America Declares Independence

1. America Declares Independence Unit 2, Lesson 2

2. Essential Idea • Tension between Britain and the colonies led to America declaring independence.

3. Tension Grows • “Round Three” • Colonial Action: • GaspeeAffair- colonists attacked and burned a British ship that captured smugglers • Committees of correspondence- colonies set up groups to communicate about British activities • The committees unified the colonies, shaped public opinion, and coordinated resisting the British

4. The Tea Act • British Action: • Tea Act- this lowered the tax on British tea, making it cheaper than the non-British tea colonists smuggled

5. Boston Tea Party • Colonial Response: • Colonists were mad and felt forced to buy British tea • Boston Tea Party- In 1773, colonists, disguised as Indians, dumped 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor • Samuel Adams publically defended the action and may have participated • The “Tea Party”

6. Coercive/ Intolerable Acts • British Action: • King George III was furious and Parliament decided to punish the colonies • Coercive Acts- England shut down Boston Harbor, stopped allowing elections, and expanded the Quartering Act • More British troops were sent to the colonies to keep order, raising tension

7. Also called the “Intolerable Acts” • Colonial Response: • Colonists were furious, calling the new laws the “Intolerable Acts” • Committees of correspondence called for colonies to send delegates to a colonial congress to discuss what to do next • Coercive/Intolerable Acts (start at 0:35)

8. First Continental Congress • Colonial Action: • First Continental Congress- met in Philadelphia to discuss a response to the Intolerable Acts • The delegates did NOT want independence yet, just restoration of their rights • Declaration of Rights and Grievances- condemned Coercive (Intolerable) Acts, announced boycotts, but expressed loyalty to the king • Colonial militias began to form, some known as the “minutemen”

9. The King is Angry • British Response: • King George III was furious and declared the colonies in rebellion • Additional British troops were sent to Massachusetts to suppress defiance • The First Continental Congress

10. Lexington and Concord • British Action: • British General Thomas Gage sent troops to Concord to capture militia supplies and “rebel ring leaders” Samuel Adams and John Hancock • Colonial Response: • Paul Revere and others made famous “midnight rides” ahead of the troops, warning the “British are coming” • Minutemen intercepted British troops at Lexington and eight minutemen died

11. “Shot Heard ‘round the World” • This “shot heard ‘round the world” is considered by many the start of the American Revolution • At Concord, 400 minutemen attacked and chased the British back to Boston, killing 99 troops • Local militias surrounded the British in Boston • The Shot Heard Round the World

13. Second Continental Congress • Colonial Action: • Second Continental Congress- met again in Philadelphia, “adopted” the militias as the Continental Army, and named George Washington as commander • Second Continental Congress Meets • The Congress still did not want independence and tried to reconcile with England despite the fighting • Olive Branch Petition- the Congress maintained loyalty to the king and asked to end hostilities with this last ditch effort

14. Battle of Bunker Hill • Battle of Bunker Hill: • British troops tried to capture a hill outside Bostonwhere the Continental Army was • The Army did severe damage to Britain, the strongest military in the world, but retreated after running out of supplies

15. Peace? • Consequences: • This both boosted American confidence and infuriated King George III • The king rejected the Olive Branch Petition and declared the colonies in open rebellion • Battle of Bunker Hill

16. Thomas Paine and Common Sense • Even in 1776, most colonists hesitated on independence • Thomas Paine- wrote “Common Sense,” pushing for independence • “Common Sense” was influenced by the Enlightenment ideas on natural rights and compact theory

17. Common Sense • Paine said Britain violated colonists’ natural rights and thus was an illegitimate government • Republic- Paine’s idea of government, where power comes from the people through elections, not a king • The idea of independence became more popular • Common Sense

18. Declaration of Independence • Independence: • In Congress, future president John Adams vocally pushed for independence • July 4, 1776- Congress declared its decision (made July 2nd) to become independent from Britain

19. Thomas Jefferson • Thomas Jefferson: • Wrote Declaration of Independence, claiming that “all men are created equal” and had natural rights • Jefferson, like Paine, said England had broken its “compact” with the colonies • The colonies became the United States of America and the American Revolution officially began • Declaration of Independence

20. All Men Created Equal? • Many groups after the revolution were not treated equally • Blacks: • Blacks remained slaves in southern states until the Civil War • After the Civil War, blacks were denied rights by the government until the 1960s • Women: • Women were denied many rights and did not get the right to vote (suffrage) until 1920

21. A Tough Task for Patriots • Loyalists: • Remained loyal to Britain • How many? • Almost a third of colonists • Location: Mostly New York and lower South • Patriots: • Favored independence from Britain • How many? • Only about 40% of colonists • Location: Mostly in New England and Virginia • Civil War: • Part of the American Revolution was civil war between Loyalists and Patriots • Patriots were NOT in the majority and victory was NOT likely