Chapter 2 Section 2

Uniting for Independence

Colonists owed allegiance to the monarch and British government

Colonies served as a source of raw materials

Colonist became accustomed to governing themselves

Colonists remained loyal in return for self-rule and protection from the French

The Colonies on Their Own

French and Indian War1754-1763Tightened Britain’s hold on the continentStarted as land struggle between France and

BritainGreat Britain won the war

Britain Tightens Control

Left the British with a large war debt – expected the colonies to help repay

George III had different ideas about how the colonies should be governed

To help pay for the war, taxes were levied on tea, sugar, glass, paper, other products

Stamp Act of 1765First direct taxTax on legal documents, pamphlets,

newspapers

Taxing the Colonies

Britain’s revenue increased

Colonial resentment grewProtests

Refusal to buy British goodsBoston Tea Party – British tea dumped into Boston

Harbor

Intolerable ActsClosed the Boston HarborWithdrew the right of MA to govern itself

Albany Plan of Union1754Benjamin FranklinPlan for uniting the coloniesColonies rejected it

Gave too much power to an assembly made up of representatives from all 13 colonies

Colonial Unity

British policies spurred an American sense of community

Colonist began to think of themselves as Americans

Stamp Act Congress1765New YorkDelegates sentFirst meeting to protest King George’s Action Petition sent to king

Taking Action

Committees of Correspondence1773Colonial committees urging resistance to the

British and keeping in touch with one another as events unfolded

Samuel Adams established first committee in Boston

Delegates from all the colonies except Georgia met in Philadelphia in 1774

Key LeadersPatrick HenrySamuel AdamsRichard Henry LeeGeorge Washington

The First Continental Congress

Embargo – an agreement prohibiting grade, on Britain, and agreed not to use British goods

April 19, 1775British arrive – Lexington and Concord

“Shot heard ‘round the world”

Assumed the powers of a central government

President – John HancockVoted to organize an army and navy and to

issue money

George Washington – commander of the Continental Army

The Second Continental Congress

Served as the acting government of the colonies throughout the war

Purchased supplies, negotiated treaties, rallied support for the colonists’ cause

Common SenseThomas PaineArgued that monarchy was a corrupt form of

government; George III was an enemy to liberty

Samuel Adams declared that America was already independent

Independence

CommitteeJohn Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas

Jefferson, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman

Prepare a written declaration of independence

June 28, 1776 – edited draft to Congress

July 4, 1776 – Congress approves final draft

The Declaration of Independence

John Hancock first to sign

56 delegate signatures

“The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America”

Ideas from thinkers such as Locke and others

Set out the colonists reasons for proclaiming their freedom

Justify the revolution and to put for the founding principles of the new nation

Key Parts of the Declaration

No government at that time had been founded on the principles of human liberty and consent of the government

Three PartsBegins with a statement of purpose and basic

human rights

The middle section lists specific complaints against George III

The conclusion states the colonists’ determination to separate from Great Britain

Transformation of the colonies into states subject to no higher authority

By the end of 1776, 10 states had adopted written constitution

The First State Constitution

Most contained a bill of rights

All recognized the people as the sole source of authority in a limited government with only those powers given by the people