Week of October 17-21 Monday-HW: Get planner signed by your parent to keep your 100A for 2 nd 9 weeks! Tuesday-HW: Study over your Chapter 4 Section 1 notes quiz Friday! Wednesday: HW: Finish your Chapter 4 section 1 graphic organizer due tomorrow! Thursday: HW: Study for your quiz tomorrow and finish your workbook pages due tomorrow! Friday: HW: Cheer on LSU as they beat OLE MISS! 7 th and 8 th hours- When you are finished take out your word search from after your exam!
At first few colonists wanted a complete break with Britain. As tensions mounted, however, a peaceful compromise was no longer possible.
Colonial leaders soon realized that Benjamin Franklin was right all along. Without uniting as one against Britain, they would never survive. So, in September 1774, 55 men arrived in Philadelphia at Carpenter s Hall. Major political leaders from all the colonies attended. Massachusetts sent Samuel Adams and his younger cousin, John Adams, a successful lawyer.
They were sent as delegates from all the colonies except Georgia, these men had come to establish a political body to represent American interests. They called this new organization the Continental Congress.
To sum up the meaning of the gathering, Patrick Henry said: The distinctions between Virginians and Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more I am not a Virginian, but an American.
Although the delegates were hardly united in their views, they realized they needed to work together. First they drafted a statement of grievances calling for the repeal of 13 acts Parliament passed since 1763. They also vowed to not trade with Britain.
The colonists declared that these laws violated the colonists unalienable rights granted to them in the English Bill of Rights.
One of the major decisions made at this meeting was the creation of militias to fight against the Redcoats. Militias= a group of citizen soldiers. Many colonists started to wonder if war was coming. The answer came the following spring.
Colonists expected that if fighting broke, it would begin in New England. Militia companies in Mass held weekly training sessions, made bullets, and stockpiled rifles and muskets. Some companies, known as minutemen, boasted they would be ready to fight on a minute s notice. All the colonists were preparing for a war with KGIII & took every step necessary to protect themselves.
Meanwhile in England, KGIII was also prepping for the conflict. He announced to Parliament that the New England colonies were in a state of rebellion and said that shots must decide who will control America. By 1775, British General Sir Thomas Gage had several thousand soldiers under his command in and around Boston, with many more on the way. Gage had instructions to take away weapons of the Massachusetts militia and arrest the leaders.
Gage learned that the militia was storing arms and ammunition at Concord, a town about 20 miles of Boston. Gage ordered 700 of his Redcoat troops to march: to Concord, where you will seize and destroy all the artillery and ammunition you can find.
On the night of April 18, 1775, Dr. Joseph Warren walked the streets of Boston, looking for any unusual activity by the Redcoats. He saw a whole unit form and march out of the city. Warren rushed to alert Paul Revere and William Dawes, leading members of the Sons of Liberty.
Revere galloped off across the moonlit countryside, shouting, The British are coming! and The regulars are out!! to the people and houses he passed along the way. He was then met by Dawes, the second rider.
Paul Revere rode to Lexington, a town east of Concord, to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock, that the British were coming. Adams could barely control his excitement. What a glorious morning this is! Adams was ready to fight for American independence.
At dawn the Redcoats approached Lexington. When they reached the center of town they discovered a group of about 70 minutemen who had been alerted by Revere. The minutemen were in the middle of the town with muskets in hand. A minuteman reported, There suddenly appeared a number of the King s troops, about 1,000 the leader cried, Throw down your arms, ye civilians, ye rebels!
A shot was fired, and then both sides let loose with an exchange of bullets. When the fighting was over, eight minutemen lay dead.
After the fighting in Lexington, the Redcoats continued marching to Concord. When they arrived, they discovered that most of the militia s gunpowder had already been removed. They destroyed the remaining supplies. At Concord s North Bridge, minutemen were waiting on them. All along the road from Concord to Boston, farmers, blacksmiths, saddle makers, and clerks hid behind trees, rocks, and stone fences.
As the British marched down the road, the militia fired. A British officer wrote: These fellows were good marksmen, and many of them used long guns made for duck shooting. By the time the Redcoats reached Boston, at least 174 were wounded and 73 were dead.
Looking back, the poet, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in The Concord Hymn that the Americans at Lexington and Concord had fired the shot heard round the world. The battle for America s independence from Great Britain, had begun.
The first major battle of the American Revolution was fought at Bunker Hill in Massachusetts on June 17, 1775. Two months had passed since the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord
Add to the BACK of YOUR NOTES! While Congress discussed peace, the Massachusetts militia began to fight. Boston was a key city in the early days of the War. Both loyalists and patriots fought to control it. Desperate for supplies, leaders in Boston sent Benedict Arnold and force of 400 men to New York state. Their goal was to attack the British at Fort Ticonderoga. In May 1775, Arnold captured the fort and its large supply of weapons.
On June 16, 1775, about 1,200 minutemen under the command of William Prescott set up a fort at Breed s Hill & nearby Bunker Hill across from Boston Harbor. The next day the Redcoats crossed the harbor and charged up Breed s hill with their bayonets drawn
With his forces running low on ammo, Colonel Prescott shouted the order, Don t fire until you see the whites of their eyes. Americans opened fire, forced British to retreat. The Redcoats charged two more times, receiving furious fire. In the end the Americans ran out of gunpowder and had to withdraw.
Bunker Hill is the name of a battle fought near Boston, Massachusetts, on June 17th, 1775 between the Massachusetts militia and the Redcoats The battle was actually misnamed because the majority of the action took place on Breed s Hill and that is where a Battle of Bunker Hill monument sits.
