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The First Continental Congress meets
A meeting in Philadelphia
In September 1774, fifty-five delegates gathered in Philadelphia. -
The Second Continental Congress
In 1774 the Continent Congress agreed to meet again if the British did not address and report their complaints. As a result, the battles at Lexington and Concord in 1775 happen, and the arguments and disagreement between the colonies and the British had become worse. -
The Battle of Lexington and Concord occur
The British continued on to Concord. While some troops burned the few weapon they found, the others met a group of minutemen waiting at North Bridge. In a short battle the British took a heavy losses. -
Moving Toward Independence
Many colonists held on to hope that the colonies could remain part of Great Britain. Still, Support for independence was growing -
Declaring Independence
In June 1776, Virginia's Richard Henry Lee offered a bold resolution: "That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States... and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved."
Jefferson and the rest of the committee present the completed Declaration of Independence to the Second Continental Congress