1. Moving Toward Independence
5.4

2. Second Continental Congress
Met in Philadelphia, three weeks after Lexington & Concord.
All colonies sent delegates.
Many of the same members w/additions.
Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson (VA.)
Becomes a working government!

4. The Congress at Work Begin printing money.
Post Office – Franklin (Post Master General).
Creates the Continental Army.
More effective/organized than militia.
Washington voted as commander.
Offered to work without pay.

5. The Olive Branch Petition
Sent a petition (formal request) to King George III.
Assured the King that the colonists wanted peace.
Asked the King to respect their rights.
King George = hired 30,000 Hessians to fight.
German soldiers hired to fight.

7. Fighting Continues
March 1776 – Washing believes his troops are ready to fight.
Push the British out of Boston.
Flee to Present day Canada (Nova Scotia).
Nov. – March from Ticonderoga to take Montreal.
Not full war yet.

9. Growing Patriotism Patriot numbers in colonies continue to grow.
Jan. 1776, Thomas Paine writes the pamphlet Common Sense.
Sold 120,000 copies in 3 months.
Told colonists it was common sense to break away from England.
Fight is about freedom, not taxes.

11. Second Continental Congress
Meets again in Philadelphia.
Purpose: Deciding if the colonies should become independent from England.
Created a committee to draft a document that would declare the colonies independent.
Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, John Adams, others.

12. The Sides Some thought the colonies were not ready for independence.
G.B. would easily hold them down & punish them.
Population of colonists who want independence continues to grow.
Some believe war had already begun.

13. Congress’ Vote July 2, 1776 – Congress votes on independence
12 of the colonies voted in favor of Independence.
N.Y. did not vote, but later announced support.
July 4, 1776 – Delegates voted on and approved Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence.
First to sign was John Hancock.
55 delegates sign = the United States is born.

14. John Hancock

16. The Declaration 4 major sections Preamble (Introduction)
Rights the people hold
List of grievances (complaints)
Proclaims the existence of a new nation (United States)

17. Basic Rights (Section 2)
States that humans have basic rights.
People need to protect these rights and build a government that protects and grants them.

18. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

19. List of Grievances (Part 3)
The crimes of King George.
Restricting trade (Navigation Acts)
Taxing colonists without consent/representation in Parliament.
Took away colonial governments.
States they had sent petitions of these things to the King, but they had been ignored.

20. Declaring Independence (Part 4)
Declared themselves to be a new and independent nation.
The Revolution had officially begun!