The British won the Battle of Bunker Hill but suffered heavy losses more than 1,000 dead and wounded; that is 40% of their troops. A Redcoat wrote: A dear fought victory, another such would have ruined us. The British had learned that defeating the Americans on the battlefield would not be quick or easy. Even though the Americans were defeated, it proved that the British could suffer great losses, too, giving encouragement to the Militia.
Shortly after the Battle of Bunker Hill, General Washington arrived in Boston and took command of the Continental Army. Washington knew that he would need heavier guns to drive the British out of Boston and he knew right where to get them- Fort Ticonderoga.
General Washington assigned Colonel Henry Knox to transport the captured cannons from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston He successfully brought the heavy guns over 300 miles of rough terrain ( mainly forests) during the WINTER When Knox delivered the cannons, Washington was ready to regain control of Boston from the Redcoats. After all, they have had control of the city since the Intolerable Acts were passed.
On March 4, 1776, Washington moved his army to Dorcester Heights, an area that overlooked Boston from the south. He stationed the cannons and his troops on Nook s Hill overlooking the British general William Howe s position. When Howe awoke the next morning and saw the Patriots wellpositioned artillery, he knew he would have no choice, but to retreat.
The Rebels have done more in one night than my whole Army could do in Months, Howe declared. On March 7- Howe retreated from Boston to British owned Canada, Finally- the birthplace of all the rebellion was in the Patriots hands! The Rebels have done more in one night than my whole Army could do in Months
As American colonists heard about these battles, they faced a major decision. Should they join the rebels or remain loyal to Britain?
Those who chose to stay with Britain, the Loyalists, did not consider unfair taxes and regulations good reasons for rebellion. Some were people who lived in relative isolation and who had not been part of the wave of discontent that turned so many Americans against Britain.
The patriots, on the other hand, were determined to fight the British to the end- until American Independence was won!
Shot Heard 'Round the World
On May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress assembled for the first time in Philadelphia Delegates from all 13 colonies attended Despite the fighting at Lexington & Concord, many members of Congress were not yet prepared to break away from Great Britain.
Ben Franklin: unofficial spokesman in England for the colonies. John Hancock: Wealthy, funded many Patriot groups like the Sons of Liberty- Chosen as the President of the 2 nd Continental Congress. Thomas Jefferson: 32 when Congress began was a brilliant thinker & writer.
The Second Continental Congress began to govern the colonies. It authorized the printing of money and setup a post office with Franklin in charge. It established committees to communicate with Native Americans and other countries.
Most important, Congress created the Continental Army to right against Britain in a more organized way than the colonial militias. On John Adams recommendation, the Congress unanimously chose George Washington to be the army s commander. ( he proved himself in French& Indian War)
After Washington left to take charge of the colonial forces in Boston, the delegates offered Britain one last chance to avoid an all-out war. In July 1775, the Congress sent a petition, or formal request to KGIII. The petition was called the Olive Branch Petition and assured KGIII of the colonists desire for peace. It asked the King to protect the colonists rights, which parliament seemed determined to destroy.
KGIII refused to receive the Olive Branch Petition. Instead of reading the document, he prepared for war by hiring 30,000 German troops to send to America to fight beside British troops.
In Jan. 1776 Thomas Paine published a pamphlet called Common Sense Pamphlet called for complete independence from KGIII and Great Britain. Paine argued the colonists cause was not just over taxes but a struggle for freedom. He argued that it was simply common sense to stop following the royal brute (bullying from) of KGIII Support for complete independence was growing in the colonies.
In March 1776 Washington declared Continental Army was ready to fight He positioned the Army in a semicircle around Boston and gave the order for its cannons to bombard the British forces. The Redcoats under Sir William Howe, hurriedly withdrew from the city and sailed to Hailfax, Nova Scotia
Meanwhile, at the 2 nd Continental Congress in Philadelphia, the meeting hall was filled with spirited debate. Should the colonies declare themselves an independent nation, or should they stay under British rule? In April 1776, North Carolina instructed its delegates to support independence.
On June 7 th, Virginia s Richard Lee made a bold resolution: That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States.and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved
Congress debated the resolution. Independent nation or stay under KGIII rule? Are the colonies ready to form a separate nation? Is Great Britain s army too powerful? What happens if the patriots lose?
While the delegates debated the issue, Congress chose a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence The committee Included: Benjamin Franklin, Phillip Livingston,John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson was selected to write it Jefferson was inspired by an English philosopher named John Locke. Locke wrote that people were born with certain natural rights to life, liberty, and property; that people formed governments to protect these rights; and that a government interfering with these rights might rightfully be overthrown.
On July 2, 1776, Congress was finished debating the resolution. Congress finally voted on Lee s resolution for independence. 12 colonies voted for it New York didn t vote but later supported it.
Next Congress reviewed Jefferson s draft, some changes were made, and the Declaration of Independence was approved on July 4, 1776.
President of the Congress, John Hancock, was the first to sign. He signed it larger than others so that KGIII could read it without his glasses. 56 delegates signed it
This document announced 2 things to the world 1. the divorce from Great Britain 2. Birthday of the United States of America.
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America 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. Part 1: When in the Course of human events... ~Here s what we re about and what we believe...
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.
Some of the complaints: He has sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the Consent of our Legislatures. He has made us responsible for quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us. He has imposed taxes without our consent He has cut off trade with other parts of the world He has taken away our rights to a trial by jury He has taken away the right of self government by controlling our lives Let the facts be submitted to a candid world... ~Here s all the ways the King has wronged us and why we re mad...
That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved;" We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States... ~We re OUT OF HERE! From now on, we are INDEPENDENT!
Fireworks!