Olive Branch Petition

In Philadelphia, now the American capital, the Second Continental Congress had shifted from a government body imploring the British government for a redress of grievances to a government body responsible for the management of a war.

The Olive Branch Petition, sent to England in July 1775, had been the last attempt of the Congress to make peace with the mother country.

It had been met with the naming of the Congress as traitors and the revolution as illegal.

After the action in Boston, it had become clear to a faction of the Congress, led by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and others, that a return to the pre-war status the American colonies and Great Britain had shared was no longer a possibility.

We talk about when they were first appealing to the throne in Britain.

They called it the Olive Branch Petition, right? They were seeking peace.

And so the eagle still holds the olive branches for peace, but also has the arrows, the strength and ability to fight and defend and fight.

Go to war if needed.

The king refused even to accept the petition.

And in response to the Olive Branch petition, the significant event was not the rejection, but rather the drafting by Thomas Paine of something called Common Sense, which I'll get to in just a second.

As the British are besieged, and as the petition for peace feelers is sent across the Atlantic, The patriots, the Americans, thought, well, there's one colony that hasn't taken up arms yet, which we should be part of all of this, and that is Canada, Quebec.

And so they organized an army and invaded, the Americans did, invaded Canada to help it decide to become free.

And so either you will become independent or...

We will suppress you and restore the Crown's authority and rule.

At the same time, you had this Olive Branch petition, which I think was actually, I don't think, it was a sincere effort by the people who drafted it.

It was not a tactical maneuver.

Congress was still seeking to reconcile with Great Britain.

And it adopted what is known as the Olive Branch Petition, where Congress affirmed American loyalty to the crown and asked King George to work with them to find a way to resolve the crisis.

If you read the Olive Branch Petition, it's full of pretty surprising language.

given that parts of the colonies were in open conflict with Britain.

Revolutionary leaders still called themselves, quote, your majesty's faithful subjects, end quote, and they end the entreaty by wishing King George III a long and prosperous reign over his dominions.

For instance, the Continental Congress had formed the Continental Army and and appointed George Washington to be its commander.

The Continental Congress had voted to invade Canada, and Americans were already prosecuting a war against Britain.

On top of that, some of the more bellicose revolutionary leaders, like John Adams, argued that the Olive Branch petition was a bad idea and that full-scale war was inevitable.