Date:1775 Annotation: Two copies of this petition were sent to King George in hopes of settling amicably. But, King George would not accept the petition which prompted the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. Document: SATURDAY JULY 8, 1775 The Congress met according to adjournment. The Petition to the King being engrossed, was compared, and signed by…

Author:   Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson Date:1775 Annotation: This was prepared by the Second Continental Congress to clarify why the British colonies had taken up arms against Great Britain. Thomas Jefferson completed the first draft and John Dickinson prepared the second. The final document combined the work of the two. Document: Continental Congress July 6, 1775…

Author:   Thomas Gage and Laurence Fishburne Date:1775 Annotation: In British eyes, the Revolution was the work of a small group demagogues and radicals who plotted with debtors and smugglers to overthrown British rule. This proclamation, issued by British commander General Thomas Gage (1721-1787), offers a pardon to all Bostonians except John Hancock and Samuel…

Author:   Isaac Merrill Date:1775 Annotation: In February 1775, Parliament declared Massachusetts to be in a state of rebellion. This declaration permitted soldiers to shoot suspected rebels on sight. In April, General Thomas Gage (1721-1787) received secret orders to arrest the ringleaders of colonial unrest. Having already learned of the orders, colonial leaders fled Boston…

Author:   Ezra Stiles Date:1775 Annotation: Ezra Stiles (1727-1795), a future president of Yale College, was serving as pastor in Newport at the time he wrote this letter. He describes how Parliament’s repressive laws have inflamed Americans, who fled Europe for freedom. He criticizes Britain for not sharing its triumph over France with its colonists.…

Author:   Patrick Henry Date:1775 Annotation: A speech made by Patrick Henry to the Virginia House of Burgesses in order to raise support for the American Revolutionary War. The speech was delivered at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia. Document: No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the…

Author:   John Adams Date:1774 Annotation: In the following letter, in which he describes the grievances he feels threaten to reduce the colonists to political slavery, John Adams (1735-1826) revives memories of the Puritan struggle against the religious tyranny of the Stuart monarchs during the English Civil War, a subject dear to the heart of…

Date:1774 Annotation: Many members of the Continental Congress blamed the imperial crisis on the acts of malevolent ministers and implored King George to intercede with Parliament and find some means to preserve English liberties in America. In fact, the king was so invested in the imperial policies that he was unable to serve a mediating…

Date:1774 Annotation: Declaration and Resolves of the Continental Congress Document: Whereas, since the close of the last war, the British parliament, claiming a power, of right, to bind the people of America by statutes in all cases whatsoever, hath, in some acts, expressly imposed taxes on them, and in others, under various pretences, but in fact for…

Date:1774 Annotation: The Quebec Act enlarged French Quebec to cover the area as far west as the Mississippi River and as far south as the Ohio River. French law prevailed in this area and the Catholic Church would have a privileged status there. Document: An Act for making more effectual Provision for the Government of the Province…