Documents and Meetings calling for Independence

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg ResolvesResolves

• According to North Carolinian folk-lore, some citizens of Mecklenburg Co. gathered in Charlotte on May 20, 1775 and signed a declaration of independence from Britain- the 1st of these in the American colonies.

• Not a lot of documented evidence. The story was popularized in later years by some who claimed to have been signatories.

• The document itself was alleged to have burned in a fire in 1800

• The date of the event was memorialized on the state seal and on the state flag.

Thomas Paine’s Thomas Paine’s Common SenseCommon Sense

Published anonymously in 1776– 6 months before “Declaration of

Independence” Paine's “Common Sense” was a radical and

passionate call for America to free itself from British rule and to set up an independent government.

Paine pushed for country where personal freedom and social equality would be upheld.

His pamphlet was the first to speak directly to a mass audience - it went through fifty-six editions within a year of publication

Converted thousands of citizens to the cause of American independence.

44THTH Provincial Congress of NC Provincial Congress of NCHalifax AssemblyHalifax Assembly

• The Halifax Resolves were the first official acts by any of the 13 colonies calling for independence from Great Britain. • The state of NC, on April 12, 1776, authorized her delegates to the Continental Congress to vote for independence. •The 83 delegates present in Halifax, NC at the Fourth Provincial Congress unanimously adopted the Halifax Resolves

Fourth Provincial Congress

Halifax, NC

2ND Continental CongressPhiladelphia, PASummer of 1776Delegates from each of the 13 coloniesSet up Continental Army - Washington

CommanderServed as temporary government during

warSent Olive Branch PetitionSigned Declaration of Independence

Declaration of IndependenceDeclaration of IndependenceCongress adopts the Declaration of Independence in the morning of

a bright, sunny, but cool Philadelphia day. John Dunlap prints the Declaration of Independence. These prints are now called "Dunlap Broadsides." Twenty-four copies are known to exist, two of which

are in the Library of Congress. One of these was Washington's personal copy.

Written by Thomas Jefferson

July 4, 1776

Declare independence from Britain

Lists complaints against the King and Parliament

The Declaration is divided into The Declaration is divided into 5 sections5 sections

Preamble Rights of people to control governmentTyrannical Acts of the KingEfforts to Avoid SeparationDeclaring Freedom and Independence