The Revolution Begins

1. The Revolution Begins Section 1 Chapter 6

2. Focus Questions • What actions did the First Continental Congress take? • How did the fighting at Lexington and Concord affect the colonies’ conflict with Great Britain? • What did the Second Continental Congress accomplish? • How did geography affect the early battles of the war?

3. The First Continental Congress • The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia in September 1774 • There were 56 representatives from all the colonies except for Georgia • Delegates debated the best course of action to deal with the situation in Boston • Some felt weapons were the best way to go and some felt peace was the best way to go • The delegates decided to continue boycotting and warned colonial militias to be ready

4. The First Continental Congress • The delegates also put together the Declaration of Rights and sent it to King George III and listed some of the things that he had denied them and that they wanted “life, liberty, and property” • The Delegates decided to meet in May of 1775 if King George did not respond

5. The “Shot Heard round the World” • Militia men in Boston began calling themselves minutemen because they could be ready to fight in a minute’s notice • The Royal Governor Thomas Gage decide to take away the minutemen’s weapons • The weapons were stored at Concord (20 miles west of Boston) • On the evening of April 18th, 1775, Paul Revere and William Dawes road through the country side warning the minutemen that the British were coming

6. The “Shot Heard round the World” • On the morning of April 19, 1775, less then 70 minutemen gathered in Lexington • As the British soldiers arrived, the colonial commander shoot not to fire on them until they were fired upon • A shot rang out (no one knows who shot first) and the short battle at Lexington began • The colonials were beaten badly at Lexington loosing eight to death and ten to injuries • The colonials retreated

7. The “Shot Heard round the World” • The British moved on to Concord • At Concord they ran into a motivated group of minuteman that had already taken the weapons from the Concord arsenal • The British retreated at Concord and as they retreated the minutemen fired on them from behind trees and buildings • The colonials called the British Redcoats because of their bright red uniforms • By the time they reached Boston, the British had 250 causalities and the minutemen had fewer then 100

8. The Second Continental Congress • In May of 1775, 12 of the colonies met in Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress • The members of the Congress did NOT want to break from Great Britain but they did create a Continental Army and chose George Washington to command the army • On July 5, 1775 delegates sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III as a symbol of peace • By November, King George had rejected the petition and fighting in the colonies had spread

9. Early Battles • The early target for the colonists was Fort Ticonderoga which guarded Lake Champlain a key water way • Colonel Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen surprised the British by attacking in the early morning and took the fort and its large supply of weapons and cannons

10. Early Battles • The British made their attempt to take Boston by taking Charleston (island north of Boston) and then moving in on the city that was under colonial siege • The colonists were backed up to Breed’s Hill and fought bravely until they ran out of ammunition (the British had over a thousand casualties while the colonists had 400) • The battle known as the Battle of Bunker Hill showed the colonists that they could hold their own against the British

11. Early Battles • George Washington was called in to win back Boston • He needed the cannons from Fort Ticonderoga and Henry Knox successfully moved them 300 miles in the middle of winter • In March of 1776, Washington used those cannons to blast the British and their general William Howe out of Boston

12. Focus Questions • What actions did the First Continental Congress take? • How did the fighting at Lexington and Concord affect the colonies’ conflict with Great Britain? • What did the Second Continental Congress accomplish? • How did geography affect the early battles of the war?