On July 5, 1775, Congress with the help of John Dickinson (a conservative delegate from Pennsylvania) drafted the Olive Branch Petition. They sharply protested against the oppressive British laws and asked the king to stop the war, repeal the Coercive Acts Intolerable Acts (4) and bring about reconciliation. King George III (4) of England refused to read the petition and proclaimed on August 23 that the colonists were in rebellion and he would end it with the royal military force. The petition was critical of the Parliament and the King, but recognized the relationship between American and England as something other nations look up upon. They did not challenge their loyalty to the king, they only wished to expand their own personal rights.
http://www.learner.org/workshops/primarysources/revolution/docs/olive.html
http://www.kidport.com/reflib/usahistory/americanrevolution/olivebrpet.htm
Yupei C.
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Comments (7)
Haarthi Sakthivel said
at 9:00 pm on Sep 13, 2010
Great defintion! Includes all important details. Very clear and precise! :)
Claire Bartlett 1 said
at 9:10 pm on Sep 13, 2010
Awesome job Yupei! Here is a website that includes the full text of the Olive Branch Petition that I thought was really interesting! I hope it's helpful!
http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/olive-branch-petition-text.html
Claire Bartlett 1 said
at 9:10 pm on Sep 13, 2010
Oh I forgot-Claire B pd 1
Courtney Hutchins said
at 11:09 pm on Sep 13, 2010
This petition provoked George III to proclaim that the colonists had "proceeded to open and avowed rebellion." Great definition!
Ludovic said
at 11:10 pm on Sep 13, 2010
what most people overlook is that this petition was first written by John Adams, which believed that war was inevitable. John Dickinson was given the draft to review. He found everything to be very offensive and that the colonies did not want independence, but instead wanted to negotiate the terms of taxation and trade. Ludovic Pao(4)
Kelsey Hart said
at 6:52 pm on Sep 14, 2010
Thanks! The book wasn't terribly descriptive in it's section on this petition, so your definition really helped!
Jennifer Sanders said
at 9:37 pm on Sep 14, 2010
Thanks, Yupei. Just a side note, though. The reason it is called the "Olive Branch" Petition is because olive branches symbolizes "peace". Ironic, no?
Jennifer Sanders-4
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