The Declaration of Independence

1
The Declaration of Independence

• Lesson 2

2
The Big Picture

• Not all Americans wanted to break free from
  Britain in 1775.
• They wanted to compromise.
• However, colonists had lost their lives at
  Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill.
• The fight for liberty had begun.
• King George III did not have much faith in the
  colonists.

3
The Rebellion Continues

• Thomas Paine a talented writer published a
  pamphlet entitled Common Sense.
• Paine explained the colonists did owe loyalty to
  an unjust ruler.
• 15, 000 American soldiers surrounded Boston and
  took over the British there.

4
Second Continental Congress

• The delegates faced new difficulties. The
  delegates needed to decide how to respond to the
  fighting British
• Adams nominated George Washington to be
  Commander-in-Chief of the new Continental Army.
• Congress also started a post office so that all
  the colonies could share the news.
• Benjamin Franklin, a new delegate to the
  Congress, was appointed Postmaster General.

5
Second Continental Congress Contd...

• Congress set up a committee to make peace with
  the Native Americans so they would side with the
  colonists.
• Congress also looked to other countries to
  support the colonies against Britain.
• The Second Continental Congress began to act like
  a new central government for a new country.

6
A Last Chance for Peace

• John Hancock was serving as the president of the
  Congress.
• But, in July 1775, Congress tried once again to
  make peace with Britain.
• Hancock proposed the Olive Branch Petition for
  peace but the king refused to even read the
  proposal.
• The king called us traitors.
• A traitor is someone who turns against his or
  her country.

7
The Declaration of Independence

• Congress decided to put a committee together to
  write a statement of independence.
• The committee consisted of John Adams, Benjamin
  Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman, and
  Robert Livingston.
• These men wrote the Declaration of Independence.
• On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence
  was approved.

8
Basic Principals of the Declaration

• Truths should be clear to everyone.
• All men are created equal.
• People establish governments in order to have
  life, liberty happiness.

• It listed the colonists complaints against the
  King.
• The United Colonies are Free and Independent
  States.
• This is one of the most important documents in
  human history.