The Green Mountain Boys

- In 1775, Vermont blacksmith Ethan Allen led a group known as the Green Mountain Boys in a surprise attack on Fort Ticonderoga, located at the Southern tip of Lake Champlain.

- The British surrendered the fort to Allen, along with large quantities of cannons and gunpowder.

2nd Continental Congress
(Philadelphia, 1775-1776)

- In 1775, delegates sent King George III the Olive Branch Petition.

* The delegates declared their loyalty to Great Britain, and asked the King to repeal the Intolerable Acts.

* Delegates also set up the Continental Army, naming George Washington as commander.

- King George III refused to repeal the Intolerable Acts!