Author:   George Washington Date:1775 Annotation: In this letter to Congress, Washington recounted information that he had heard from a sailor: that British Gen. William Howe was sending people out of the city of Boston who had been deliberately infected with smallpox so that they might pass on the disease to the Americans surrounding the city.…

Author:   John Adams Date:1775 Annotation: By the end of 1775, compromise between Britain and its colonies was becoming a less viable option. Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794), a delegate to the Second Continental Congress from Virginia, asked John Adams to help him convince his home state of the need for independence. In response, Adams proposed…

Author:   Mercy Otis Warren Date:1775 Annotation: In May 1775, shortly after the battles at Lexington and Concord, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. In mid-June, Congress established the Continental Army and named George Washington (1732-1799) commander-in-chief. The colonists needed artillery and in May patriots captured Fort Ticonderoga, a British post in New York,…

Date:1775 Annotation: This is a royal proclamation issued by George III, responding to increasing hostilities in the American colonies. Document: A Proclamation, by The King, for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition King George III August 23, 1775 George R. Whereas many of our subjects in divers parts of our Colonies and Plantations in North America, misled by dangerous…

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…