The Beginning of the
Revolution
Page numbers
• Beginning of Revolution page 56
• Revolution continued page 57
• Second Continental Congress page 58
Schoolhouse rocks – no more kings
First Continental Congress
12 of the 13
original colonies
met at
____________
Philadelphia in
September 1774 to
discuss options in
response to the
______________.
Intolerable Acts
(Georgia did not attend)
There were two differing opinions as to
what to do:
Opinion One
appease (make peace)
_______
King George III.
Only wanted a written
statement that
guaranteed their
________
rights as British
subjects.
Opinion Two
The intolerable acts
shows that the King
intended to
____________
take away all of
their rights.
They voted to fight
with ______
firm and
_________
united action.
After much debate the congress decided to
do the following:
Send a ______
letter to King George asking him to
recognize their rights as English subjects.
2. all the colonies will ________
boycott British made
goods.
3. all the colonies will ______
stop selling goods to
England
militias
4. all colonies will train __________
to fight.
1.
They agreed to meet again in May 1775 to review
events.
Lexington and Concord
England’s response to the First
Continental Congress’ boycott was to
send troops (Redcoats) to Boston.
• To keep away from the British the
militia hid their guns and ammunition
Concord
in __________.
• On April 19, 1775, British commander,
900 men
General Gage, sent ______
marching to Concord to destroy the
weapons.
Eyes are watching!
The Sons of Liberty were
watching the British
troop movements.
lanterns
They placed __________
in the church window to
show which direction the
British were moving.
• Paul Revere and his friends rode on
horseback through the towns
shouting, “___________________
The British are coming
The British are coming
______________________!”
to
alert the Minutemen.
When the British reached Lexington
70 Minutemen.
they encountered ____
The minutemen were told to disband,
but refused.
No one knows who fired first, but
that first shot is called the
“________________________”
Shot heard around the world
because everybody in the world
would feel the results of the
Revolution.
In the first round of shooting ______
eight
Minutemen were killed and one British
soldier was injured.
The British pushed on to ________,
concord
but found very little hidden
ammunition. They burned what they
found in the town square.
All the minutemen thought Concord
burning so they rushed out to
was ________
fight the British.
4,000
The Redcoats found ______
militia men lining the way back
to Boston.
In the fight to get back to Boston,
82 Redcoats were killed and
___
approximately ____
200 were either
missing or wounded. The
Minutemen had won their first
battle!
The American Revolution was on!
Second Continental Congress
The congress met again
in May of 1775.
This time _____
all the
colonies attended.
There were 48
representatives
delegates
called __________.
Some of the most famous delegates there:
Thomas Jefferson
Ben Franklin
Sam Adams
Sam’s cousin John Adams.
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions!
The congress decided to send another
letter to King George III asking for a
______
repeal of the intolerable acts.
This letter is called
Olive branch
an _____________
petition and means
they are asking for
peace.
The Continental Army
In case the King says
“no” to the petition,
they establish the
Continental Army and
choose __________
George
______________
Washington
to
be the commander.
We choose GW to lead army
Strengths and Weaknesses of the
Continental Army
Strengths
Weaknesses
• knew _________
guerilla
(Indian) tactics; used
sneaky methods to
fight
• __________
No supplies
• were defending their
own _____________
Land and homes
making them more
daring and determined.
No navy
• _________
• ___________
inexperienced
troops
Strengths and Weaknesses of the
British Army
Strengths
Weaknesses
land
• did not know the ____
Lots of supplies
• ____________
• fighting far from
home
and
re-supply
Powerful navy
• ____________
6 weeks at least
took _______
experienced
• ____________
• fighting in enemy
soldiers
territory (they could
be attacked anytime,
anywhere.)
end
Battle of Bunker Hill
• June 16, 1775, American Colonel William
Prescott and 1,200 troops covered Breed’s
Hill - across from Boston hidden in trenches.
Prescott gave the order: “Don’t shoot until
you see the whites of their eyes!”
Why would Prescott tell his soldiers this?
In order to save ammunition
Battle of Bunker Hill
• ________
British troops (two times
2,400
the American number) attacked the
hill, but were defeated twice.
• After running out of ammunition and
gunpowder, the American colonists
were finally defeated on the
third
_________
offensive.
Battle of Bunker Hill
• We may have lost the battle, but the
British lost _______
men. We only
1,000
lost ______
men.
400
• This battle showed the American
win
determination to fight and ________
even at long odds.
The Shot Heard ‘Round the World…