Thomas Jefferson

Drafting of the Declaration.....

Jefferson served as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress beginning in June 1775, soon after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. When Congress began considering a resolution of independence in June 1776, Jefferson was appointed to a five-man committee to prepare a declaration to accompany the resolution. The committee selected Jefferson to write the first draft probably because of his reputation as a writer. Jefferson completed a draft in consultation with other committee members, drawing on his own proposed draft of the Virginia Constitution, George Mason's draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and other sources. Jefferson showed his draft to the committee, which made some final revisions, and then presented it to Congress on June 28, 1776. After voting in favor of the resolution of independence on July 2, Congress turned its attention to the declaration. Over several days of debate, Congress made a few changes in wording and deleted nearly a fourth of the text, most notably a passage critical of the slave trade, changes that Jefferson didn't like. On July 4, 1776, the wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved. The Declaration would eventually become Jefferson's major claim to fame 

Battle of Lexington and Concord

Battle of Lexington and Concord

In april 19 of 1775 war errupted at Lexington and Concord. General Thomas Gage provoked the battles by sendindg troops to arest John Hancock and Sam Adams in Lexington and these troops went to Concord to take the weapons, arms, that have been stockpiled. Three men tiped of Hancock and Adams, Paul Revere was the one that went on his horse all te way from boston to tell them that the British were coming.



Red Coats

The Militia

They were the fighters. by the morning of april 1775, 70 patriots were gathered on Lexington Green waiting  for the troops, when the troops came they scattered around but as they got in somo one fired a gun killing 8 patriots becouse of the shooting. the british soldiers who were called the RED COATS marched in the town. after following a small body of troops they marched in an conquered.





The Minutemen: Thousands of them traped the troops in Boston. the provincial assemblies siezed control in the New England Colonies. The colonists or the loyalists flead to take refuge in Boston. 

Paul Revere "The Midnight Ride"

 

 

Who is Paul Revere? 

he was an american silversmith and patriot in the american revolution. he was celebrated after his death for his role as a messenger in the battles of lexington and concord and revers name and his "midnight Ride" are well known in the united states as a patriotic symbol.

 "Midnight ride" 

He is most rememberd today was as a night-time messenger on horseback just before the battles of Lexington and Concord. His famous "Midnight Ride" happened on the night of April 18/April 19, 1775, when he and William Dawer were instructed by Dr. Joseph Waren to ride from Boston to Lexington to warn John Hancock and Samuel Adams of the movements of the British Army, which was beginning a march from Boston to Lexington, to arrest Hancock and Adams and getting the weapons they, the british army, had been stock pilling all this time.

The Second Continental Congress

The troubles in the Lexington and Concord along with the gathering of an American army outside of Boston gave enough reasons to make the delegates meet at the State House in Philadelphia.  The delegates/Representatives met for a second congress on March 10, of 1775.

The Second Continental Congress was leaded by John Hancock, and included some of the same delegates as the first, but with extremely important additions of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. 
This Continental Congress had important contributions like:

• Military Matters: George Washington was the commander in chief of the Continental Army.                  Many in the congress agreed that a southern representative meaning george washington would be  better figure to be in charge because it would generate a broader/bigger base of support for the struggle along with the support of the southern people. 

• Statement of Position: in order to for the Congress to justify its participation in war they created the "Olive Branch Petition"... The Olive Branch Petition was like a final effort from the colonists to make peace with britain and end all of the fighting that was going on. at the end the king George III rejected it and decided to send more troops to America and stop their "rebellion".

• Independence: All the different rebellions and issue that were going on resulted at the end with the ideals of independence. Richard Henry Lee's resolution (June 1776) promoted independence and changed the public opinion.

Townshend Acts

After having the 3 previous acts (Stamp, Sugar, and Quartering Act) a man named Charles Townshend was responsible for another act and therefore protests were revived.

Who was Charles Townshend?

He was the crowns’ financial officer; he thought colonists would accept indirect taxes on commerce.

So in 1767 Parliament passed a new act the Townshend act obviously in name of Charles Townshend. Levying new import duties in everyday items such as:

• Glass
• Lead
• Paint
• Tea
• Paper

Townshend Acts revolts

Colonists did not surrender they still wouldn’t pay the taxes. Then boycott ant revolts came back. Then the Massachusetts legislator issued the circular letter denouncing the Townshend duties but very few gave attention to this until the Massachusetts legislature was dissolved.

Intersting Facts

Tarring and feathering:
--> the tarring and feathering was one of the protests the colonists did. They would not accept any of the acts that were being imposed so they protested in different ways and one of them was this one. It was violent and cold blooded.  Here are the steps on how to perform a propper tarred and feathered in the old colonists way. 
Materials:  

1. Tar
2. Instrument for heating up
3. Tons of feathers
4. Really hot tea
5. A tax collector
6. An angry mob

Procedure:

Heat up the tea until its boiling point. Once it is really hot pure it over the tax collector after doing this process add the feathers and make sure the whole body is covered with them. After this along with the angry mob heat up the tea at the same temperature as the tar, pure it on the tax collector and make sure it reaches its mouth. 

once you hear pain you are done with the tarring and feathering.  

The Sugar Act

The Sugar Act was when in a movie there was a character named sugar and they said act so they called it the Sugar Act.... actually it wasn't that.

-->The sugar Act was actually an act passed by the British Parliament in 1764. 

It placed a three percent (3%) tax on foreign refined sugar that was brought by the american colonists and it also increased taxes on:

• Coffee 
• Indigo
• Certain kinds of wine during The French and Indian War. 

It banned importation of rum and French wines. These taxes affected only a certain part of the population, but the most affected ones were the merchants.  Besides, the taxes were raised with out consent of the colonists. This was one of the first times in which the colonists wanted a say in how much they were taxed. 

The sugar act was also known as the revenue act.
 Ship captains were required to maintain detailed manifests of their cargo and the papers were checked  before anything could be unloaded from the ships. 

The Quartering Act

Quartering Act

What is the Quartering Act?
The Quartering Act of 1765 was intended to help the British defray the cost of maintaining troops in America.  The Act required that the colonists had to supply British troops with food,munitions and barracks.  The Act was bitterly resented by the Americans, particularly because the troops were used to enforce Parliament’s new tax policies in the colonies; the negative effect this had on American sentiment toward the British was profound: “The use of the army in civil affairs convinced many Americans that they would be governed by military force unless they met force with force to maintain the liberties they insisted were rightfully theirs”.
The Quartering Act was an act passed by British Parliament to ensure that British soldiers would be properly billeted and fed during their times of service in the North American Colonies In fact, Parliament passed two separate Quartering Acts, one in1765 and another in 1774, and both became serious bones of contention among the Colonists. In fact, the Quartering Actwas found so offensive that specific references were made to it in the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.

"No Stamp Act"

A Virginia family was really trying to make their opinions clearly enough so they decided to

make even a teapot agree with their own opinion. with this they created this teapot saying 

"No Stamp Act" as a part of their protest.  

Each side is painted in brownish red with the words “No Stamp Act” with leaves scrolls and flowers. They were against the 

"Sugar Act" 1764

"Stamp Act"1765.

Which places taxes on imports into the colonies such as the example of sugar and tea.

It was Manufactured in England.

This is an example of how the american colonies showed their opposition to the the British law.