What was the Olive Branch Petition?

The Intolerable Acts were a series of laws passed by British Parliament in 1774 that are often cited as a main factor in spurring the American Revolution. Following the Boston Tea Party, British Parliament feared that they were losing control of the colonies. In response, they enacted these laws that restricted the governing rights of the colony of Massachusetts. The hope was that by setting an example with Massachusetts, any rebellious movements in the other colonies would stop from a fear of punishment.

The Boston Port Act closed the port of Boston until the colonists could pay for all of the tea that had been destroyed in the Boston Tea Party. The Massachusetts Government Act brought total control of the colony back to the British government. The Administration of Justice Act allowed royal officials to stand trial in Great Britain following an accusation of a crime in the colonies, greatly limiting their accountability. Lastly, the Quartering Act, which applied to all of the colonies, made it easier for British troops to be housed in the colonies, allowing for more troops to arrive and maintain control. 

In 1774, the colonists first drafted an appeal to King George III for the purpose of avoiding a future war. The First Continental Congress, with delegates from 12 of the colonies, met in Philadelphia to decide on a response to the Intolerable Acts. They wrote the Petition to the King, which called for the repeal of all of the Intolerable Acts immediately. They pointedly wrote only to the King and not to British Parliament because they did not recognize Parliament’s authority. King George ignored the petition and did not heed the colonists’ request, so tensions continued to rise.

By the time the Olive Branch Petition was written, fighting had already broken out between the British military and militias of colonists. The first military conflicts were the Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Fighting took place in Middlesex County of the Massachusetts colony, in the towns of Lexington, Concord, and others. The colonists were victorious, which led to a great wave of support for the Patriot cause.

In June 1775, the colonists once again faced off against the British forces at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Although the British were able to eke out a victory, it was a grave warning to them that the untrained militiamen were a formidable enemy, able to stand up against the larger and more organized British military. 

Even though the American Revolution was already underway, the delegates of the Second Continental Congress still posited the Olive Branch Petition as an attempt at peacemaking and avoiding further escalation.

In the summer of 1775, the Second Continental Congress convened. Their goal was to find a way forward. Many colonists still did not want independence from the British Crown. They believed that the problem lay with British Parliament and not with the King. They decided to write to King George to implore him to end the crises between the British military and the colonial militias. They nicknamed their proclamation the Olive Branch Petition, to represent that they were seeking peace between the two sides. In the petition, they wrote that the British soldiers had been hostile and left them no choice but to defend themselves, in an attempt to justify the fighting that had already begun. 

A first draft of the Olive Branch Petition was written by Thomas Jefferson. However, the Congress thought his petition was too aggressive and would only aggravate the King. Enter: John Dickinson. Dickinson was one of the leaders of the coalition of delegates who did not wish to gain independence from Britain. He penned the final draft of the Olive Branch Petition, with help from Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, John Rutledge, and Thomas Johnson. Dickinson and the other authors hoped to emphasize that their grievances were with Parliament and not the King himself and that they hoped an agreement could be reached. 

The petition was ratified on July 5, 1775 and signed by the delegates to the Second Continental Congress, beginning with Congress president John Hancock, on July 8. 

As you may have guessed, the King did not accept the proposition. For multiple reasons, the petition was doomed from the get go. For starters, as previously stated, fighting had already begun. The colonists had faced off against the British and they were effectively already at war. Secondly, the Second Continental Congress drafted another document on the very next day, July 6, that negated some of their arguments. This next document, The Declaration of the Causes of and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, outlined why the colonists felt it necessary to raise arms against the British, citing the violations of their rights and taxation without representation. Although this letter may have been intended as strictly a means of justifying their resistance, it could also be read as a clear declaration that the colonists were ready to fight for what they believed in, which would have threatened the King.

With battles already occurring and the fact that these two documents probably arrived in Britain at the same time, the King immediately rejected any movement for peace and, in August, officially declared that the colonies were in rebellion and at war with Great Britain. 

Whether you read the Olive Branch Petition as an earnest call for peace or as a disingenuous statement issued once peace had already been broken, it did not do anything to delay or curtail the oncoming American Revolution. 

The Declaration of Independence would be issued the next year and the Revolutionary War would lead to the birth of the nation we know today. Still, the Olive Branch Petition is an interesting document that marks a unique period in history, when America stood on the brink of huge change. 

Featured photos: Wikimedia Commons

Sources: The Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Encyclopedia Britannica, History.com, National Park Service, New York Public Library