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Comprised of delegates from the colonies, met in 1774 in reaction to the Coercive Acts, a series of measures imposed by the British government on the colonies in response to their resistance to new taxes.
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They established a Continental army and elected George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, but the delegates also drafted the Olive Branch Petition and sent it to King George III in hopes of reaching a peaceful resolution. The king refused to hear the petition and declared the American colonies in revolt.
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A petition was sent to the King as a last attempt to prevent a war from being declared. The Petition emphasized their loyalty to the British crown and emphasized their rights as British citizens, it ended up being rejected,because it was an illegal document created by an illegal congress, and then declared the colonies in rebellion.
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Parliament passes the Prohibitory Act, which outlaws American trade with foreign nations. All American ships, are considered enemy vessels that can be captured by the British Navy and declared prizes of war, their cargoes sold to the highest bidder.
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Declaration of Independence, in U.S. history, document that was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, and that announced the separation of 13 North American British colonies from Great Britain.