Moving toward Independence

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Moving toward Independence

• Ch. 5 Section 4

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Second Continental Congress

• May, 1775
• New faces

Left to Right Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock,
Ben Franklin
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Old faces
Left to Right Richard Henry Lee, John Adams,
Patrick Henry
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What did they do?

• Authorized the printing of colonial money
• Established a post office
• Established a continental army
• George Washington named commander
• Drafted the Olive Branch Petition
• Rejected by Britain

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Hessians

• King George III hired German soldiers, the
  Hessians, to fight against the colonists.

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Thomas Paine Common Sense
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Declaration of Independence
Richard Henry Lee proposed that a document be
drafted that would establish the colonies as an
independent nation. The Second Continental
Congress picked Thomas Jefferson, well-known as a
brilliant thinker and writer, to write a document
stating colonial independence.
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Declaration of Independence is approved

• 12 out of 13 colonies voted for independence from
  Britain (New York did not vote, later supported
  independence).
• Approved July 4, 1776
• Signed several days later by the Congress
• John Hancocks signature is the biggest, he
  claimed he was signing to make sure King George
  could read it without putting on his glasses.

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John Trumbulls painting
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(No Transcript)
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Declaration of Independence

• 4 Parts
• 1st Preamble Give reasons for forming a new
  country
• 2nd Rights that the colonists have
• 3rd Grievances against the King
• 4th Declares America as a new, sovereign nation