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The Road to Revolution Declaring Independence
Second Continental Congress • May 10, 1775 in Philadelphia (3 weeks after Lexington
& Concord
• Declaring independence was a long way off
• Notable attendees:
– John & Samuel Adams
– Patrick Henry & George Washington
– Benjamin Franklin • During the Stamp Act crisis, he
represented the colonies in London
– Helped repeal the Stamp Act
– John Hancock • President of the Congress
– Thomas Jefferson • Member of Virginia House of Burgesses
Actions of the Congress • Begin to govern the
colonies
• Set up a post office – Franklin in charge
• Established committees as ambassadors
• Create Continental Army to fight British – Washington chosen to
command
• Print money to pay army
Battle of
Bunker Hill
• Boston 1775
• Militia seized Bunker Hill and
Breed’s Hill and fortified
Breed’s Hill
• Actually fought on Breed’s
Hill
• William Prescott, “Don’t Fire
until you see the whites of
their eyes”
• Dr. James Warren, member
of the Sons of Liberty, was
killed (painting to the left)
• English win battle at huge
cost (1,000 killed or
wounded)
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Olive Branch Petition • Offered one last chance
to avoid all-out war
– Sent the Olive Branch Petition
• Formal request for peace
• Requested king to protect
colonists’ rights
• King rejected the petition
for peace & sought to
punish the colonies
– Hired 30,000 German
mercenary soldiers & sent to
fight with British called
Hessians
Siege of Boston • Continental Army
surrounded the British in
Boston
• Washington had artillery
captured at Fort
Ticonderoga moved to
Dorchester Heights
overlooking Boston
• The Continental Army
controlled the high ground
and threatened to bombard
the City
• British General Howe
withdrew his troops
“Common Sense” • Militias form into continental
regiments
• Common Sense is published
– Written by Thomas Paine
– Pamphlet argues it’s common
sense to embrace
independence from Britain
• April 1776
– More colonists supported
independence
• June 1776
– Richard Henry Lee introduced idea of “free and independent states”
• Resolution debated in Congress
– Committee formed to write the Declaration
• Committee of 5 – Thomas Jefferson was
main author
Declaring Independence
Committee that
drafted the Declaration
Benjamin
Franklin
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Robert Livingston Roger Sherman
The Writing of the Declaration of Independence
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• July 4, 1776
– Congress approved and adopted a revised
Declaration of Independence
• 5 parts
– Preamble = Introduction
– Rights of the People
– List of Grievances (Complaints)
– Efforts to avoid separation
– Independence Declared
Declaring Independence
