Difference between revisions of "Olive Branch Petition"
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==Background and Reception== | ==Background and Reception== | ||
After the [[Battle of Bunker Hill]], the King refused to receive the ''Olive Branch''. His 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. This contemptuous treatment convinced many that the colonists need hope for nothing at the hands of the king, 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> | After the [[Battle of Bunker Hill]], the King refused to receive the ''Olive Branch''. His 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. This contemptuous treatment convinced many that the colonists need hope for nothing at the hands of the king, 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> | ||
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| + | ==Aftermath== | ||
| + | All these considerations were popularized and brought vividly to the imaginations of great numbers by Paine's pamphlet, "[[Common Sense]]." By May 1776, the Congress, which had acted for a year as a revolutionary general government for the United Colonies, felt justified in entering upon consideration of the subject.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PnFMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PT53|title=The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 16|date=1904}}</ref> | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 03:08, September 10, 2015
The Olive Branch Petition was the last attempt made by the colonists to bring about a reconciliation with the British Government.[1]
Drafting
Second Constitutional Congress
Early in its history this second congress had drafted a new petition to the king. To this, the king did not even pay the courtesy of a formal answer.
The petition was adopted July 5th, 1775 and finalized July 8th, 1775, during the Second Continental Congress ,which appeals directly to King George III and expresses hope for reconciliation between the colonies and Great Britain.[2]
It was written by John Dickinson. Dickinson also wrote the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, following the Olive Branch petition.[3]
Background and Reception
After the Battle of Bunker Hill, the King refused to receive the Olive Branch. His 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. This contemptuous treatment convinced many that the colonists need hope for nothing at the hands of the king, and also had an effect on the king's own men. Many English army officers resigned their commissions rather than serve against the Americans.[4] 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 soldiers to help fight their battles in the colonies, even the most conservative began to admit the necessity of separation.[5]
Aftermath
All these considerations were popularized and brought vividly to the imaginations of great numbers by Paine's pamphlet, "Common Sense." By May 1776, the Congress, which had acted for a year as a revolutionary general government for the United Colonies, felt justified in entering upon consideration of the subject.[6]
References
- ↑ (1898) History of England.
- ↑ Congress adopts Olive Branch Petition
- ↑ Declaration of Taking Up Arms: Resolutions of the Second Continental Congress
- ↑ (1907) Reading courses ... prepared under the advice and direction of Edwin Markham.
- ↑ (1919) School Civics: An Outline Study of the Origin and Development of Government and the Development of Political Institutions in the United States.
- ↑ (1904) The Encyclopedia Americana, Volume 16.
External Links
- Journals of the Continental Congress, Full text