Continental Congress and the American Revolution

First Continental Congress (1774)

Met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. Delegates from 12 colonies gathered to organize a response to British policies and issue resolutions and protests.

Peyton Randolph

Virginia delegate elected president of the First Continental Congress.

Galloway's Plan of Union

Proposed a central colonial government consisting of a Crown-appointed governor general and a council chosen by colonial assemblies. It was narrowly rejected by the First Continental Congress.

Suffolk Resolves

Declared the Coercive/Intolerable Acts null and void, encouraged Massachusetts to prepare for defense, and called for economic sanctions against Britain.

Declaration of American Rights

Statement adopted by the First Continental Congress defending colonial rights and denying Parliament's authority over internal colonial affairs.

Continental Association (1774)

Created a colonial system to enforce a boycott of British goods and included plans for non-importation and non-exportation.

Dominion Theory

Idea that the colonies were connected to Britain through the Crown but were not subject to Parliament; each colony was considered a separate realm.

Lord North's Conciliatory Resolution (1775)

British attempt at compromise that offered to limit taxation if colonies voluntarily contributed money toward imperial defense.

Minutemen

Colonial militia members trained to assemble quickly and prepare for combat.

General Thomas Gage

British commander ordered to suppress rebellion in Massachusetts and seize colonial military supplies at Concord.

Paul Revere & William Dawes

Riders sent by Boston's Committee of Safety to warn colonists that British troops were moving toward Lexington and Concord.

Battle of Lexington and Concord (1775)

First fighting of the American Revolution on April 19, 1775. British troops fought colonial militia at Lexington and Concord before suffering heavy casualties during their retreat toward Boston.

"Shot Heard Around the World"

Unknown shot fired at Lexington that began the fighting between British troops and colonial militia and marked the beginning of the American Revolution.

John Parker

Captain who commanded about 70 minutemen gathered on Lexington Green when British troops arrived.

Second Continental Congress (1775)

Met in Philadelphia beginning May 10, 1775, after fighting had already begun. It increasingly functioned as a revolutionary government.

Fort Ticonderoga

Captured from the British in May 1775 by colonial forces, providing valuable British military supplies to the Americans.

Ethan Allen

Leader of the Green Mountain Boys who helped capture Fort Ticonderoga.

Benedict Arnold

Helped capture Fort Ticonderoga for the Americans but later switched sides and joined the British.

George Washington

Named general and commander in chief of the Continental Army by the Second Continental Congress on June 15, 1775.

Continental Army

American military force commanded by George Washington and organized by the Second Continental Congress.

Battle of Bunker Hill (1775)

First major battle of the Revolution. The British captured the high ground but suffered over 1,000 casualties, showing that American forces could fight effectively against British troops.

Dorchester Heights

High ground occupied by American forces in March 1776, helping force the British to evacuate Boston.

Olive Branch Petition (1775)

Final major attempt at reconciliation with Britain. Congress professed loyalty to King George III and asked him to stop further hostilities, but the king refused to consider it.

Declaration of the Causes and Necessities of Taking Up Arms (1775)

Document explaining why the colonists believed armed resistance against Britain had become necessary.

Prohibitory Act (1775)

British law that declared the colonies closed to commerce, further demonstrating that Britain considered itself at war with the colonies.

Common Sense (1776)

Thomas Paine's highly influential pamphlet arguing that it was time for the colonies to separate from Britain.

Thomas Paine

Author of Common Sense, which encouraged colonists to support independence from Britain.

Richard Henry Lee

Virginia delegate who proposed on June 7, 1776 that the colonies should become free and independent states.

Lee Resolution

Resolution declaring that the United Colonies should be free and independent states. It passed on July 2, 1776.

Committee of Five

Group appointed to prepare an explanation for independence: Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Robert Livingston, and Roger Sherman.

Thomas Jefferson

Primary author of the Declaration of Independence.

Declaration of Independence (1776)

Document adopted by Congress on July 4, 1776 explaining the reasons for separation from Britain and declaring the 13 colonies free and independent states.

Unalienable Rights

Rights described in the Declaration of Independence that cannot legitimately be taken away, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

July 4, 1776

Date Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.