Olive Branch Petition - Wikipedia

Petition from the 13 Colonies to King George III Not to be confused with the 1774 Petition to the King.

Olive Branch Petition
Signature page of the Olive Branch Petition, with John Hancock's prominent signature at the top
Ratified	July 5, 1775
Signatories	Second Continental Congress
Purpose	Avoiding war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies

The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, and signed on July 8, 1775, in a final attempt to avoid war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in America. The Congress had already authorized the invasion of Canada more than a week earlier, but the petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated King George III to prevent further conflict. It was followed by the July 6, 1775 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, however, which made its success unlikely in London.[1] In August 1775, the colonies were formally declared to be in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion, and the petition was rejected by the British government; King George had refused to read it before declaring the colonists traitors.[2]

Drafting

[edit] English Wikisource has original text related to this article: Olive Branch Petition

The Second Continental Congress, convened in present-day Independence Hall in the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia in May 1775, and most of its delegates initially supported fellow delegate John Dickinson in his quest to attempt to reconcile with King George III. But a smaller group of delegates to the Second Continental Congress, led by John Adams, argued that war with the British would ultimately prove inevitable, and they instead abstained from supporting Dickinson's efforts, choosing instead to await a suitable moment to rally the Thirteen Colonies in support of war and the cause of American independence.

The disengagement of this smaller number of delegates, however, allowed Dickinson and the delegates who supported his efforts to attempt to reconcile their differences and concerns with the British.[3][page needed]

Dickinson was the primary author of the Olive Branch Petition, and Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, John Rutledge, and Thomas Johnson served on the drafting committee for the document.[4][page needed] Dickinson claimed that the Thirteen Colonies did not seek complete independence from the British Empire, but did seek more equitable trade and tax regulations.

Dickinson asked that King George III establish a lasting settlement between Great Britain and the colonies "upon so firm a basis as to perpetuate its blessings, uninterrupted by any future dissensions, to succeeding generations in both countries", beginning with the repeal of the Intolerable Acts. The introductory paragraph of the letter named twelve of the thirteen colonies, all except Georgia. The letter was approved on July 5 and was signed by John Hancock, President of the Second Continental Congress, and by representatives of these twelve colonies. On July 8, 1775, the letter was sent to London in the care of Richard Penn and Arthur Lee.

The letter is housed in the National Archives in London.[5][page needed] Dickinson hoped that news of the Battles of Lexington and Concord combined with the "humble petition" would persuade the King to respond with a counter-proposal or open negotiations.[3][page needed]

Reception and rejection

[edit]

John Adams, a delegate to the Second Continental Congress and advocate of full independence from the British Empire, wrote a friend, saying that the petition served no purpose, that war with the British was inevitable, and that the Thirteen Colonies should have already raised a navy and taken British officials as prisoners. Adams' letter was intercepted by British officials, and news of its contents reached Great Britain at about the same time as the petition itself arrived. British advocates of a military response used Adams' letter to argue that the petition itself was insincere.[6]

Penn and Lee provided a copy of the petition to colonial secretary Lord Dartmouth on August 21, followed with the original on September 1. They reported back on September 2, writing, "we were told that as his Majesty did not receive it on the throne, no answer would be given."[7]

By this time, King George III had already issued his Proclamation of Rebellion on August 23 in response to news of the Battle of Bunker Hill, declaring the Thirteen Colonies to be in a state of open rebellion and ordering "all Our officers ... and all Our obedient and loyal subjects, to use their utmost endeavours to withstand and suppress such rebellion".[8] The hostilities which Adams had foreseen undercut the petition, and the King had answered it before it even reached him.[9][page needed]

Consequences

[edit] See also: American Revolutionary War § Background and political developments

King George III's refusal to consider the petition gave John Adams and others the opportunity they sought to push for the colonies' full independence and to argue that the King was intransigent and uninterested in addressing the colonists' grievances.

Adams served to polarize the issue in the minds of many in the Thirteen Colonies, who began to see that there was little promise for reconciliation and that only two realistic options existed: complete independence, which made war with the British practically inevitable, or complete submission to British colonial rule.[5] Thomas Paine further expanded this recognition in Common Sense, his widely-read pamphlet, which was published in January 1776, six months before the Second Continental Congress agreed to unanimously adopt and publish the Declaration of Independence, largely authored by Thomas Jefferson, which detailed the grievances of the Thirteen Colonies and the case for their independence.

See also

[edit]

• Founding Fathers of the United States
• Journals of the Continental Congress

References

[edit]

1. ^ "Declaration of taking up arms: resolutions of the Second Continental Congress". Constitution Society. Retrieved September 23, 2013.
2. ^ Bailey, Thomas; Kennedy, David; Cohen, Lizabeth (1998). The American Pageant (11th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0669397284.
3. ^ a b Ferling, John E (2003). A leap in the dark: the struggle to create the American republic. Oxford, England; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515924-0.
4. ^ Beeman, Richard (2013). Our lives, our fortune, our sacred honor: the forging of American independence, 1774–1776. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465026296.
5. ^ a b Brown, Weldon A. (1941). Empire or independence; a study in the failure of reconciliation, 1774–1783. Port Washington, New York: Kennikat Press (published 1966). OCLC 341868.
6. ^ Brown, Weldon A. (1941). Empire or independence; a study in the failure of reconciliation, 1774–1783. Port Washington, New York: Kennikat Press (published 1966). pp. 29–30. OCLC 341868.
7. ^ Richard Penn; Arthur Lee. "Petition to George III, King of Great Britain, 1775". nypl.org. Image 5208532. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
8. ^ Axelrod, Alan (2008). Profiles in folly: history's worst decisions and why they went wrong. New York: Sterling. p. 150. ISBN 978-1402747687.
9. ^ Maier, Pauline (1997). American scripture: making the Declaration of Independence. New York: Knopf. pp. 24–25, 249–250. ISBN 0679454926.

External links

[edit]

Works related to Olive Branch Petition at Wikisource

v t e John Dickinson
5th President of Pennsylvania, 1782–1785 5th President of Delaware, 1781–1783 Second Continental Congress, 1775–1776, 1779–1781 First Continental Congress, 1774 Stamp Act Congress, 1765
Founding of theUnited States	Declaration of Rights and Grievances (1765) Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767, 1768) "The Liberty Song" (1768 United we stand, divided we fall) Petition to the King (1774) Signee, Continental Association (1774) Pennsylvania Committee of Correspondence (1774–1776) "Letter to the inhabitants of the Province of Quebec" (1774) Olive Branch Petition (1775) Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (co-wrote, 1775) Committee of Secret Correspondence (1775–1776) Model Treaty committee (1776) Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union (1776, drafting committee chairman) President, Annapolis Convention (1786) Delegate, Constitutional Convention (1787)
Other events	Brigadier General, Pennsylvania militia Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783 Delaware Constitution of 1792
Life and homes	Mary Norris Dickinson (wife) Philemon Dickinson (brother) Early life Poplar Hall home Fair Hill estate Friends Burial Ground
Legacy	Dickinson College Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University John Dickinson School (High School) 1776 (1969 musical, 1972 film) John Adams (2008 miniseries) Sons of Liberty (2015 miniseries)
Related	Claymont Stone School American Revolution patriots Founding Fathers

