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The Second Continental Congress
• May 10, 1775, Second Continental Congress meets. John Hancock – president. Jefferson, Franklin, Lee, Henry, & Adams are delegates.
• They begin to govern the colonies.
1. Establish the Continental Army with George Washington as commander
• Send Olive Branch petition to King George asking for reconsideration- one last chance at peace. He refused to look at it.
Colonists better have
STRATEGIES for fighting the MOST
POWERFUL MILITARY IN THE
WORLD
It's just common sense
• Washington goes to Boston and finds the troops undisciplined and untrained.
• Some colonists are still sitting on the fence.
• Thomas Paine writes Common Sense in 1776. He calls for complete independence and says it is simply common sense to break from the “royal brute.” He inspires thousands of Americans to become Patriots.
Thomas Jefferson1776 –
committed a
BOLD act of
TREASON
He wrote a
break up letter
to King
George!
The Continental Congress decided to write a declaration of independence a YEAR after the first shots were
fired - why???
We need FRIENDS or ALLIES
On June 7 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia
said “that these United Colonies are, and of
right ought to be, free, and independent
states...” The Continental Congress
appointed a committee of five men -
Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams,
Robert Livingston of New York, and Roger
Sherman of Connecticut- to develop a public
explanation for colonial unhappiness and to
provide a reasonable for independence.
These men asked Adams and Jefferson
to produce a first draft, but Adams asked
Jefferson because of the Virginian’s
reputation as an eloquent writer.
Jefferson is often called the “author” of
the Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson used ideas from an English
philosopher named John Locke.
Lee’s resolution passed on July 2,
and was formally approved on July
4, 1776, when the Congress
adopted Thomas Jefferson’s
Declaration of Independence. John
Hancock was the first to sign and
said “I wrote it large enough for
King George to read it without his
glasses.”
Jefferson had several writers who
influenced his writing of the
Declaration of Independence.
Jefferson wrote the document in a
few days. During these days
Jefferson drew primarily upon two
sources: his own draft preamble to
the Virginia Constitution he had
written a few weeks earlier, and
George Mason’s draft of Virginia’s
declaration of rights.
Jefferson’s Influence
It was Mason’s text that influenced
many of Jefferson’s most famous
phrases for example, “all men are
born equally free and independent,
and have certain inherent (basic)
natural Rights...among which are the
Enjoyment of Life and Liberty, with
the Means of acquiring and
possessing Property, and pursuing
and obtaining Happiness and Safety.”
Jefferson shared his draft with
the committee members and they
made several minor revisions, to
the opening paragraphs and to
his listing of charges against King
George III. They then submitted
the document to the entire
Congress. The legislators turned
themselves into a Committee of
the Whole to consider the draft.
They made 86 changes in Jefferson’s declaration, including
shortening its overall length by one fourth. Most of the revisions dealt
with the section summarizing British colonial policy over the previous
fifteen years but the Congress did see fit to insert two references to
God. Jefferson regretted many of the changes, believing his
colleagues had “mangled” the document. But overall the legislative
editing improved the declaration, making it more concise, accurate,
and coherent-and as a result more powerful.
The Declaration of independence is
an eloquent (powerful) restatement
of John Locke’s contract theory of
government-the theory, in
Jefferson’s words, that
government's derived “their just
Powers from the consent of the
people,” who were entitled to “alter
(change) or abolish (get rid of)”
those that denied their “unalienable
rights” to “life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.” The appeal
was no longer simply to “the rights
of Englishmen” but to the broader
“laws of Nature and Nature’s God.”
Parliament, which had no proper
authority over the colonies was
never mentioned by name. The
enemy was a king who had
“combined with others to subject us
to a jurisdiction (ruler) foreign to our
constitution, and unacknowledged
usurptations (taking over).” The
“Representatives of the United
States of America..” therefore,
declared the thirteen “United
Colonies” to be “free and
independent States.”
