A Call to ArmsChapter 5: Section 3

September 1774 55 delegates from all the colonies

except Georgia

Political body to represent American interests and challenge British control

Delegates included: Samuel Adams, John Adams, John Jay, Richard Henry Lee, and George Washington

Continental Congress

Called for the repeal of 13 acts of Parliament◦ Believed these laws violated the “laws of nature,

the principles of the English constitution, and the several charters” of the colonies

Boycott British trade◦ No British goods could be used in the colonies◦ No colonial goods could be sold to Britain

Decisions of the Continental Congress

Called on the people of the county to arm themselves against the British

Militias are formed◦ Militia: Group of citizen soldiers

Suffolk Resolves

New England was thought to be the site where war would begin

Militia companies in Massachusetts held training sessions, made bullets, and stockpiled weapons

Minutemen◦ Militias which would be ready to fight in a

minute’s notice

The First Battles

April 1775◦ Several thousand British soldiers were in

Boston◦ Instructions to take away weapons and

arrest leaders of the Massachusetts militia

700 British troops march to Concord (20 miles from Boston) to destroy weapons cache

Britain Sends Troops

April 18, 1775

Paul Revere and William Dawes ride to Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock

Alerting the Colonists

Lexington◦ British redcoats discover 70 minutemen waiting

on the town common◦ 8 minutemen die◦ British continue their march toward Concord

Concord◦ British destroy some supplies◦ Most had been removed before the British

arrived◦ Minutemen force the British to turn back to

Boston

Lexington and Concord

British redcoats march from Concord to Boston◦ Farmers, blacksmiths, and clerks hid among

trees and stone fences◦ As the British marched, the militia fired◦ 174 wounded, 73 British soldiers dead

“shot heard ‘round the world”

Road Back to Boston

Captain of Connecticut militia Given authority to raise an army and seize

Fort Ticonderoga

Later during the war, Arnold sold military information to the British◦ His treason was discovered and he fled to British-

controlled New York City

Benedict Arnold

June 16, 1775 British victory

◦ Americans ran out of gunpowder and were forced to withdraw

◦ British had more than 1,000 men dead or wounded

The Battle of Bunker Hill

Loyalists: Those who chose to stay with Britain◦ As many as 1/3 Americans◦ Some lived in relative isolation and werent part of the

waves of discontent◦ Some expected the British would win and wanted to gain

favor◦ Loyalist support was largest in the Carolinas and Georgia

Patriots: Colonists who supported the war for independence◦ 1/3 Americans◦ British rule was unbearable◦ Unfair taxes and regulations◦ Patriot support strongest in New England

Loyalist or Patriot?