Chapter 5- The Road to Revolution

Section 4- The War Begins Focus Question: How did the American Revolution begin?

I. The Second Continental Congress A. As the situation with Britain worsen the Second

Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in 1775. 1. Some delegates included Thomas Jefferson, John

Hancock and Benjamin Franklin. B. The delegates were divided between those who favored

declaring independence and those who desired more needed to prepare for war.

1. The Congress chose George Washington to led the Continental Army.

C. To pay for the newly formed Army the Congress began to print paper money.

D. Patriots Against Loyalists 1. By 1775, a split among the colonists had formed,

there were the patriots, who desired independence and on the other side were those who remained loyal to the King, known as Loyalists.

2. The Loyalists came from all sections of colonial society, but they were still a minority.

a) Some loyalists were from the wealthiest families in the colonies and government officials who owed their jobs to the crown.

b) Some African Americans and Native Americans were Loyalists as well.

c) Many Loyalists fought on the side of the British, but about 100,000 Loyalists left the country, many settling in Canada.

E. Petitioning the King 1. Some of the delegates of the Continental

Congress still hoped that peace could be restored with Britain.

2. The Second Continental Congress passed two resolutions in July of 1775

a) The first was the Olive branch Petition that was sent to King George III, which stated the following,

(1)The colonists were loyal to the King (2)Ans to stops the fighting so that ehy

colonies and Britain could solve their problems peacefully.

b) The other resolution or statement was called the Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking Up Arms.

1 

 Chapter 5- The Road to Revolution

(1)It was written in part by Thomas Jefferson and simply states that the colonists were willing to die for their cause.

3. The effort by the colonists to end their disputes peacefully failed.

a) King George declared that the colonies were rebellioning.

b) And Parliament voted to send 20,000 troops to the colonies.

F. An Important American Victory 1. On May 10, 1175 a group of colonists made a

surprise attack on Fort Ticonderoga. 2. The attack was led by Ethan Allen and his

followers were from the Green Mountains where they get their name, the Green Mountain Boys.

a) The men surprised the 42 British troops by sailing across Lake Champlain and the troop surrendered immediately.

3. Fort Ticonderoga was important for two reasons, a) It controlled the main route between

Canada and the Hudson River Valley. b) The fort also held cannons and more

weapons. (1) The cannons were moved to Boston,

which Washington used to drive the British out of the city.

II. Early Battles A. By June of 1775, there were 6,500 British troops in

Boston, but there were 10,000 Americans surrounding the city.

1. The Americans also controlled both Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill.

B. Battle of Bunker Hill 1. General William Howe of Britain decided to charge

straight up Breed’s Hill, the americans did not have much ammunition so they waited until the British were 150 feet away before they began to fire.

a) This charge up the hill left many British troop died or wounded.

2. Just as the first attack was unsuccessful, so was the second, but third was different, the British troops were successful in taking control over the hill, but only because the Americans had run out of ammunition and they were forced to retreat.

2 

 Chapter 5- The Road to Revolution

a) Even through the third attack was a success it came with the great cost of many lives on both sides, especially the British; 1,000 British troops were either killed or wounded

b) The Americans also proved that they could fight.

3. The Battle of Bunker Hill still did not solve the problem Briain had, which was that the Americans were still surrounding the city of Boston.

4. Washington took command in Boston in July 1775 and he realized two things,

a) One he needed to build a regular army. b) Two he needed more powerful weapons,

like cannons. (1)It took three month for the cannons

that were seized at Fort Ticonderoga to get to Boston.

5. On March 17, 1776 British troops withdrew from Boston after Washington placed the cannons on high ground overlooking Boston.

6. Even though the Americans had won Boston the war was far from over, they were going up the country that had the strongest navies in the world at the time.

a) With their navy, the British placed a blockade on American troops and transported troops and supplies to the colonies for their war effort.

b) Britain also hired mercenaries to strengthen their army.

C. Invading Canada 1. Two American armies, one led by Richard

Montgomery and the other by Benedict Arnold moved towards Canada.

2. Arnold and his men had difficulty moving through the woods of Maine

a) They were forced to boil candles, bark and shoe leathers for food.

3. In December of 1775 Montgomery and Arnold attacked Quebec during a severe snowstorm.

a) The Americans retreated, but did not leave Quebec until May of 1776, when more British troops arrived in Quebec.

 

3