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Olive Branch Petition (view source)
Revision as of 03:58, September 10, 2015
, 03:58, September 10, 2015Colonists' Response
On the 8th of July, the Congress assembled at Philadelphia had confided to Richard Penn, governor of Pennsylvania, a petition denominated the ''Olive Branch'' to the king, to be presented on his arrival in England. It was delivered to lord Dartmouth on the 1st of September.<ref name=knight>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d30BAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA612|title=Charles Knight's school history of England, abridged from the Popular history of England|date=1865}}</ref>
On the 8th of July, the Congress assembled at Philadelphia had confided to Richard Penn, governor of Pennsylvania, a petition denominated the ''Olive Branch'' to the king, to be presented on his arrival in England. It was delivered to lord Dartmouth on the 1st of September.<ref name=knight>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d30BAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA612|title=Charles Knight's school history of England, abridged from the Popular history of England|date=1865}}</ref>
==Background and Reception==
==Rejection==
The king's response to Bunker Hill was to issue the [[Proclamation of Rebellion]], declaring the colonists to be rebels, closing the American ports, and warning foreign nations not to trade. The ''Olive Branch'' was an attempt to appeal directly to [[King George III]] with the hope for reconciliation between the colonies and Great Britain.<ref>[http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-adopts-olive-branch-petition Congress adopts Olive Branch Petition]</ref> Three days after their arrival in Britain, Penn and his companion, Arthur Lee, were informed by letter that no answer would be given to it.
The king's response to Bunker Hill was to issue the [[Proclamation of Rebellion]], declaring the colonists to be rebels, closing the American ports, and warning foreign nations not to trade. The ''Olive Branch'' was an attempt to appeal directly to [[King George III]] with the hope for reconciliation between the colonies and Great Britain.<ref>[http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-adopts-olive-branch-petition Congress adopts Olive Branch Petition]</ref> Three days after their arrival in Britain, Penn and his companion, Arthur Lee, were informed by letter that no answer would be given to it.
This treatment also convinced many that the colonists need hope for nothing at the hands of the king or parliament, and also had an effect on the king's own men. Many English army officers resigned their commissions rather than serve against the Americans.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ro4rAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA222|title=Reading courses ... prepared under the advice and direction of Edwin Markham|date=1907}}</ref> When the subservient "king's friends" in parliament voted 25,000 troops, most of them had to be hired in Germany. Shortly after the news reached America that the British government had hired [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian soldiers]] to help fight their battles in the colonies, even the most conservative began to admit the necessity of separation.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6T0XAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA54|title=School Civics: An Outline Study of the Origin and Development of Government and the Development of Political Institutions in the United States|date=1919}}</ref>
This treatment also convinced many that the colonists need hope for nothing at the hands of the king or parliament, and also had an effect on the king's own men. Many English army officers resigned their commissions rather than serve against the Americans.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ro4rAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA222|title=Reading courses ... prepared under the advice and direction of Edwin Markham|date=1907}}</ref> When the subservient "king's friends" in parliament voted 25,000 troops, most of them had to be hired in Germany. Shortly after the news reached America that the British government had hired [[Hessian (soldier)|Hessian soldiers]] to help fight their battles in the colonies, even the most conservative began to admit the necessity of separation.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6T0XAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA54|title=School Civics: An Outline Study of the Origin and Development of Government and the Development of Political Institutions in the United States|date=1919}}</ref>
==Colonists' Response==
The news of the rejection of their ''Olive Branch'' petition, of the king's proclamation, and of the hiring of foreign mercenaries, reached America at about the same time - the last days of October - and the sensation created was profound and widespread. It was evident that the king meant to awe the colonists into submission, but this he could not do. He only deepened the resentment against him, and thousands who had been lukewarm were now converted to the cause of the patriots. From this moment Congress assumed a bolder tone. It appointed committees to correspond with foreign nations, advised various colonies to set up governments for themselves, and urged South Carolina to seize all English vessels within its waters. It also opened the American ports to all nations (March, 1776), and advised the colonies to disarm the Tories. No more disclaimers of a desire for independence do we hear, no more talk of reconciliation with the king.
This change of attitude toward the mother land was not confined to Congress. The majority of the people were soon convinced that their sovereign did not love them, and it was not long before the subject of independence, which before had been only whispered in the corner, began to be proclaimed from the housetop. The subject was debated on all sides, and the idea of independence grew steadily during the following winter. But the people were not unanimous. A large minority probably, one third of the people, were in sympathy with the English cause to the end, and it is noteworthy that in New England and the South the tendency to make a final break with the king was more pronounced than in the middle colonies.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JbQTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA44|title=History of the United States of America|date=1905}}</ref>
==Aftermath==
==Aftermath==