Chapter 5 Section 3 Page 141-145

• Objectives: Students will be able to explain how the first battle of the Revolution came to happen.

• Key Terms • Militia: group of citizen

soldiers.

• Minutemen: companies ready to fight at a moments notice.

• Loyalist: those who stayed loyal to Britain.

• Patriot: those fighting the British to the end.

I. The Continental Congress1

1. September 1775, 55 men came to Philadelphia to establish a body to represent the Americans interest and challenge the British control. Georgia was not represented.

A. Delegates to the Congress4

1. Massachusetts sent Samuel Adams and cousin John Adams a lawyer.

2. New York sent John Jay a lawyer.3. Virginia sent Richard Henry Lee and

Patrick Henry and George Washington.4. Patrick Henry said, “The distinctions

between Virginians, and (other) …New Englanders are no more…I am not a Virginian, but an American.”1

B. Decisions of the Congress5

1. The Congress first drafted a list of grievances.

2. They said the Acts of Parliament were laws against their rights.

3. Colonist rights are based on the laws of nature and principles of the English constitution.

4. They endorsed the Suffolk Resolution “their right to arm themselves against the British.”

5. They endorsed the “militia” citizens soldiers.

II. The First Battles2

1. The Spring after the congress meet.

2. Colonist had started to make bullets and train militias into “Minutemen,” soldiers ready to fight swiftly.

A. Britain Sends Troops3

1. The British saw the Colonist preparing for war and so they sent Sir Thomas Gage to Boston to disarm the militas.

2. Gage heard the Colonist were storing weapons at Concord. (located 20 miles northwest of Boston)

3. Lt. Colonel Francis Smith with 700 troops marched to Concord.

B. Alerting the Colonies1

1. April 18, 1775 Dr. Joseph Warren was walking around looking for activity. He saw the British preparing to march out. He advised Paul Revere and William Dawes, leading members of the sons of liberty. Dawes rode to Lexington (a town east of Concord.) Paul rode across the country side shouting, “The regulars are out!”

C. Fighting at Lexington and Concord2

1. At dawn the Redcoats approached Lexington. They met about 70 Patriots in the center of town. A shot was fired and in the end 8 Minutemen lay dead.

2. The British continued to march to Concord and found the gunpowder had been moved and minutemen were waiting at the North Bridge. The colonist were waiting behind the trees and killed 73 Redcoats with 173 wounded before they got back to Boston.

III. More Military Action1

1. May 10, 1775 The Green Mountain Boys under Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold (before his treason act) stormed the British Fort Ticonderoga and they surrendered.

A. Building Forces2

1. After the Lexington-Concord battle many Colonist joined the army making 20,000.

2. Many weeks passed no battles.

B. The Battle of Bunker Hill3

1. June 16, 1775 1200 Militiamen under Colonel William Prescott set up on Bunker Hill and Breed’s Hill across the Harbor in Boston.

2. The British crossed the Harbor and charged the Patriots. Prescott said, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”

3. The British won but with heavy casualties.

C. Choosing Sides2

1. The Colonist had to choose sides. Those that supported the British were Loyalist.

2. Those that supported the Colonist were called Patriots.

What have you Learned?

• Write a short summary comparing the Loyalist and Patriots. Use a double bubble diagram.

Double Bubble

OOO

O O O O O O O O

O O O O O O O Patriots Same Loyalist