Bostonmassacre

Moving Toward a Revolution

By keilankvega

  • John Locke's Social Contract

    John Locke's version of social contract theory is striking in saying that the only right people give up in order to enter into civil society and its benefits is the right to punish other people for violating rights.

  • First Continental Congress Meets

    The committees of correspondence assembled the First Continental Congress. In September 1774, 56 delegates met in Philadelphia and drew up a declaration of Colonial rights. They defended the colonies' right to run their own affairs and stated that, if the British used force against the colonies, the colonies should fight back.

  • Minutemen

    Minutemen were civilian soldiers who pledged to be ready to fight against the British on a minute's notice.

  • Second Continental Congress

    In 1775, colonial leaders called the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to debate their next move. The Second Continental Congress was the governing body of the American colonies from 1775 to 1781. It was founded when the British failed to address the grievances of the First Continental Congress and to organize a Continental Army to fight.

  • Olive Branch Petition

    The Olive Branch Petition was a final attempt by the colonists to avoid going to war with Britain during the American Revolution. It was a document in which the colonists pledged their loyalty to the crown and asserted their rights as British citizens. The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by Congress on July 5, 1775.

  • Publication of Common Sense

    Common Sense was a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–76 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine marshaled moral and political arguments to encourage common people in the Colonies to fight for egalitarian government.

  • Declaration of Independence

    The Declaration of Independence, 1776. By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence.