The Olive Branch Petition
by Lillian Bonar
Essay: The Olive Branch Petition
Pages: 11
Rating: 3 stars
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• The Olive Branch Petition.pdf
• The Olive Branch Petition.doc
After our class debate about the colonists’ ideas concerning separation, I began to wonder what were the final
avenues taken to try to avert the Revolutionary War. To find a source pertinent to my interest and fitting for our
assignment, I searched the “historymatters.gmu.edu” site using the key words “Revolutionary War primary
document.” The search provided several documents, such as Washington’s papers at the Library of Congress,
Martha Ballard’s diary, as well as a few others. None of the documents in my original search were specific enough
to my interests in the days leading up to the American Revolution. I then narrowed my search to documents
written in 1775 and found a link in The University of Georgia Tech’s American history documents database to The
Olive Branch Petition.
In July 1775, The Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to discuss possible courses of action following
the most recent battle with Britain at Bunker Hill. Members of the Congress disagreed about what steps to take in
dissolving the confrontation with Parliament and King George III. Separatists, such as John Adams, were fed up
with decades of British colonization and were ready for sovereignty, even if at the price of war. Yet Congressional
moderates garnered enough support to attempt one last-ditch effort to stop further bloodshed and end the
conflict amicably. The Congress decided to write yet another letter, send it to London, and hope the king would be
receptive. They called the letter The Olive Branch Petition.
The Olive Branch Petition professed colonial loyalty to his majesty in a final appeal for peaceful reconciliation with
Britain. Fighting with the British had already started with the Battles of Concord, Lexington, and Bunker Hi...