the last time we left off the Massachusetts militia aka the Minutemen had trapped the British Army in Boston by May of 1775 a Second Continental Congress had convened in Philadelphia the question of what to do was of course on everyone's mind some wanted to declare independence right away others wanted to try to mend the relationship with the mother country the decision was made to try to send King George a last letter of peace known as the Olive Branch petition it was hoped that this letter would be a final chance to end the crisis peacefully another momentous decision was the decision of the Congress to adopt the Massachusetts militia into a new Continental Army and appoint George Washington as its commander-in-chief the question of Independence however remained those who supported full independence were known as Patriots those that wanted to remain loyal with Britain were called loyalists the loyalists argued that the taxes were justified and colonists should pay for them many also argue that the colonies benefited by being part of the British Empire and that 13 colonies were not equipped to govern themselves if the colonies were independent they argued a civil war on America would break out sooner or later luckily though they were wrong what's that oh nevermind the decision to declare our independence receive a significant boost thanks to the writer Thomas Paine whose 1776 pamphlet common sense argued that declaring independence from Britain was the only logical solution in the end the Patriots argument won out the Congress authorized a committee including John Adams Ben Franklin and of course Thomas Jefferson to draft a preliminary Declaration of Independence subject to a vote Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence but he was very much influenced by the Enlightenment ideas of John Locke Locke argued that all men are born with natural rights life liberty and property Jefferson adopted the same idea when he wrote that men are born with inalienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness Jefferson argued that the King and Parliament had violated the social contract when it failed to protect these rights in the colonies ultimately it was the people that were the source of power for any legitimate government when the government loses the support of the people they give up the right to govern on July 4th 1776 the Second Continental Congress voted to adopt the declaration now the colonies would have to fight for it [Music]