The document summarizes key events leading up to the American Revolutionary War, including the First and Second Continental Congresses where representatives debated independence from Britain. It describes the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" when British troops fought colonial minutemen in Lexington, and the battles of Concord, Bunker Hill, and Dorchester Heights, where the colonists proved they could face the British in battle. George Washington was named commander of the newly formed Continental Army as the colonies moved towards open war with Britain.

1. THE REVOLUTION
BEGINS

2. 1. Patriots – colonists who wanted independence from Great Britain
2. Redcoats – a nickname for the British soldiers, whose uniform jackets were
bright red
3. Minutemen – civilian soldiers who were ready to fight at a moment’s notice
4. Republic – a government in which citizens elect representatives
5. Militia – civilian soldiers
6. Petition – a formal request

3. REDCOATS
MINUTEMAN

4. THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS
A meeting of representatives from all the colonies except Georgia to discuss
the relationship between Great Britain and its colonies in America
Took place in October 1774 in Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia
The delegates (representatives) debated about whether to prepare for war or
to seek peace
They compromised, and drafted the Declaration of Rights, a list of resolutions
to present to King George III

6. At this point, the delegates were not seeking separation from Great Britain.
They wanted to state the concerns of the colonies and to ask the king to fix the
problems
They agreed to meet again if the king refused their petition
Patrick Henry, a delegate from Virginia, became a prominent orator, a voice of
the brewing Revolution

7. During the First Continental Congress, Henry summed up the meaning of the
meeting with these words:
“The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers,
and New Englanders are no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.”
After the Congress, at the end of an fervent speech, he told his fellow
Virginians:
“I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty,
or give me death!”
Patrick Henry’s stirring words encouraged the people to support the Patriot
cause.

9. British military leaders were worried that colonial militias were preparing to
fight
 British general Thomas Gage had learned that the militia was storing weapons
an ammunition at Concord, 20 miles from Boston
Gage planned to send troops to seize the supplies, then arrest colonial leaders
Samuel Adams and John Hancock in Lexington

10. Sons of Liberty members Paul Revere and William Dawes had arranged a
signal with the sexton of the Old North Church in Boston to warn Adams
and Hancock.
- If the British soldiers were advancing by land, one lantern would be
placed in the steeple; if they came by way of the Charles River, he would put
two lanterns in the steeple.

11. Old North Church,
Boston, Massachusetts

12. Revere and Dawes saw two lanterns on the night of April 18, 1775, and set off
for Lexington on horseback

13. • FYI:
- Revere and Dawes made it to Lexington, and Adams and Hancock sent them on
to Concord to alert the town
- As they left Lexington, they met a young doctor named Samuel Prescott, who
joined them in their mission
- Halfway to Concord, they were caught by a British patrol. Dawes escaped and
Revere was detained, then released.
- Prescott escaped and made it to Concord, completing the mission

17. At dawn on April 19, 1775, the British troops arrived in Lexington, where 70
minutemen were ready
Captain John Parker told his troops not to fire unless they were fired upon.
The fist shot fired on Lexington Green became known as “The Shot Heard
‘Round the World”; this was the first shot of the Revolution

20. The battle at Lexington
was over quickly, with the
British soldiers easily
overtaking the minutemen
The British soldiers marched
on to Concord, to the
Old North Bridge where
a company of militia faced them
The British were forced to
retreat

22. In May 1775, delegates again met in Philadelphia for the Second Continental
Congress
Though not completely unified, they represented the first attempt at a
republic in the colonies
The Massachusetts militia was authorized to become the Continental Army,
which would now include soldiers from all the colonies
Virginian George Washington was named
commander of the Continental Army

23. The Congress was still hoping for peace. On July 5, 1775, the delegates signed
the Olive Branch Petition, an attempt to assert the rights of the colonists but
remain loyal to the British crown
King George III refused to even read the petition, and sought to further punish
the American colonists

24. In May of 1775, captain of the Connecticut militia Benedict Arnold joined
Vermont’s “Green Mountain Boys”, led by Ethan Allan. They captured the
British fort at Ticonderoga in New York, acquiring a large supply of weapons.
 On June 17, British troops advanced on Breed’s Hill, near Bunker Hill in
Massachusetts.
- Though the Patriots lost the Battle of Bunker Hill, they proved they could
fight the British, who suffered a loss of over 1,000 men
On March 4, 1776, General Washington moved his army to Dorchester Heights
after getting cannons from Fort Ticonderoga
British General William Howe was taken by surprise at the Patriots’ well-
positioned army. He retreated on March 7