Declaring Independence

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Declaring Independence
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In this section you will learn that fighting
between American and British troops led the
colonies to declare their independence from
British rule.
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On May 10, 1775 the Second Continental Congress
including John and Samuel Adams, John Hancock,
Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Patrick
Henry, convened in Philadelphia.
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Samuel Adams
Benjamin Franklin
John Adams
John Hancock
George Washington
Patrick Henry
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George Washington was chosen to command the newly
formed Continental Army.
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Infantry of the Continental Army
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In New York, Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain
Boys captured the British Fort Ticonderoga and
seized its large supply of artillery. Benedict
Arnold, who would eventually betray the
colonists, was also in attendance.
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Flag of the Green Mountain Boys and Vermont
Republic.
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Fort Ticonderoga
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Benedict Arnold
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• Benedict Arnold V (January 14, 1741 June 14,
  1801) originally fought for American independence
  from the British Empire as a general in the
  Continental Army during the American
  Revolutionary War until he obtained command of
  the American fort at West Point, New York and,
  switching sides, plotted unsuccessfully to
  surrender it to the British.
• Arnold was considered by many to be the best
  general and most accomplished leader in the
  Continental Army. In fact, without Arnold's
  earlier contributions to the American cause, the
  American Revolution might well have been lost
  but after he switched sides his name, like those
  of several other prominent traitors throughout
  history, has become a byword for treason in the
  United States.

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In Boston an intense battle over Bunker Hill and
Breeds Hill was eventually won by the British,
but at a huge cost. 1000 British soldiers were
killed or wounded compared with only 400 militia
casualties.
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The Battle of Bunker Hill, Howard Pyle, 1897
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The Death of General Warren at the Battle of
Bunker Hill by John Trumbull
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Thomas Jefferson by Charles Willson Peale 1791
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July 1775, moderates in Congress drafted a last
ditch effort at peace known as the Olive Branch
Petition and sent it to London. King George
rejected the petition and instead opted for a
military response.
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FOR UNDERSTANDING
QUICK CHECK
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On May 10, 1775 the ______ including John and
Samuel Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin,
George Washington, and Patrick Henry, convened in
Philadelphia.

• 3) Second Continental Congress
• 4) British Parliament

• 1) First Continental Congress
• 2) Continental Army

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The Second Continental Congress convened in

• 3) London
• 4) Philadelphia

• 1) Boston
• 2) New York City

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______ was chosen to command the newly formed the
Continental Army.

• 1) George Washington
• 2) Samuel Adams

• 3) Benedict Arnold
• 4) Paul Revere

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The military institution that George Washington
was placed in charge of was called the ______.

• 1) Army of America
• 2) Continental Army

• 3) Republican Guard
• 4) Patrician Guard

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In New York, ______ and the Green Mountain Boys
captured the British Fort Ticonderoga and seized
its large supply of artillery.

• 1) John Adams
• 2) Ethan Allen

• 3) Nathaniel Hawthorne
• 4) Benedict Arnold

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______, who would eventually betray the
colonists, was a commander at the Battle of
Ticonderoga and the expeditionary force at Québec.

• 1) Crispus Attucks
• 2) George Washington

• 3) Patrick Henry
• 4) Benedict Arnold

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In Boston and intense battle over ______ was
eventually won by the British, but at a huge
cost.

• 1) Saratoga
• 2) Philadelphia

• 3) Fort Ticonderoga
• 4) Bunker Hill and Breeds Hill

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July 1775, moderates in Congress drafted a last
ditch effort at peace known as the Olive Branch
Petition and sent it to London. King George
rejected the petition and instead opted for a
military response.
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King George III sent thousands of mercenary
German soldiers, called Hessians, to fight the
colonists.
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After George Washington threatened to bombard
Boston with the cannons removed from Fort
Ticonderoga, British soldiers and many loyalist
fled the city.
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A pamphlet entitled Common Sense written by
Thomas Paine ridiculed the idea of divine rule
and monarchy and helped to change public opinion
regarding separation of the colonies from England.
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The Second Continental Congress authorized each
of the 13 colonies to establish its own
government, and chose Thomas Jefferson to compose
a Declaration of Independence.
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• John Trumbull's Declaration of Independence
  depicts the five-man drafting committee
  presenting the first draft of the Declaration of
  Independence to the Second Continental Congress

