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Tag: Olive Branch Petition

  • Congress Gets Bad News–November 1, 1775

    Cover art for November 1, 1775: Page 1 of the Olive Branch Petition (detail). Via Library of Congress.

    In July 1775, there were still several delegates to the Second Continental Congress who thought that reconciliation with Britain was a possibility. There were a few others who may not have necessarily been of that opinion, but were willing to take a chance. Some of these men, led by John Dickinson, formed a committee to draft what’s come to be known as the Olive Branch Petition. The intent was to continue pledging loyalty to the King, but to simultaneously ask for some equitability in trade and tax regulations.

    The document asked for a firm settlement to the Colonies’ grievances, and identified all of the colonies as signatories except Georgia. The only reason Georgia wasn’t named is because they only had one delegate at the time, and he wasn’t comfortable with speaking for the entire colony. Consequently, he abstained from many votes.

    It was on this day that Congress learned what King George III had to say back in August regarding the Olive Branch Petition.

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  • August 23, 1775: George III Declares Rebellion

    Cover art for August 23, 1775: Proclamation of Rebellion, August 23, 1775 - Museum of the American Revolution by Joy of Museums

    When the Olive Branch Petition arrived in England, its contents hardly even mattered.

    There were elements of Parliament who were strongly disposed toward punishing the Colonies, and punishing them hard. The folks who were still pro-American were dwindling in number, because of the way it could affect their political futures.

    In short, the King had decided what he thought, and how he was going to handle it, and everyone else either bowed to it or faced losing their position. And it didn’t matter that he was a little bit crazy; he was the King and what he says, goes.

    Presumably we’ve learned the lesson behind that kind of thinking.

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  • August 13, 1775: The Olive Branch Petition Arrives in England

    Cover art for August 13, 1775: the signature page of the Olive Branch Petition.

    As you may recall, several months ago some members of the Continental Congress thought it was important to make one last effort to reconcile with Britain before things got worse. So they composed the Olive Branch Petition and sent it off to England.

    Transit times being what they were then, the petition took several weeks to get to its destination. In the meantime, things got worse.

    So when the Olive Branch Petition arrived, nobody really cared. But there were two other documents that made matters worse. Plus, you know, all the shooting that went on in April. And in June.

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  • May 26, 1775: One More Attempt at Peace

    Cover art for May 26, 1775: Portrait of John Dickinson, ca. 1780 by Charles Wilson Peale

    Despite everything that had already happened, there was still a sizeable chunk of the Second Continental Congress who thought that some form of reconciliation with England was possible.

    Under their logic, the fact that there had been fighting at Lexington and Concord should have provided King George with ample proof that his policies were unpopular, and maybe he could back off on them a little bit.

    In retrospect, we can see that this was rather short-sighted, and that those people truly didn’t understand the motivations that the English leadership had for their actions. Plus, England had history on their side: someone’s acting up? Squash them like bugs and get them all back in line.

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