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The First Continental Congress
- Every colony except Georgia (12 out of 13) attended a meeting.
- Patrick Henry wanted freedom from Britain and urged people to unite against Britain.
- Delegates vote to boycott all Britain's trading.
- Colonies have a name: America
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1,000's of Redcoats in Boston
- General Gage brings thousands of British soldiers to Boston w/ more on the way.
- America had a militia
- America's militia started training and storing weapons such as bullets.
- One of the British soldiers writes in their diary about how the (bostonians) were ready for a fight.
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Midnight Ride of Paul Revere
- Protest leader Dr. Joseph Warren saw that British soldiers were marching out of Boston.
- Warren told Paul Revere and William Dawes, who were members of the Sons of Liberty.
- Revere & Dawes rode to Lexington to warn the people that the British were coming. "The British are coming the British are coming"
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Battles of Lexington & Concord
Battle of Lexington -
- 1st American Revolutionary War battle
- 70 minutemen were awaiting the arrival of the British troops
- Someone fired, no one knows who (or what side), but they did.
- British forces won the battle
- 8 minutemen died
- battle of Lexington starts
Battle of Concord -
- British forces continued to Concord.
- Short battle
- 174 people were wounded
- 73 dead -
Capture of Fort Ticonderoga
- British forces spread fast
- A captain, Benedict Arnold raised a 400 men force to take control over fort Ticonderoga, which was rich in military supplies.
- Arnold found out that Ethan Allen planned to attack the fort too.
- Arnold and Allen join forces
- Green Mountain Boys
- Arnold becomes a traitor to the Patriots
- Arnold sold military info to Britain
- People found out he was a traitor and he fled to New York, which was controlled by British forces.
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Second Continental Congress meet
- Delegates meet up:John & Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, and more new people. -Currency printing -Post office set up -Continental Army -Continental Army led by George Washington -George Washington left Philadelphia to take charge of forces of Boston -Delegates offered Britain a last chance to avoid war, sent a petition, called the Olive Branch Petition, to King George the third. -King denies it and hires 30,000 Hessian Soldiers to fight with British soldiers.
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Battle of Bunker Hill
- Setting: Breed's Hill
- More colonists joined America's militias
- William Prescott was the commander
- William Prescott told the patriots not to "fire until you see the whites of their eyes"
- Redcoats assembled at Breed's Hill
- British forces won
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Washington arrives on outskirts of Boston with Continental troops
- Washington figures out that his army isn't properly trained and is disorganized.
- They desperately need weapons
- Congress found out that British troops were moving to Canada and planned to take over New York
- Washington arrived at Boston
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"Common Sense" published by Thomas Paine
- Pamphlet inspires more colonists to become patriots
- "Everything that is right or reasonable pleads for separation. The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, 'TIS TIME TO PART" - Thomas Paine, Common Sense
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British Surrender Boston
- Washington thinks his army is ready & weapons arrive
- Washington puts cannons on Dorchester Heights that were overlooking Boston
- American victory
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Second Continental Congress meet again
- Congress debates on declaring independence
- Thomas Jefferson is the primary author of the document
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Second Continental Congress votes for Independence
- All 13 colonies vote YES on declaring independence
- John Adams asked Thomas Jefferson to write the first draft of the Declaration of Independence
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The Declaration of Independence is signed!
- Declaration of Independence is signed
- 4th of July
- "We hold these truths to be held self-evident that all men are created equal..."