Declaring%20Independence

1
Declaring Independence

• Pamphlet Project 4

2
Continental Army Forms

• 20,000 Colonial Minutemen surround Boston
• British Army sets up defense inside Boston
• Ethan Allen and his militia the Green Mountain
  Boys capture Britains fort of Ticonderoga and
  capture their artillery

3
The Second Continental Congress

• Met in Philadelphia
• Formed the Continental Army
• Washington was chosen as its commanding general
• Printed money to pay that army

4
The Battle of Bunker Hill

• Sealed any opportunity for the British and the
  colonists to make amends
• Britain won the battle, but . . .
• 1,000 British casualties
• 400 colonial casualties
• America had stood up to the worlds most powerful
  army

5
Olive Branch Petition

• Second Continental Congress tried to make peace
  with King George before the fighting got out of
  hand
• Colonial leaders asked for a return to the
  former harmony
• King George said no and ordered his navy to
  blockade the colonies

6
Washington Marches on Quebec

• Washington wanted to take Quebec and get the
  Canadians fighting with the Americans
• Washington mistimed his march and arrived in
  Canada during the midst of winter
• American attack failed, and the American army
  limped home

7
The British Retreat from Boston

• Washington positioned the artillery they had
  capture to bombard Boston
• The British army retreats from Boston
• Loyalist property in Boston was seized

8
Patriots win over the Colonists

• Colonists still wanted peace with Britain
• Kings refusal to accept the Olive Branch Petition
  the colonists reading, Common Sense, by Thomas
  Paine.

9
John Locke

• Life, Liberty, Freedom, Property.
• The Basic Human Rights are known as natural
  rights
• Unalienable - Rights that everyone has and, no
  one can take away
• People have the right to choose their government
  and to overthrow it.

10
Declaring Independence

• Thomas Jefferson a farmer with a gift for
  writing was asked by the Continental Congress to
  draft a document declaring independence
• He wrote the, Declaration of Independence
• influenced by John Locke
• Remember the Enlightenment?
• Declaration was signed by 55 delagates and John
  Hancock (First to sign)

11
July 4, 1776

• Colonial delegates voted unanimously for freedom
  from Great Britain
• We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our
  Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor

12
Loyalists vs Patriots

• Patriots
• Wanted independence from Great Britain. Wanted
  to form their own country
• Many saw an economic opportunity an opportunity
  to make money
• Loyalist
• Wanted to remain loyal to the King of Great
  Britain
• Many were governors and other King appointees
• Feared what would happen to them if the colonists
  lost the war
• Patriots made up about 50 of Americans
• Loyalists and neutral individuals made up the
  other 50

13
Taking Sides

• Quakers took sides with patriots but did not
  believe in fighting
• African Americans took sides with the British
  because the British promised them freedom.
• Native Americans sided with the British because
  colonists were the biggest threat