Download Road to Independence The First Continental Congress

Road to Independence
The First Continental Congress:
______56_________ delegates from the _____12__________ colonies attended the first Continental
Congress in Philadelphia in September 1774.
The _____Congress__________ petitioned the King_______________ for relief from the
_______Intolerable Acts ________and vowed to ___end trade____________ with Britain until the
Acts were repealed.
Prepare Something in Writing
In the meantime, the ___colonists leaders____________ began preparing a document to explain why
they needed independence including a list of __grievances _______ (complaints) against the British
government.
Declaring Independence
After the ____Battle of Bunker Hill __________________________ second meeting of the Continental
Congress met again.
They formed the Continental Army ______________________________. They appointed __George
Washington_________________________ as leader of the Army.
They sent the Olive Branch Petition to the king as one _last attempt______________ for a
___peaceful____________ solution.
Olive Branch Petition
______Olive Branch_________ is a symbol of peace. It said _____war__________ could be
______avoided_________ if the British government would give the colonists greater
_freedom_____________ to govern themselves.
The king ____refused___________ to even read it. He told Parliament he would use
____force___________ to “put a speedy end “ to what he saw was an illegal
__rebellion_____________ in the American Colonies.
Second Continental Congress
The Second Continental Congress was a body of _representatives______________ appointed by the
__legislature____________ of several British North American colonies, which met from May 10,1775
to March 1, 1781.
By the time the Second Continental Congress met the American Revolutionary War had already
started with the Battles of _Lexington_________________ and ____Concord______________ on April
19,1775.
Thus the Second Continental Congress found itself in the _unenviable_________________ position of
being the _decision-making_________________ body of a military alliance at war with a far more
powerful __enemy________________.
Thomas Pain and Common Sense
In January 1776, Thomas Paine published _Common sense_________________. He attacked the
strongest bond tying America to Britain the ___king_______________. HE pointed out
___advantages_______________of freedom from ____British rule______________ and commercial
restrictions. The book _____divided_____________ America into either __Loyalists________________
or ____Patriots______________.
Loyalists vs. Patriot
Taxation: The Colonist should _help_________________ pay Great Britain for the French and Indian
War. _Loyalsits_________
“No taxation without representation is a __false
argument_______________ Loyalists
The colonists should ___have total ______________ control over who taxes__________________
Patriot
The colonists should have total control over how ___tax money_______________ is spent
___Patriot______________
National Security: The colonists’ __do not________________ have the money to maintain a national
army or navy. ____Loyalists______________ The colonists can defeat Great Britain because they have
home ground advantage. ___Patriots_______________ The colonists cannot win a war with Great
Britain because the British have the most powerful army and navy in the world.
__Loyalists________________ Should the colonists win a war with Great Britain, they will not have
the capacity to defend themselves against French and Spain in North America.
_Loyalists_________________
Trade: Being part of the British Empire _gives ________________the colonists
_access_________________ to goods from all over the world. Loyalists__________________ Should
the colonists ____win______________ war with Great Britain, it will be difficult to
__develop________________ international trade relations and thus the __economy_________ will
suffer. _Loyalsists_________________ The _colony_________________ can __only ________________
trade with the British. ___Patriots_______________
War: An _______increase___________in control by British government should not alone__________
justify going to War __Loyalists________________. Freedom is ___worth_______________ death.
_Patriot________ If the war is ____lost______________, some of the most
_intelligent_________________ respected __leaders_________ in the colonies will be
_hung_________________. __________________
English Subjects: The colonists’ rights as English subjects are _limited_________________ by the
English rights__Patritos_____________ The Patriots have exaggerated __problems________________
with gReat BRitian. _______Loyalists___________ The colonists have _repeatedly_________________
petitioned the __king________________ and ______parliment____________ to hear their grievances,
but were either ______ignored____________ or answered with more British control. PAtriot
Declaration of Independence
The official Declaration of Independence was agreed upon on __1776________________. The
purpose was to ____justify______________ the Revolution, state that the,
__colonies________________ were ____independent______________ and to express the nation’s
principles.
Thomas Jefferson was from ___Virignia_______________ and attended __William and
Mary________________ college. He was an eloquent correspondent __________________ but not a
good _______speaker___________. Known as the ___silent member_______________ of Congress.
Was ____unanimously ______________ chosen by the Committee of v to prepare a draft of the
Deceleration
3 main ideas of the Declaration of Independence
1st
Colonists rights
Colonists have unalienable
rights
2nd
King George III
3rd
Actions of Colonists
King George
____ignored______________
their unalienable rights
The king
__violated________________
their rights so the
__colonists________________
have the right to
_declare_________________
their independence
Committee members of the Declaration:
__Benjamin Franklin________________ he ____edited______________ the Declaration of
Independence. _Thomas JEfferson_________________ He was ___quiet_______________ he also felt
someone more ___experienced _______________ should write it. _Adams_________________
insisted Jefferson write the Deceleration. Jefferson spent ______2 weeks____________ working on it
in his rented room and finished in __June________________. Thomas Jefferson was the
_________author_________ of the Declaration of Independence. Other committee members were
_______John Adams___________ and ___Roger Sherman_______________. The Declaration of
Independence includes ________5 parts__________.
5 parts of the Declaration:
1. People are born with certain _____unalienable rights_____________
2. If a _____government abuses_____________ these rights, people should be __free________
to create a _new government_______
3. __List________________ of grievances were _included_________________
4. Because King George III had __abused________________ his power, the _American
Colonists_________________ had declared their freedom__________________.
5. Vow: The ___signers_______________ agreed to defend their __new
nation________________ with “ our lives, our fortune, and our sacred honor.”
Independence:
Beginning in April 1776, the colonies ____advised______________ their, delegates to vote for
independence__________________.