978-1-4222-3353-5

A Glorious Cause

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The siege of Boston finally came to an end in March 1776. Washing- ton’s army received more than 50 artillery pieces, including large siege cannons. Most of the cannons were placed on Dorchester Heights. From that high ground south of Boston, the big guns could threaten British positions in the city as well as ships in the harbor. General Howe, who had replaced General Gage as the British commander-in-chief, decided to evacuate Boston. One hundred twenty ships sailed out of Boston Harbor onMarch 17. They carried nearly 9,000 redcoats and 1,100 Loyalists to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Independence Proclaimed Public opinion in the colonies had been shifting. More and more people favored a complete break with Great Britain. Many colonists were influ- enced by a pamphlet published in January 1776. Common Sense , by Thomas Paine, made a strong case for independence.

Members of the committee assigned to draft the Declaration of Independence—John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Frank- lin—present the document to John Hancock, president of the Second Continental Con- gress, in June 1776.