-King George's response
-The shot heard ‘round the world
-The Olive Branch Petition
-The American Prohibitory Act
-Common Sense
-The Declaration of Independence
-Choosing Sides

[SLIDE 1]

King George's response to the colonial petition from the First Continental Congress was unsympathetic to say the least. He declared that "blows must decide" whether the colonies would be subject to England or not. With this statement, he rejected the colonial grievances and made clear that violence would determine the outcome.
Most colonists now were coming to view the anti-British, patriot committees of correspondence as the legitimate authorities within the colonies. In Massachusetts, where you'll recall the Crown had named British General Gage as governor, the assembly met in defiance of General Gage and ordered citizens to stockpile weapons near Concord to be ready for resistance. 

[SLIDE 2]

In many areas, patriots assumed control without opposition. When a community was divided, however, pressure might be applied. Patriot committees published the names of whoever was not in compliance with the boycott directives of the Continental Association. This brought the full weight of community disapproval and censure. Intimidation and even violence were also used. Suspected loyalists were threatened, beaten, and publicly humiliated. Many loyalists fled to British-occupied Boston, hoping that General Gage would protect them. 

[SLIDE 3]

The Battles of Lexington and Concord were the opening battles of the war. This is how events unfolded. The policy from London was to crush the rebellion in Massachusetts, and then the rest of the colonies would fall into line. At the beginning of 1775, General Gage was ordered to arrest the patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Gage planned to send soldiers to seize the stockpile of weapons stored in Concord and to arrest Hancock and Adams in nearby Lexington. The patriot militias got wind of Gage's preparations, but they didn't know when the troops would come or which route they would take. A warning system was devised, and on April 18, 1775, a signal was sent to messengers from the North Church. The poem later memorializing "Paul Revere's Ride” was written nearly 100 years later, in 1860, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and had as much to do with the coming Civil War as it had to do with the long-finished Revolutionary one. The poem is not historically accurate because Longfellow had other points he was trying to make. In the current situation, 700 British regulars—redcoats—were sent to accomplish the mission. The first confrontation between redcoats and colonial militiamen took place in Lexington, when an advance guard of redcoats fired upon a group of about 70 militiamen on the village green. The outnumbered colonists had tried to flee, and apparently without orders, some redcoats opened fire, killing eight colonists and wounding nine others. One British soldier was wounded.

[SLIDE 4]

The British then marched on to Concord, but they were unable to locate the weapons stockpile because the colonists, knowing British intentions, had moved the supplies. The British troops had broken apart into smaller companies to search for the weapons, so it was only 100 regulars that encountered 400 militiamen at the North Bridge in Concord. There were casualties on both sides. The outnumbered regulars fell back from the bridge and rejoined the main body of British forces in Concord. The troops now retreated back toward Boston, harried along the way back by new groups of arriving militia. When they reached Lexington again, they were reinforced by arriving redcoats, so there was a combined force now of 1,700 redcoats, which fought a running battle back to Charlestown. Nearly 300 British were killed, wounded, or missing from the sudden sniper attacks. The phrase "the shot heard round the world” is from a later poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose grandfather and young father had years before witnessed the battle at the Old North Bridge of Concord from their house only 300 feet away.

[SLIDE 5]

The British troops had retreated to Charlestown, across from Boston. It was clear that war had now begun. Militia from the other colonies now flowed toward Massachusetts. Militiamen set up fortifications around Boston and laid siege to it. Gage evacuated his troops from Charlestown back to Boston.

[SLIDE 6]

The Continental Congress reconvened in May 1775 to address the new situation. This Second Continental Congress began to function as a government, issuing money, conducting foreign affairs, and authorizing an army. George Washington, the Virginia planter and notable veteran of the French and Indian War, was appointed commander of the fledgling army. 

