A MEETING IN PHILADELPHIA

1774

SEPTEMBER 1774

• 55 delegates

• Philadelphia

• Goal = to set up a political body that would represent americans & challenge the british control

• This body is called Continental congress

ASSIGNMENT

• Read pages 120-121

• Create a bubble map for the 1st continental congress

• Center bubble = 1st continental congress

• Information that most be shown on your bubble map:

• when they met

• where they met

• who sent delegates

• who do they send (what was the person’s importance)

• decisions made by the congress

CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

• Leaders from 12/13 colonies attended.

• Georgia does not send a representative.

WHO IS SENT?

• Massachusetts = Samuel Adams (fiery) & John Adams (lawyer) – cousins

• New York = John Jay (lawyer)

• Virginia = George Washington , Richard Henry Lee, Patrick Henry (Lee & Henry very outspoken defenders of colonial rights)

• Patrick Henry wants colonies to form a strong resistance against Britain. 2nd day = “The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.”

•

TOPICS

• Complaints against the British

• Called for the repeal of 13 acts of Parliament

• Believed laws violated the “laws of nature, the principles of the English constitution, and several charters.” of the colonies.

• Voted to boycott British trade

• Endorse Suffolk Resolves (Boston)– declare Coercive Acts to be illegal; called for country’s residents to arm themselves against the British.

• Colonies organized militias

LAWS OF CONTINENTAL CONGRESS

• They are not permanent

• They change as legislators respond to the concerns of the electorate

• Why did the delegates call for the repeal of certain laws?

A MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITY PREPARES

• Look at the chart on page 121

• About how many soldiers does Salem appear prepared to equip?

• Wjat does this list suggest about this community’s expectations about relations with the british?

• What might the colonists who saw this list have thought?

MILITIAS, MINUTEMEN

INTERACTIVE MILITIA, MINUTEMEN & CONTINENTAL ARMY

MILITIAS• Groups of citizen soldiers

• Important part of each town’s defense

• Trained & had drills with other citizen soldiers

• Practiced with muskets and cannons

• Each member provides own weapon (musket) & ammunition

• Towns begin to gather & store military supplies

MINUTEMEN

• Militias that boasted they would be ready to fight at a minute’s notice

A MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITY PREPARES (121)

• About how many soldiers does Salem appear prepared to equip?

• What does the list suggest about this community’s expectations about relations with the British?

FIGHTING BEGINS: GREAT BRITAIN SENDS TROOPS

• King George told Parliament that the New England colonies were “in a state of rebellion” & that blows must decide” who would control America

• By April 1775, several thousand British troops are in and around Boston.

• Thomas Gage (British general) has orders to seize weapons from Massachusetts militia and arrest the leaders

• Gage learns that the militia stores arms and ammunition in Concord (20 milies NW of Boston) He orders 700 troops (Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith

• “to Concord, where you will seize and destroy all the artillery and ammunition you can find.”

BRITISH ON THE MOVE

• April 18, 1775

• Dr. Joseph Warren walks through Boston

• Sees troops marching out of the city

• Warren alerts Paul Revere & William Dawes – members of Sons of Liberty

• Revere & Dawes ride to Lexington (east of Concord) declaring ______________

• Revere gallops through countryside shouting his warning

• Samuel Adams is ready to fight” What a glorious morning this is!”

• British patrol captures Dawes & Revere

• Samuel Prescott carries the warning to concord

REVIEW

• What was the purpose of the Continental Congress?

• Which colony was not represented at the Continental Congress?

• Who were some of the important delegates?

• Why did the delegates call for the repeal of certain laws?

• What other actions did the delegates take?

• How did the New England colonists prepare to fight?

• What did the British do to prepare?

• Where did Dr. Warren see British troops on the march?

• Where were the colonial weapons stored?

• Where did Paul Revere and William Dawes ride in order to warn the colonists?