1. Final Steps to Independence
1. First Continental Congress
2. Battle of Lexington and Concord
4. 2nd Continental Congress
3. Common Sense by Thomas Paine
2. Essential Question
How did the colonies finally reach
the point of separation from Great
Britain?
3. First Continental Congress
September 1774
• Met in Sept 1774 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A mix of Patriots,
Loyalist, and Neutralists
• Four major Actions taken by the Congress:
1. They agreed on and signed a set of opinions about the
situation in Boston
2. Wrote one last petition to King George: The Olive Branch
Petition.
3. Organized a new BOYCOTT of British goods.
4. The delegates agreed to meet again in May 1775 if the
boycott didn’t work.
• The Colonies began to form militias and gathering weapons in case
the British Army took action.
4. Lexington and Concord April 19, 1775
• British soldiers marched from Boston to retrieve weapons from
colonial militias at Concord, MA
• On the way in Lexington, Militia men and British soldiers
exchange gunfire.
• At Concord, the militia move all the weapons and wait for
British soldiers.
– After some fighting, the British retreat and go back the
way they came.
• When they reached Lexington there were 2,000 militia men
waiting for them!
• At Lexington and Concord the colonist finally had their
message heard: They wanted their rights and now they were
willing to die for them!
5. 2nd Continental Congress
May 10, 1775
• Appointed George Washington as the
commander in chief of the new Continental
Army
• King George had rejected Olive Branch Petition
sent from the 1st Continental Congress, and
declared the colonies in “open rebellion”
against the King and Great Britain
• Congress appointed a committee to write a
declaration of Independence
– Committee included: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert
Livingston
7. Thomas Paine and Common Sense
January 1776
• Message of Common Sense:
– Written for ordinary people in ordinary language
– The Colonies were capable of independence.
– The King was a Tyrant.
– Americans should fight for independence
• Effects of Common Sense:
– Convinced many colonists to support fighting for
independence
8. Thomas Paine and Common Sense
January 1776
• “Why is it that we hesitate? From Britain
we can expect nothing but ruin. If she
is admitted to the government of
America again, this continent will not
be worth living in.”
