Chapter 5 Lesson 3 Notes
“A Call to Arms”
Essential Question: What people and events influenced the movement toward independence?
A Meeting in Philadelphia
v September 1774: 55 delegates gathered in Philadelphia to set up a political body that would represent Americans and challenge British control.
v The delegates called this body the Continental Congress.
v Leaders from 12 of the 13 colonies attended the meeting. Only Georgia did not send a representative.
Ø Massachusetts sent Samuel and John Adams.
Ø New York sent John Jay.
Ø Virginia sent George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, and Patrick Henry.
Ø Patrick Henry wanted the colonies to unite in firm resistance against the British.
The Delegates Vote
v The delegates called for the repeal of 13 acts of Parliament.
Ø They stated that these laws violated the “laws of nature, the principles of the English constitution, and the several charters of the colonies.”
v The delegates also voted to boycott British trade.
v They also voted to endorse the Suffolk Resolves, prepared by the people of Boston and other Suffolk County towns in Massachusetts.
Ø The Suffolk Resolves declared the Coercive Acts to be illegal.
Ø They also called on the county’s residents to arm themselves against the British.
Ø The endorsing of the resolves caused other colonies to organize militias.
The Colonial Militias
v Colonists had a long tradition of protecting their communities in militias.
v Members trained and had drills with the other citizen soldiers.
Ø They practiced using muskets and cannons.
Ø Each member was required to provide his own weapon and ammunition.
v As tension grew between the colonies and Britain, towns started to gather and store military supplies.
Fighting Begins
v Most colonists thought that if fighting broke out it would be in New England. Militias in Massachusetts held drills, made bullets, and stockpiled weapons.
v Some militias were known as minutemen.
Ø Minutemen: called this because they boasted they would be ready to fight at a minutes notice.
Great Britain Sends Troops
v April 1775: several thousand British troops were in and around Boston, with more on the way.
v British General Thomas Gage had orders to seize the weapons from the Massachusetts militia and arrest the leaders.
v Gage learned that the militia stored arms and ammunition at Concord, a town about 20 miles from Boston.
Ø Gage ordered 700 troops under Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith to Concord to seize and destroy all the artillery and ammunition you can find.
v April 18, 1775: colonial protest leader Dr. Joseph Warren saw the British troops marching out of Boston. Warren alerted Paul Revere and William Dawes, member of the Sons of Liberty.
Ø Revere and Dawes rode to Lexington, a town east of Concord, to spread the word that the British were coming. Revere galloped across the countryside, warning of the approaching troops.
Ø A British patrol later captured Dawes and Revere.
Ø Samuel Prescott carried the warning to Concord.
Lexington and Concord
v Dawn on April 19, 1775: the British approached Lexington.
Ø They ran into about 70 waiting minutemen led by Captain John Parker.
Ø The minutemen stood on the town common with muskets in hand.
Ø Badly outnumbered, the minutemen were about to give way to the redcoats. JUST THEN, a shot was fired. (It is still not known who fired the shot)
Ø After the shot, both sides let loose an exchange of bullets. When the shooting ended, 8 minutemen lay dead.
v The British continued on to Concord.
Ø Here, they met a group of minutemen waiting at the North Bridge.
Ø In a short battle, the British took heavy losses and began to make their way back to Boston.
Ø On the way back, colonists hid behind trees and fired on the British soldiers. By the time the redcoats reached Boston, at least 174 were wounded and 73 were dead.
Ø 60 years later, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “The Concord Hymn.” In this poem, he stated that the Americans at Lexington and Concord had fired the “shot heard round the world.”
v After the battle of Lexington and Concord, armed conflict with British forces spread quickly.
Ø Benedict Arnold, a captain in the Connecticut militia, raised a force of 400 to seize Fort Ticonderoga in New York.
§ Ticonderoga was a key location. It was also rich in military supplies.
§ Arnold learned that Ethan Allen of Vermont also planned to attack the fort.
§ Arnold and Allen joined forces. Allen’s men were called the “Green Mountain Boys.”
§ Together, they took the British by surprise.
§ Ticonderoga surrendered on May 10, 1775.
Ø Later, Arnold became a traitor and sold military information to the British. When his crime was discovered in 1780, he fled to British controlled New York City. There he commanded British troops and led raids against the Americans in VA and Conn.
The Battle of Bunker Hill
v After Lexington and Concord, more people joined the colonial militias. Soon militia around Boston numbered about 20,000 strong.
v The British remained in control of the city but the militia were camped nearby.
v June 16, 1775: militia commanded by Colonel William Prescott set up posts on Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill, across the harbor from Boston.
Ø The next day, the redcoats assembled on Breed’s Hill.
Ø With bayonets drawn, the British charged.
Ø The colonists were short on ammo so Prescott told them, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”
Ø The Americans opened fire, forcing the British to retreat.
Ø The British charged 2 more times and finally the Americans were forced to withdraw after they ran out of gunpowder.
Ø The Battle on Breed’s Hill, which became known as the Battle of Bunker Hill, was a British victory.
§ The British suffered heavy losses of more than 1,000 dead and wounded.
Choosing Sides
v As news spread of the battles, colonists faced a hard decision. (to join the rebels or remain loyal to Great Britain.)
v Loyalists: those who sided with Britain.
Ø Did not think unfair taxes and laws justified a rebellion.
Ø Some were officeholders who felt a responsibility to uphold British rule.
Ø Others had not suffered from British policies and saw no reason to break from Britain.
Ø Some believed Britain would win the war and did not want to be on the losing side.
v Patriots: supported the war.
Ø Thought colonists should have the right to govern themselves.
Ø Patriots were determined to fight the British until American independence was won.
v The American Revolution was not just a war between America and Britain, it was also a civil war—Patriots vs. Loyalists.
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