1. Lesson 4
Bellringer: What happened at the
Siege of Boston

2. Grand Union Flag
First raised at the Siege of Boston
What do we notice about it?

3. Review of Early Battles

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?

15. Compare/Contrast
First Continental Congress vs. Second
Continental Congress

16. Comparing Perspectives
• NPR interview on the British Perspective on
the war
• Read and discuss