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
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