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