v t e Thomas Jefferson
3rd President of the United States (1801–1809) 2nd Vice President of the United States (1797–1801) 1st United States Secretary of State (1790–1793) U.S. Minister to France (1785–1789) Delegate to the Congress of the Confederation (1783–1784) 2nd Governor of Virginia (1779–1781) Delegate to the Second Continental Congress (1775–1776) Delegate, Fifth Virginia Convention (1776)
Foundingdocuments ofthe United States	A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774) Olive Branch Petition (1775) Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (1775) Declaration of Independence (1776) Committee of Five physical history "All men are created equal" "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" "Consent of the governed" Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (1786) Land Ordinance of 1784 Land Ordinance of 1785
French Revolution	Co-author, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789)
Presidency	Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves Louisiana Purchase Corps of Discovery Lewis and Clark Expedition Empire of Liberty Dunbar and Hunter Expedition Red River Expedition Pike Expedition Cumberland Road Embargo Act of 1807 Chesapeake–Leopard affair Non-Intercourse Act First Barbary War Native American policy Burr conspiracy Marbury v. Madison West Point Military Academy State of the Union Addresses 1801 1802 1805 Cabinet Federal judicial appointments
Other notedaccomplishments	Early life and career Franco-American alliance Founder, University of Virginia history Ratification Day Anti-Administration party Democratic-Republican Party Jeffersonian democracy Coinage, Weights, and Measures report (1790) State Department Library Residence Act Compromise of 1790 Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions A Manual of Parliamentary Practice (1801) Jefferson disk Swivel chair Megalonyx
Jeffersonianarchitecture	Barboursville Farmington Monticello gardens Poplar Forest University of Virginia The Rotunda The Lawn Jefferson Hall Virginia State Capitol White House Colonnades
Other writings	The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Notes on the State of Virginia (1785) Pyratical states of Barbary proposals (1786) European journey memorandums (1787) Indian removal letters The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth (c. 1819) Jefferson manuscript collection Founders Online
Related	American Enlightenment American Philosophical Society Founding Fathers of the United States Historical reputation Jefferson and education Religious views Jefferson and slavery Jefferson and the Library of Congress Jefferson Pier Pet mockingbird National Gazette Relationship with Alexander Hamilton Sally Hemings Jefferson–Hemings controversy Betty Hemings Separation of church and state Shadwell plantation Tuckahoe plantation Tufton Farm Governor's Palace (Williamsburg, Virginia) Virginia dynasty Ward republic
Elections	Presidential elections 1796 1800 1804
Legacy andmemorials	Bibliography Jefferson Memorial Mount Rushmore Birthday Thomas Jefferson Building Jefferson River Jefferson Territory Fort Jefferson Jefferson Lecture Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Square Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Star for Foreign Service Statues Karl Bitter Louisville University of Virginia David d'Angers Jefferson Literary and Debating Society Thomas Jefferson Foundation Jefferson Lab Monticello Association Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson College Thomas Jefferson University Washington and Jefferson National Forests Peaks and mountains Jefferson Rock Other placenames Jefferson–Jackson Day Currency depictions Jefferson nickel Two-dollar bill Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollar 250th Anniversary silver dollar Semiquincentennial coinage U.S. postage stamps
Culturaldepictions	Alexander Hamilton (1931 film) Declaration of Independence (1938 film) The Patriots (1946 play) 1776 1969 musical 1972 film Jefferson in Paris (1995 film) Thomas Jefferson (1997 film) The Revolution (2006 miniseries) John Adams (2008 miniseries) Jefferson's Garden (2015 play) Hamilton (2015 musical) Thomas Jefferson (2025 miniseries) The American Revolution (2025 miniseries) Wine bottles controversy Cultural depictions of Sally Hemings
Family	Martha Jefferson (wife) Martha Jefferson Randolph (daughter) Mary Jefferson Eppes (daughter) Beverley Hemings (son) Harriet Hemings (daughter) Madison Hemings (son) Eston Hemings (son) Thomas J. Randolph (grandson) George W. Randolph (grandson) Ellen Randolph Coolidge (granddaughter) Cornelia Jefferson Randolph (granddaughter) Francis Eppes (grandson) John Wayles Jefferson (grandson) Sarah N. Randolph (great-granddaughter) T. Jefferson Coolidge (great-grandson) Frederick Madison Roberts (great-grandson) Peter Jefferson (father) Jane Randolph Jefferson (mother) Lucy Jefferson Lewis (sister) Randolph Jefferson (brother) Peter Carr (nephew) Samuel Carr (nephew) Dabney Carr (nephew) Dabney S. Carr (grand-nephew) Isham Randolph (grandfather) William Randolph (great-grandfather) Henry Soane (2nd great-grandfather)
← John Adams James Madison → ← John Adams Aaron Burr → Category

