1. The Shots Heard Round the World
The Revolution Begins
The Shots Heard Round the World

2. A Time for Revolution Intolerable Acts convert many to independence
Proof or arbitrary use of power & corruption
Minutemen form in Mass. to resist British oppression

3. The Shot Heard Round the World
Gen. Gage sends 700 British to arrest Samuel Adams & John Hancock and seize gunpowder
Minutemen warned by Paul Revere & others
Fighting begins April 17, 1775 at Lexington & Concord
Begins the American Revolution ( )

4. The Siege of Boston
20,000 colonials lay siege to the British in Boston
April, 1775-March, 1776
Battle of Bunker’s Hill (June 17, 1775)
British lose 1000 men

5. The Second Continental Congress
Second Continental Congress opens on May 10, 1775
Independence Hall in Philadelphia
All 13 colonies represented
John Hancock chosen as President of Congress

6. The Continental Army
Congress adopts the army besieging Boston as the Continental Army and appoints George Washington as commander-in-chief
Forces the British to evacuate Boston

7. A Last Attempt at Reconciliation
Many still oppose independence
Loyalists supported the British
About 1/3 of colonists
Congress sends Olive Branch Petition (by John Dickenson) asking George III to protect rights of the colonists from Parliament

8. The Final British Provocation
George III rejects the Olive Branch petition
Declares the colonies to be in revolt
Orders 25,000 soldiers including German (Hessian) mercenaries to the colonies to end the rebellion
Convinces many more of the need for independence

9. The Final Push to Independence
Thomas Paine publishes Common Sense in 1776
American independence is common sense
“an island cannot rule a continent”
a “true mother” nation would not mistreat its child so badly
God created America to be independent
Converts thousands to independence

10. The Final Push to Independence
Effort led in Congress by John Adams & Franklin
N.C. is first to instruct delegates to support independence in the Halifax Resolves
Richard Henry Lee proposes independence on May 10, 1776

11. Independence!!!!
Congress votes unanimously for independence on July 2, 1776
Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776
Written by Thomas Jefferson