A SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Unit 1: Colonialism and NationhoodPart 15: The War of Independence (II)

APRIL AND MAY 1775: THE BEGINNINGS OF THE WAR

After suffering losses at Lexington and Concord, British soldiers occupy some strategically important hills in Boston and begin to build fortifications there. The militiamen place the city under siege.

Delegates to the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia on May 10. Rather than discussing unfair legislation, they found themselves managing an emerging war with Great Britain.

THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL

• On June 13 and 14, British soldiers attacked colonial militiamen who had occupied the strategically important sites of Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill.

• The militiamen repelled the soldiers, but the British launched a larger assault on June 17 and defeated the colonial forces.

• However, the British suffered enormous losses in the conflict, resulting in what is known as a pyrrhic victory.

CREATING A CONTINENTAL ARMY

• On June 14, in order to manage the war, the Second Continental Congress agreed to incorporate the militiamen of Massachusetts into a fledgling Continental Army.

• John Adams was one of the Massachusetts delegates. George Washington was one of the Virginia delegates. Adams nominated Washington to lead the Army as Commander-in-Chief. The Congress approved.

• By the time Washington reached Boston the fighting was over, but he still began to build his army…

THE OLIVE BRANCH PETITION

• On July 5, the Second Continental Congress approved the Olive Branch Petition, a peace offering to Great Britain.

• The petition was drafted byJohn Dickinson, a delegatefrom Pennsylvania.

• The petition marks the final attempt of the colonists to keep the North American colonies as part of the British Empire.

• It asks for a cessation of hostilities and shifts the blame for the conflict away from King George III and onto his ministers.

THOMAS JEFFERSON

• Virginian tobacco plantation owner, colonial politician, political and moral philosopher, and delegate to the Second Continental Congress.

• Drafted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, arguing that the actions of the colonists were provoked and justified by the aggression of British soldiers.

• The Second Continental Congress approved the declaration on July 6.

THE PROCLAMATION OF REBELLION

• By mid-July, King George III had received news of the Battle of Bunker Hill and learned that the Congress had effectively ordained itself as a new government with its own army.

• His response appeared on August 23, 1775, in the form of the Proclamation of Rebellion.

• The King characterized the unrest in the colonies as a rebellion against his authority and he ordered every citizen of the British Empire to aid Great Britain in suppressing it.

THE SPEECH FROM THE THRONE

• On October 27, King George III elaborated on the Proclamation of Rebellion in a speech to the British Parliament.

• In his Speech from the Throne, he extended his criticisms of the rebellious colonies to apply specifically to the Second Continental Congress.

• He declared that the the delegates to the Continental Congress were engaged in forming a new government and were therefore traitors to Britain.

TOWARDS INDEPENDENCE

• In December 1775, the Second Continental Congress received a copy of the Proclamation of Rebellion. The delegates began drafting a response to it.

• Their response challenged the King’s right to characterize the trouble in the colonies as a rebellion that must be met with force. They argued that if the King could do that without respect for the rule of law, then new laws would be needed and would have to be implemented by revolutionary force.

A SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY

Unit 1: Colonialism and NationhoodPart 15: The War of Independence (II)