v t e John Jay
2nd Governor of New York, 1795-1801 1st Chief Justice of the United States, 1789-1795 United States Secretary of State, 1789-90 United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs, 1784-1789 United States Minister to Spain, 1779-1782 President of the Continental Congress, 1778-79
Founding of theUnited States	Continental Association (1774, signed) Petition to the King (1774, signed) Olive Branch Petition (1775) Committee of Secret Correspondence (1775-76) New York Constitution (1777) Treaty of Paris (1783) The Federalist Papers papers, 1787-88 Jay Court, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (1789-1795, cases)
Other events	New York Manumission Society African Free School Jay–Gardoqui Treaty Jay Treaty (1794)
Other writings	Letters to the inhabitants of Canada (1775) New York Circular Letter (1788) The Selected Papers of John Jay
Homes	Jay Estate Jay Heritage Center John Jay Homestead Government House
Namesakes	Fort Jay John Jay College of Criminal Justice John Jay Hall John Jay Park Jay, New York Jay, Vermont
Family	Sarah Livingston Jay (wife) Peter Jay (son) William Jay (son) John Clarkson Jay (grandson) John Jay (grandson) James Jay (brother) Jacobus Van Cortlandt (grandfather)
Related	Federalist Party Arbitration Treaty of Paris (1783 painting) Portrait of John Jay (1794) Boston relief portrait Founders Online Founding Fathers of the United States

v t e Origins of the American Revolution: writings
American resolves, declarations, petitions, essays and pamphlets prior to the Declaration of Independence (July 1776)
Following theStamp Act (1765)	Virginia Resolves (May 1765) Braintree Instructions (September 1765) Declaration of Rights and Grievances (October 1765) Leedstown Resolutions (February 1766) An Inquiry into the Rights of the British Colonies (1766)
Following theTownshend Acts (1767)	Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania (1767, 1768) Massachusetts Circular Letter (February 1768) Journal of Occurrences (1768, 1769) Virginia Association (May 1769) Boston Pamphlet (1772) Sheffield Declaration (January 1773)
Following theCoercive Acts (1774)	Maryland Chestertown Resolves (May 1774) Talbot Resolves (May 1774) Bush River Resolution (March 1775) Massachusetts Suffolk Resolves (September 1774) New York Orangetown Resolutions (July 1774) A Full Vindication of the Measures of Congress (December 1774) The Farmer Refuted (February 1775) North Carolina Rowan Resolves (August 1774) Edenton Tea Party (October 1774) Mecklenburg Resolves or Declaration (May 1775) Liberty Point Resolves (June 1775) Tryon Resolves (August 1775) Halifax Resolves (April 1776) Virginia Loudoun Resolves (June 1774) Fairfax Resolves (July 1774) Fincastle Resolutions (January 1775) Augusta Resolves (February 1775) Augusta Declaration (May 1776) Virginia Declaration of Rights (June 1776) First ContinentalCongress Declaration and Resolves (October 1774) Continental Association (October 1774) Petition to the King (October 1774) Second ContinentalCongress Olive Branch Petition (July 1775) Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (July 1775) May 15 preamble (May 1776) Lee Resolution (July 1776)
Essays and pamphlets	The Rights of Colonies Examined (1764) "Letters to the Inhabitants of Canada" (1774, 1775, 1776) A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774) Novanglus (1775) Common Sense (January 1776) Thoughts on Government (Spring, 1776)
Related	Journals of the Continental Congress
Category