1. 6.3 The Road to Lexington and Concord

2. Intolerable Acts
Close the port of Boston until colonists paid for the destroyed tea
Banned committees of correspondence, allowed Britain to house troops wherever necessary
Let British officials accused of crimes in the colonies stand trial in Britain
Parliament appointed General Thomas Gage governor of Massachusetts

3. First Continental Congress
Delegates from all the colonies except Georgia met in Philadelphia
Voted to ban all trade with Britain until the Intolerable Acts were repealed
Called on each colony to begin training troops

4. Between War and Peace
John Hancock headed the Committee of Safety, which had the power to call out the militia
Sam Adams had built a spy network to keep watch over British activities
Gage ordered his troops to arrest Adams and Hancock in Lexington and to destroy the supplies in Concord

5. Paul Revere
Charged with spreading the news about British troop movements
If one lantern burned in the North Church steeple, the British troops were coming by land; if two, they were coming by water

6. Lexington and Concord
April 19th, 1775, some 700 British troops reached Lexington
They found Captain John Parker and about 70 militiamen waiting
Within a few minutes eight militiamen lay dead
Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the Revolutionary War
“Shot heard ‘round the world”

8. Declaring Independence
6.4

9. May 10th, 1775, Americans attacked Britain
Fort Ticonderoga
May 10th, 1775, Americans attacked Britain
Ethan Allen led this band of backwoodsmen known as the Green Mountain Boys
Captured the fort and its large supply of artillery (i.e. cannons)

10. Fort Ticonderoga & Ethan Allen

11. Second Continental Congress
Congress authorized the printing of paper money to pay the troops
It was beginning to act as a government

12. Washington was chosen as its commanding general
Continental Army
Washington was chosen as its commanding general

13. The Battle of Bunker Hill
Tensions were building in Boston in June 1775
Militiamen seized Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill behind Charlestown
General William Howe crossed the bay with 2,200 British Soldiers
Colonel William Prescott ordered, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!”
1000 redcoats were killed compared to only 400 militia casualties

14. Bunker Hill

15. Asked the king to restore harmony between Britain and the colonies
Olive Branch Petition
July 1775
Asked the king to restore harmony between Britain and the colonies
The king rejected the petition

16. The British Retreat from Boston
The Continental Army had surrounded British forces in Boston
Cannons were being hauled from Fort Ticonderoga
General Howe, who was now in charge of British Forces, decided to withdraw his troops
More than 1,000 Loyalist supporters left along with the British troops

17. Common Sense
In early 1776, most Americans still wanted to avoid a final break with Britain
Written by Thomas Paine, a recent immigrant from England, this pamphlet made a strong case for American’s to fight for Independence.

18. Continental Congress remained undecided
A Time of Decision
Continental Congress remained undecided
They did, however, appoint a committee to draft a Declaration of Independence
Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, and Thomas Jefferson (Main writer of Declaration)

19. The Declaration is Adopted
On July 4th, 1776, Congress adopted the document that proclaimed independence
The core idea of the Declaration is based on the philosophy of John Locke, This idea is that people have unalienable rights, or rights that government cannot take away.
Those rights are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.