Olive Branch Fails: Colonies' Last Plea Before War
The Second Continental Congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition on July 5, 1775, a carefully worded appeal asking King George III to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the growing conflict. The moderates who drafted it hoped to pull the colonies back from the brink of total war. King George refused to read it. He had already decided the colonies were in open rebellion and issued a royal proclamation saying so on August 23. This rejection destroyed the last bridge between London and Philadelphia. Delegates who had argued for reconciliation now faced a simple reality: the king considered them traitors regardless of their intentions. Independence became not just desirable but inevitable.
July 5, 1775
251 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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