The document was approved on July 4, 1776 and many copies of it
were sent out to the newly declared states. Washington read it to
his troops on July 9. In New York American soldiers tore down a
statue of George III in celebration.
“sacred and undeniable” vs “self evident”
The committee presenting the Declaration
to John Hancock
The most famous version of the Declaration, a signed copy that is
usually regarded as the Declaration of Independence, is on display at
the National Archives in Washington, D.C.
The Declaration must be voted on before it’s official
Signers “original Freedom
Fighters”
They gave you and me a free
and independent America These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing
ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of
means and education. They had security,
but they valued liberty more. Standing tall,
straight, and unwavering, they pledged:
"For the support of this declaration, with
firm reliance on the protection of the divine
providence, we mutually pledge to each
other, our lives, our fortunes, and our
sacred honor."
The Declaration of Independence
• The Declaration of Independence is approved on ***July 4, 1776.***
• There are four major sections to the Declaration:
1. Explain why they are breaking away
2. Discuss rights they should have
3. Detail their complaints against Britain
4. Proclaim existence of a new nation
• The struggle for independence continues!!
4 Parts of the Declaration of
Independence
• Preamble
• Declaration of Natural
Rights
• List of Grievances
• Resolution of
Independence
Purpose
• The Second Continental
Congress declared the colony’s
independence from Britain on
July 4, 1776. It was based on
the listed grievances against
the King and the belief found in
the Magna Carta that the
people have a right to
overthrow a government not
protecting the people’s rights.
PREAMBLE
• Introduction of Declaration of Independence
• Explains why the Continental Congress
wrote the Declaration of Independence
Preamble
“When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another…a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to separate.”
When it is necessary
for people to
separate from their
government, these
people need to tell
others the reasons
why they are
separating.
Declaration of Natural Rights• First part of the
Declaration of Independence
• Lists the rights of
the citizens
• Jefferson calls these rights UNALIENABLE rights, which means they can never be taken away
Declaration of Natural Rights
“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed…”
• Only Men mentioned
• Government’s job is to
protect the rights of
the people
• Governments should
get their power from
the people they
govern
Declaration of Natural Rights
“ That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government and provide new Guards for their future security.”
• If a government is not
protecting the
people’s rights the
people have the right
AND obligation to
overthrow that
government and start
a new one.
List of Grievances
• Second part of the Declaration of
Independence
• List of the colonists’ complaints with
England
• They specifically blame King George III
• There are 28 grievances, or complaints,
that are listed in this section of the
Declaration of Independence
List of Grievances• Here are some of the complaints:
– British soldiers in colonies without permission
– Quartering British troops in the colonies– Not punishing these troops when they harm
colonists– Cutting off the colonists’ trade with the rest
of the world– Taxing the colonists without their
permission
STAMP
ACTTEA
ACT
INTOLERABLE
ACTS
QUARTERING
ACT
NAVIGATION
ACTS
Resolution of Independence
• Final part of the Declaration of Independence
• Declares that the colonies are “Free and Independent States”
• Includes the signatures of the signers of the Declaration of Independence
The SignersJohn Hancock was the first
person to sign the
Declaration of
Independence.
(He signed it very largely so
King George could see it
all the way from England.)
There were 56 signers of
the Declaration from all of
the 13 colonies.
Signing the Declaration was
considered treason,
punishable by death
A Landmark
• Marks the FIRST TIME
EVER that a group of
revolutionaries explained
in detail why they had the
right to change their
government
• Ideas of the Declaration of
Independence influenced
the French Revolution and
revolutions in South
America.
Remember…1. Main idea of Declaration of Independence and
Constitution – governments should be based on
the consent of the governed
2. Declaration of Independence states that people
have the right to overthrow an oppressive
government
3. The main purpose of the Declaration is to justify
the colonists’ revolt against England
4. First man to sign Declaration – John Hancock
5. John Locke contributed to the Declaration
6. Colonies are now the United States of America
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