[SLIDE 7]

Despite the fact that blood had already been shed, the Continental Congress made a last-ditch effort to salvage the situation. The so-called Olive Branch Petition gave the Crown one last chance to reconsider. However, the very next day, the Congress issued a defense of its military preparations. Two months before the outbreak of war at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Lord North had proposed a compromise: England would suspend taxation if the colonies would raise funds themselves for their own defense. In July 1775, the colonists rejected North's proposal. For his part, the king rejected the Olive Branch Petition and then pushed Parliament to pass the American Prohibitory Act requiring the British navy to seize American ships as enemies. This was, in effect, the king's declaration of war.

[SLIDE 8]

Most Americans still thought they were fighting to uphold their rights as British citizens, not to declare independence. They complained about Parliament and the government ministers, not about the king. The recently arrived Englishman Thomas Paine, in his pamphlet Common Sense, was the first to speak forthrightly against the king. He saw no value in the institution of the monarchy and criticized the individuals who had held the role. Paine was not a member of the educated elite; he was a corset maker, a member of the artisan class, but his words resonated with the common citizen.

[SLIDE 9]

To understand what Common Sense required, it is necessary to understand that a republic meant a government elected by the people and representing the people.

[SLIDE 10]

Popular demand for independence was spreading faster than the Second Continental Congress was prepared to move. As debate dragged on, John Adams and others wanted the Congress to move faster. Finally, on June 7, 1776, a motion was presented by Virginia planter Richard Henry Lee calling for the colonies to be independent from Britain. It further stated that the colonies owed no allegiance to the British king. Known as the Lee Resolution, his motion was passed on July 2, 1776. The delay in voting allowed committee members appointed to the task to draft a declaration of independence. As a point of interest, Richard Henry Lee was the great-grandfather of Robert E. Lee.

[SLIDE 11]

A committee of five was appointed to draft a declaration. The committee included John Adams and Benjamin Franklin. The committee chose its youngest member, Thomas Jefferson, to draft the resolution. Jefferson was an intellectual who was immersed in political theory and the writings of the Enlightenment. He was also a master of prose. Jefferson was able firmly to give voice to political and philosophical beliefs commonly held in the colonies, as well as the colonial sense of injustice. He provided a philosophic framework explaining why the colonies were separating from Britain. He stated that the natural rights of human beings were grounded in creation and did not stem from British law. Since government was contractual, relying on the consent of the people, the people have a right to throw off a government if it is tyrannical. It should be remembered that Jefferson was a deist, not a conventional Christian, so when he spoke of a Creator, he may not mean what you think he does. The declaration was approved by the Second Continental Congress on July 2 and publicized on July 4, 1776. Despite the formal declaration, many colonists chose to stay neutral as long as they could.

[SLIDE 12]

There were perhaps 150,000 loyalists in the colonies out of some 2.5 million colonists. They wanted to maintain the status quo for various reasons: loyalty to the life they were used to and a fear of what mob rule would bring were among the top reasons for supporting Britain.

[SLIDE 13]

The contradiction of allowing enslavement of blacks while fighting for the country's political freedom did not go unnoticed. From the slaves themselves; to Abigail, the wife of John Adams; to Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense, this was a wrong that needed to be righted. On the other hand, some patriots feared that slaves would use the situation to their own advantage and fight for the enemy. Lord Dumore, the royal governor of Virginia planned to arm all blacks that would come to him and free them if they would fight for the British. The plan was also meant to disrupt the Virginia plantation economy. Communities throughout the south feared a slave uprising would take place within the revolution. The promise of "Liberty to Slaves” brought sufficient numbers of blacks to British side that an "Ethiopian Regiment” was formed. Blacks were generally not given the opportunity to fight, but were assigned manual labor.

[SLIDE 14]

Native Americans had no reason to support colonial independence. Relations with colonists had long been hostile because of land seizures and the westward movement of settlers. The British were more likely to supply their trade needs and respect their territorial integrity. Local rivalries and concern for the safety of their villages often determined the actions of a particular tribe. Tribes could be found supporting either side, and in some cases, tribes were divided.