4. First Continental Congress
• Met on September
5, 1774
– Delegates from 12
colonies
– Boycott British goods
and signed a petition
to end Intolerable
Acts
• Also set up Second
Continental Congress
in case the petition
had no effect
5. Second Continental Congress
• Met on May 10,
1775, delegates from
12 colonies
• Extended Olive
Branch petition to
England to attempt
to stop an all out war
6. Olive Branch Petition
• Pledged American loyalty to
the king and asked the king to
stop further conflict
– It was rejected by England
• The king responded with the
Proclamation of Rebellion
declaring the colonies in a
state of rebellion and urged
the British forces to “use their
utmost endeavours to
withstand and suppress such
a rebellion”
– Sent following the Battle of
Bunker Hill
7. Second Continental Congress
• Congress took charge of
the war effort
– Created Continental Army
– Put George Washington
in charge of it
• Wrote Declaration of
Causes explaining why
the colonies had gone to
war
• Acted as the federal
government during the
war
8. Second Continental Congress
• Prepared to declare independence from
Great Britain
• The First Continental Congress met to force
the king to repeal acts the colonists
disagreed with
• The Second C.C. planned to separate
completely from Great Britain and form an
independent nation
– No longer believed British Parliament had any
sovereignty over the colonies
9. Forming a New Nation
• Thomas Paine
urged the colonists
to seek
independence and
forge a republic
• As the war
continued, the
desire and support
for independence
increased
10. Declaration of Independence
• Congress first drafted a
Preamble to explain the
purpose of their declaration
– John Adams wrote the
preamble
• Then, on June 11, 1776,
Congress appointed a
“Committee of Five”,
consisting of John Adams of
Mass, Benjamin Franklin of
Penn, Thomas Jefferson of
Virginia, Robert R. Livingston
of NY, and Roger Sherman of
Conn, to draft a declaration
11. Declaration of Independence
• Voted on the
declaration on July
, 1776
• 12 colonies voted
(NY did not have
authority to vote)
• Sent for
publication July 4,
1776
12. America’s Desire for Independence
• Independent mindset can be
attributed to the geographic
distance from Great Britain, the
colonists’ ability to have their own
government, and influences from
the Enlightenment, but other
factors created a want for
independence
– Colonies had an active political
culture
• Ambitious men were involved in
politics
• Most widespread suffrage in the
world; few British men could
vote, but most white American men
were eligible
• Colonies were also very diverse; no
one group ran the political show
13. America’s Desire for Independence
• The American political culture was
available to varying economic, social,
religious, and ethnic groups including
merchants, landlords, farmers, and
artisans
– Overall interest in republicanism
14. The Declaration of Independence
• Analysis of Preamble
• What did the writer’s seek?
• Influences from Enlightenment?
– Thomas Paine and John Locke
• Are we living up to the Founding Father’s
expectations?
