The Road to RevolutionThe Road to Revolution

6-4: Declaring Independence

The Continental Army is Formed

Abigail Adams –

• brilliant wife of John Adams whose thoughts on government strongly influenced the colonial leader and future President

Abigail Adams

and John Adams — Benjamin Blythe

The Continental Army is Formed

Green Mountain Boys – • Patriot militia in Vermont

led by Ethan Allen• captured Ft. Ticonderoga,

near Lake Champlain, for its cannons

The Continental Army is Formed

2nd Continental Congress –

• acted as the American government• created Continental Army with 20,000

soldiers and authorized printing of money to pay them

• named George Washington to command it• asked colonies to form new governments• asked George III to repeal Intolerable Acts

and remove troops from America

The Continental Army is Formed

• Colonists met in Philadelphia to organize a temporary government and to set up a structured military, taking control from the mobs and madmen who had brought them to this point.

• Meanwhile, the plan to force the British from Boston was starting to develop

Summary –

The Battle of Bunker Breed’s Hill

There is NO battle on

Bunker Hill.

The Battle of Bunker Breed’s Hill

The Battle of Bunker Hill — Howard PyleThe Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker Hill — John Trumbull

The Battle of Breed’s Hill

Breed’s Hill – • costly British victory on the hills outside

BostonWilliam Prescott – • Colonel who led the Patriots in the battle

Summary –• Patriots fortified hillsides near Boston.• showed that the inexperienced militias would

stand and fight, and they would not be easily intimidated.

A Last Attempt at Peace

Mercenaries – • soldiers who are paid to

fight in wars that they have no stake in

• German mercenaries in America were called Hessians

Quebec – • failed Patriot effort to invade Canada

• Led by Benedict Arnold

A Last Attempt at Peace

Olive Branch Petition –

• document sent to King George III by the 2nd Continental Congress

• asked George III to repeal the Intolerable Acts and remove troops from America

A Last Attempt at Peace

George III – • rejected Olive Branch Petition –

•Labeled the colonists “rebels” and declared them in rebellion

•hired 20,000 Hessian mercenaries to fight in America

•ordered blockade of American ports

A Last Attempt at Peace

Summary –

• The colonists tried once again to restore peace with the British government

• George III became all the more determined to force compliance

The British Retreat from Boston

Ticonderoga – • cannons obtained here were

used to force the British from Boston

Summary –• Once the Ticonderoga

cannons arrive, the British face the choice of either attacking fortified hills or leaving Boston.

Common Sense Is Published

Common Sense – • pamphlet written by Thomas Paine • to convince Americans the time had come to

declare independence

Summary –• Paine’s influential publication sold well• led to open debate about independence• convinced many Americans that it was the

only way to secure their rights.

A Time of Decision

The Declaration of IndependenceJohn Trumbull

A Time of Decision

Declaration of Independence –

• written to enlighten the world as to why the “United Colonies” considered themselves “free and independent states”

...the “United States of America”• The resolution that the colonies should

declare independence was proposed by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.

• The primary author was Thomas Jefferson

A Time of Decision

Summary –

• Paine’s arguments in Common Sense influenced enough colonial leaders that a majority of the Congress began to support the idea of independence.

• Enlightenment philosophy required that reasonable men explain themselves, so they set up a committee to write the Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration is Adopted

John Hancock – • President of 2nd Continental Congress who

signed his name bigJohn Locke – • ideas of Declaration are based on his

Enlightenment philosophy

Summary –• Americans declare themselves to be a new

nation, governing themselves

... now all they have to do is win a war against the most powerful country on earth.

The Road to RevolutionThe Road to Revolution6-4: Declaring Independence