Unit 2 Lesson 2: Declaring Independence

Question 1

the British passed the Intolerable Acts to punish Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party. By 1774, anger about the Intolerable Acts reached a boiling point. What happened as a result?

Answer 1

First Continental Congress

Question 2

What did the First Continental Congress do?

Answer 2

As a result, the First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia with the task of deciding on an appropriate response to the laws.

Question 3

Did the Continental congress have lot of support?

Answer 3

But this group had only limited support; there were still strong connections between the colonies and Britain.

Question 4

What is a loyalists?

Answer 4

Those who opposed independence were known as loyalists. They were usually wealthy colonists with property. To them, revolution meant mob rule, violence, and disorder.

Question 5

Did member in Congress agree with eachother if not explain the differnt view points

Answer 5

At first, members of the Congress could not agree. Some argued for a conciliatory, or agreeable, approach where the colonies and Britain would work out a new system in which power was shared. Others demanded complete separation from Britain.

Question 6

There was much discontent in the colonies. In an effort to restore law and order, what did the Britsh do?

Answer 6

The British sent General Thomas Gage to Boston, the site of the Boston Massacre and Boston Tea Party.

Question 7

When the General Gage arrive and how did the citzens of boston react?

Answer 7

He arrived in May 1774 to serve as the new royal governor, accompanied by several regiments of British troops. Fearing that Boston had become the headquarters of British military operations, many residents fled.

Question 8

Both the British and the patriots in New England began to prepare for conflict. Who were Patriots?

Answer 8

Patriots, American colonists who opposed British rule, began to gather weapons and gunpowder across the region.

Question 9

What was General Gage going in towns?

Answer 9

In turn, General Gage ordered raids on towns where weapons were stockpiled. Gage’s actions led to the formation of the minutemen, local militias (civilian armies) that were able to organize on short notice.

Question 10

General Gage ordered raids on towns where weapons were stockpiled. Gage’s actions led to the formation of the…

Answer 10

minutemen, local militias (civilian armies) that were able to organize on short notice.

Question 11

What did General Gage want to do in Concord Massachusetts?

Answer 11

General Gage knew that gunpowder was stored in Concord, Massachusetts, a town outside of Boston. In April 1775, he ordered troops to seize these supplies and arrest patriot leaders John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress and eventually a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Samuel Adams.

Question 12

How did the PAtriots react to General Gage’s plan?

Answer 12

Patriots, however, learned of the plan. Men from Boston, including prominent patriot Paul Revere, rode on horseback to nearby Lexington and alerted the local militia that British troops were coming.

Question 13

Both sides assembled their troops and weapons throughout the night. They met on the morning of April 19 on Lexington Green. What happened during the Battle of LExington?

Answer 13

British Major John Pitcairn ordered his men to surround and disarm the militia. In the confusion, shots from an unknown rifle were fired. The British charged with their bayonets. Eight militiamen and one British soldier were killed.

Question 14

How did the battle of Concord go?

Answer 14

The British next marched toward Concord. They were met by more militia at the North Bridge and suffered a stunning defeat. Soon, the British retreated to Boston. During the skirmishes, 73 British and 43 colonists were killed.

Question 15

What were the first milltary clahses of the American REvelton?

Answer 15

These Battles of Lexington and Concord were the first military clashes of the American Revolution.

Question 16

British forces continued to occupy Boston. How did the colonial millitas react to this?

Answer 16

As a result, thousands of colonial militias marched to the city and began to lay siege, a military tactic where soldiers surround a town or building with the goal of forcing a surrender.

Question 17

What did the patriots Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict do?

Answer 17

In May 1775, patriots Ethan Allen and Colonel Benedict Arnold led a group of patriots to British-occupied Fort Ticonderoga in New York. They captured the fort and its cannons, which they brought to Boston to support the siege.

Question 18

How did the Battle of Bunker hill begin?

Answer 18

In June, General Gage planned to support the British defenses by placing troops across Boston Harbor in Charlestown.

Question 19

How did the Battle of bunker hill go down?

Answer 19

On June 17, the British launched three assaults on the hills in the Battle of Bunker Hill, finally gaining ground after the patriots ran out of ammunition. The colonists retreated and the British won the battle, but at a high cost. They learned that an inexperienced militia could put up a fight. And although the British took control of Charlestown, they were still besieged in Boston.

Question 20

What were the importance of the hills?

Answer 20

Two hills there, Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill, were strategically located so that whoever controlled the hills would control the harbor. Colonial forces learned of the British plan and quickly occupied Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill.

Question 21

How did King George III react to the battles in the colonies?

Answer 21

In August 1775, King George III declared the colonies in an official state of rebellion.

Question 22

What was the Brtish sistuation in Boston?

Answer 22

British forces found themselves in a difficult position: isolated in Boston with no control over the countryside.

Question 23

How did the siege in Boston end?

Answer 23

The British hold over Boston was finally broken in March 1776. During that month, colonial forces under the command of George Washington used the cannons captured at Fort Ticonderoga to force the British to evacuate the city. This ended the nearly yearlong siege.

Question 24

By the time the British retreated, fighting had broken out across the colonies. Describe the rebellion in other colonies.

Answer 24

In May, rebellion began in North Carolina. In November, fighting broke out in Virginia. There, the royal governor had promised freedom for enslaved people who took up arms for Britain. This decision had the unintended consequence of rallying slaveholders to support the patriot cause.

Question 25

With the events of 1775 fresh in their minds, many colonists decided that the time had come to declare independence from Britain. This increase in support can be partly attributed to a pamphlet entitled ..

Answer 25

Common Sense, written by patriot Thomas Paine.

Question 26

In the pamphlet, Paine insulted the king and questioned Britain’s right to rule over America. He also made the case for the following two radical ideas:

Answer 26

• republicanism – a political philosophy where elected representatives, not a monarchy, should govern
• popular sovereignty – a system where the citizens would decide issues based on majority rule

Question 27

What did the Continental Congress finally do when they met up in PHiadelphia in the summer of 1776

Answer 27

In summer 1776, the Continental Congress met in Philadelphia and agreed to officially cut ties with Great Britain.

Question 28

Wrote down the declaration of indepedence?

Answer 28

Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was chosen to articulate the case in a formal declaration.

Question 29

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Who was Thomas Jefferson influenced by?

Answer 29

The ideas he conveyed were influenced by Enlightenment thinkers, chief among them a man named John Locke.

Question 30

Locke, an Englishmen who lived from 1632–1704, contributed the following two ideas that were central to the colonists’ justification for independence:

Answer 30

• social contract
• natural rights

Question 31

What does socail contract mean according the Locke?

Answer 31

Locke argued that government was a “contract” between leaders and the people. If the government did not adhere to the rules of the contract, the government could be changed.

Question 32

What are natural rights according to Locke?

Answer 32

Locke believed the government’s job was to protect three rights: life, liberty, and property. These rights were “natural” because they were present from birth and could not be taken away by anyone—including the government.

Question 33

Who helped Jefferson compose the DEclaration of indepedence?

Answer 33

Thomas Jefferson composed the Declaration with the help of fellow patriots John Adams and Benjamin Franklin.

Question 34

When did the declarion of idepende get officalized?

Answer 34

The final version was approved on July 4, 1776, and signed by delegates from the thirteen colonies, including Benjamin Franklin, Edward Rutledge, Samuel Adams, Benjamin Rush, and Charles Carroll.