months the Americans under control of George
Washington forced the Redcoats to resign.
besiegement = Belagerung
besiege = belagern
force to resign = zum Rückzug zwingen
Quelle:Wikipedia
The British soldiers
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“The Hessen” (by Benedikt Saupp)
The German soldiers were named “the Hessen” by the English people,
because most of these German soldiers came from Hessen. The
Germans had to give 12 thousand soldiers to the English crown,
because they had obligated (=verpflichteten) themselves in a contract.
And this contract said that the Germans had to exchange injured and
dead soldiers, therefore about 20,000 German soldiers fought for the
British crown.
“The Hessen” were famous for their high fighting power, wherefore
the enemies of “the Hessen” were frightened when they heard the
noise of “the Hessen” drums.
After the War of Independence many of the German soldiers stayed in
America.
Quelle: Wikipedia
„Hessin“ Soldier
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