at step out of line, and some troops desert the cause. But by the spring of 1776, the Americans place the cannons they had captured at Fort Ticonderoga on hills within Boston and the British decide it is time to leave. On March 17, 1776, British forces evacuate Boston.Meanwhile, American colonists are struggling with what to do with their Revolution. Are they going to seek reconciliation with the British? Will they appeal to their friends in Parliament? Should they strike out on their own? In July of 1775, the Second Continental Congress actually drew up two appeals to the King of England. The first was called, The Declaration of Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, which argued that the colonists were simply defending their rights. The Declaration of Causes said that we do not mean to dissolve that union which has so long and happily subsisted between us, and which we sincerely wish to see restored. . . . We fight not for glory or conquest. The second appeal was known as the Olive Branch Petition, and it similarly appealed to the British government to make some statement regarding the rights of the colonists in order to stop the fighting. King George ignored these appeals, declared the colonies to be in open rebellion, and ordered a major military mobilization. Parliament following the Kings leadershipit stopped all trade to the colonies and ordered all American ships seized. These actionswhile indicative of how British authorities didnt really understand the conviction of the colonistsonly confirmed what many Americans were beginning to believe: there was a conspiracy to oppress them in the British government. Two events then pushed American ideas of resistance into American ideas of independence. The first was the publication of Common Sense, by former corset-maker and radical Thomas Paine in January of 1776. There were three main aspects to Paines ideas that made it so persuasive. The first was the idea that a re...
