America's Greatest 19th Century Presidents by Charles River Editors Read Free Book Online Page B

when 4,500 more British soldiers arrived by sea, the American forces fell back to adjacent hills on the Charlestown Peninsula, Breed's Hill and Bunker Hill. At this time, the colonists and colonial forces were still unclear of their ultimate goals; the Second Continental Congress would not formally declare independence for another year. 
    During the first few months of the fighting, the British tried on several occasions to lift the siege with force. The strongest attempt took place in June, when the British fired on Charlestown and then landed 3,000 British regulars on the peninsula. This attempt, which came to be known as the Battle of Bunker Hill, would end up being the bloodiest battle of the war. On June 17, 1775, 3,000 British soldiers attempted multiple charges up Bunker Hill against 1,200 defenders who were fairly well entrenched. The third attempt forced the colonists back to Cambridge, but the British suffered a heavy price, with over 1,000 British soldiers killed or wounded, compared to only 450 casualties for the colonists.
    The Battle of Bunker Hill was technically a tactical victory for the British, but it did not break the siege of Boston, and it provided a morale boost for the colonial forces. General Gage was replaced by General Howe as commander of the British forces, and the siege would continue until the British quit Boston in March 1776, nearly 11 whole months after the first shots were fired.
    Second Continental Congress
     
    The petitions of the First Continental Congress had no effect on King George III or Parliament in 1774, and the Second Continental Congress would convene in June 1775. But by then, colonists in Massachusetts took things into their own hands. The First Continental Congress had convened for barely more than 6 months, but the Second Continental Congress would end up lasting for nearly 6 years.
    After the shot heard round the world at the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775, the colonies sent representatives to the Second Continental Congress. During their initial meetings, some delegates at the Second Continental Congress were still considering ways the colonies might reconcile with the British Empire, but when the colonial militia forces laying siege to Boston won the Battle of Bunker Hill on June 17, the delegates became more determined to cast off what they perceived to be British tyranny.
    The Virginia Constitution
     
    Madison was already a zealous Patriot by the time the Congress decided to declare independence in the summer of 1776. His contribution to the Revolution remained limited to Virginia for the next few years, however.  In 1776, as the Continental Congress was drafting the Declaration of Independence, Madison was elected to serve in the Virginia Convention, which was tasked with writing the state's constitution.  Together with George Mason, Madison wrote the draft that would eventually become the state's constitution, and Madison later used it as a reference and odel for the U.S. Constitution. Madison wrote the bulk of the constitution that related to the separation of powers, while Mason wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which would later influence the Bill of Rights.  Madison was accomplishing this impressive task at just 25 years old.
     
    With a Constitution in hand, Virginia assembled its first state government, and Madison was honored to serve in it.  In late 1776, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, where he first met Thomas Jefferson that October.  Destined to become Jefferson’s protégé, during his two years in office, Madison and Jefferson worked tirelessly on issues pertaining to religious freedom, and they disestablished the Church of England in Virginia.  After the Revolution, Madison also helped Jefferson write the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, one of the first documents that established the separation of church and state, an ideological underpinning that became one of the hallmarks of the U.S.