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On July 4, 1776, Congress adopted the Declaration
of Independence. The president of the Congress,
John Hancock, was the first to sign the
declaration.
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The Declaration of Independence, based on the
philosophy of John Locke, states that all people
have unalienable rights that government cannot
take away, and if government disregards these
rights, the people have the right to abolish it.
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The Declaration also explained that the colonies
broke with Great Britain and declared their
freedom because of the abuses and usurpations of
King George III.
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• When in the Course of human events, it becomes
  necessary for one people to dissolve the
  political bands which have connected them with
  another, and to assume among the powers of the
  earth, the separate and equal station to which
  the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle
  them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind
  requires that they should declare the causes
  which impel them to the separation.

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• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
  men are created equal, that they are endowed by
  their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
  that among these are Life, Liberty and the
  pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these
  rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
  deriving their just powers from the consent of
  the governed, That whenever any Form of
  Government becomes destructive of these ends, it
  is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish
  it, and to institute new Government, laying its
  foundation on such principles and organizing its
  powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
  likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

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• Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments
  long established should not be changed for light
  and transient causes and accordingly all
  experience hath shewn, that mankind are more
  disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable,
  than to right themselves by abolishing the forms
  to which they are accustomed. But when a long
  train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
  invariably the same Object evinces a design to
  reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their
  right, it is their duty, to throw off such
  Government, and to provide new Guards for their
  future security.

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FOR UNDERSTANDING
QUICK CHECK
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July 1775, moderates in Congress drafted a last
ditch effort at peace known as the ______and sent
it to London.

• 3) Articles of Confederation
• 4) Mayflower Compact

• 1) Olive Branch Petition
• 2) Treaty of Paris

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King George rejected the colonists peace
proposal and instead

• 1) cut off all food to the colonists.
• 2) repealed the tax on tea.

• 3) opted for a military response.
• 4) sent the colonist a proposal of his own.

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King George III sent thousands of mercenary
German soldiers, called ______, to fight the
colonists.

• 1) Nazis
• 2) Jacobians

• 3) Hessians
• 4) Red Coats

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After George Washington threatened to bombard
Boston with the cannons removed from Fort
Ticonderoga

• 1) colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped tea
  into Boston Harbor.
• 2) the British burned Boston to the ground.

• 3) the British counterattacked at Saratoga.
• 4) British soldiers and many loyalist fled the
  city.

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A pamphlet entitled ______ ridiculed the idea of
divine rule and monarchy and helped to change
public opinion regarding separation of the
colonies from England.

• 1) Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania
• 2) Common Sense

• 3) Poor Richards Almanac
• 4) the Declaration of Independence

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______ wrote Common Sense.

• 1) Thomas Paine
• 2) John Locke

• 3) Benjamin Franklin
• 4) James Otis

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The Second Continental Congress authorized each
of the 13 colonies to establish its own
government, and chose ______ to compose a
Declaration of Independence.

• 1) Thomas Jefferson
• 2) the Congressional Writing Committee

• 3) Ethan Allen
• 4) John Adams

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The Declaration explained that the colonies broke
with Great Britain because of the abuses and
usurpations of ______.

• 1) the British Parliament
• 2) the British king

• 3) the British soldiers
• 4) British merchants

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On ______, Congress adopted the Declaration of
Independence.

• 3) July 4, 1776
• 4) July 2, 1763

• 1) July 4, 1763
• 2) July 2, 1776

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The president of the Second Continental Congress,
______, was the first to sign the Declaration of
Independence.

• 1) Thomas Jefferson
• 2) John Adams

• 3) John Hancock
• 4) George Washington