The American Revolution

Beginnings and

The Declaration of Independence

I. First Continental CongressA. Met in response to closing of Boston Harbor

(October 1774)

B. Representatives Compromise1. Boycott British goods - peaceful

2. Prepare for battle - war

C. Declaration of Rights1. List of colonists’ rights (life, liberty, and property)

2. Not seeking separation from Britain

Read section on Patrick Henry

II. “Shot Heard ‘round the World”

A. Minutemen1. Knew the British were trying to seize supplies in

Concord (April 1775)2. “One if by land, two if by sea”3. Paul Revere and William Dawes sounded the alarm

Read “Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride”

II. “Shot Heard ‘round the World” (cont.)

B. Lexington and Concord

1. First battle - British move to Concord

2. Concord had been warned; supplies hidden

3. Colonists charged firing the “shot heard ‘round the world”

Watch “Schoolhouse Rock!” video

III. Second Continental CongressA. Represented first attempt at a republican

government for the colonies (May 1775)

B. Should they seek peace or war with Great Britain?

C. Authorized the Continental Army

D. Appointed a Virginian to be commander in chief…

George Washington!

A. Bunker Hill (Breed’s Hill)

1. 2,400 British soldiers vs. 1,600 militia members

2. British twice retreated, eventually victorious

3. Moral victory for colonists

IV. Early Battles

B. Dorchester Heights1. Washington arrives in Boston2. Henry Knox brings cannons from Ticonderoga3. General William Howe (British) retreats to

Canada

IV. Early Battles (cont.)

V. Common SenseA. Thomas Paine wrote the pamphlet

B. Argued that citizens, not kings, should make laws

C. Called for the people’s right to rule themselves

D. Spoke out against tyranny - abuse of government

VI. Declaration of Independence

A. Thomas Jefferson1. Chosen to write the Declaration2. All people possess unalienable rights -

“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”

B. Signing1. Continental Congress approved on July

4, 17762. John Hancock signed it “so King George

could read it without his spectacles”

Reading on the Declaration of Independence

VI. Declaration of Independence (cont.)

C. Left Out1. Women (read quote by Abigail Adams, page

120)2. African Americans - Jefferson actually wanted to

end slavery3. Native Americans - their unalienable rights not

originally included

Who were the signers of the Declaration of Independence?

VII. Taking Sides

A. Patriots - people who wanted to break away from Great Britain

B. Loyalists (Tories) - people who sided with the British

C. Many colonists still remained neutralD. Native Americans - helped both sides