1. Bell Ringer - 10/25/2010
Having learned about the Revolutionary
War, what does it mean to be a hero? Who
do you consider a hero? What makes the
person heroic?

2. From Colony to Country

3. From Colony to Country
War!

4. Lexington and Concord
Ralph Waldo Emerson
wrote, “Shot heard
around the World”
Paul Revere rode
off to warn the
colonists of the
British that were
marching the
countryside. The
British were forced to
retreat and move back
to Boston.

5. Battle at Bunker Hill ( June, 1775)
• British rush the hill
and the colonists are
forced to retreat due
to lack of supplies.
“Don’t fire until you see
the whites of their
eyes” –Colonel
Prescott. First major
battle of the
Revolution.

6. Second Continental Congress
• Convention of delegates from the Thirteen
Colonies that met beginning on May 10, 1775, in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, soon after warfare in
the American Revolutionary War had begun.
• Adopted the United States Declaration of
Independence on July 4th, 1776.
• With the ratification of the Articles of
Confederation, the Congress became known as
the Congress of the Confederation.

7. Second Continental Congress Cont.
• Began printing paper $ to pay soldiers
• Organized a committee to deal with
foreign nations.

8. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense
• Common Sense presented the
American colonists with a
powerful argument for
independence from British
rule at a time when the
question of independence was
still undecided.

9. Paine Argued:
– It was absurd for an island (England) to rule a
continent (America).
– America was not a "British nation"; it was composed
of influences and peoples from all of Europe. The
distance between the two nations made governing the
colonies from England unwieldy.
– The distance between the two nations made
governing the colonies from England unwieldy.
– Britain ruled the colonies for its own benefit, and did
not consider the best interests of the colonists in
governing them.

10. What to do?
• During June and July of
1776, the main question
facing the Second
Continental Congress
at Philadelphia revolved
around independence:
should the American
colonies represented at
this Congress declare
their separation and
freedom from the
United Kingdom of
Great Britain?

11. Diversity: Making Everyone Happy

12. Parts of the Declaration of Independence
1. The Preamble
• Why the document was written
2. The Declaration of Natural Rights
• Basic unalienable (can’t be taken away rights)
3. The List of Grievances
• Complaints against the British King and government
4. The Resolution of Independence
• Claims that the colonists are free and independent

13. The Writing Process

14. The Declaration of Independence Performed
• Please follow along, labeling the four
parts as the actors perform them.
1. The Preamble
• Why the document was written
2. The Declaration of Natural Rights
• Basic unalienable (can’t be taken away rights)
3. The List of Grievances
• Complaints against the British King and government
4. The Resolution of Independence
• Claims that the colonists are free and independent

16. Signing…

17. The Price They Paid
Would you have signed? Why or why
not?