One of the most important documents of the American Revolution, the Second Continental Congress sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III in July 1775. It was the most serious attempt by the American colonies to end hostilities and reconcile with Great Britain.
In the summer of 1774, the conflict between Great Britain and its North American colonies intensified, and colonists began to choose sides. Over the course of the next year blood had been shed on both sides, and the opponents had hardened their opinions. However, within the ranks of the revolutionaries there remained serious disagreements.
Radicals in the Continental Congress increasingly favored a complete break with Britain, but moderates such as Joseph Galloway, John Jay, and John Dickinson still hoped for a peaceful solution. They continued to reject the idea of total independence for the American colonies. Dickinson, who wrote the Olive Branch Petition, was a Pennsylvania delegate and one of the outstanding writers of his generation. In the petition Dickinson attempted to reassure the king that the colonists were still loyal to the Crown and pleaded with him to cease further hostilities and seek reconciliation. Despite the hopefulness of the moderates, the radical delegates believed that little good would come from such a gesture.
A few days after its adoption, congressional messengers departed for England with two original copies of the petition on separate ships. Arriving in London in mid-August, they promptly delivered a copy to Lord Dartmouth, the cabinet secretary in charge of colonial affairs. He, in turn, delivered a copy to the king, who by this time was so angry with the colonists that he refused even to read the document. A day later, on August 23, 1775, King George declared the colonies to be officially in rebellion. It is possible that had Congress offered the Olive Branch a year earlier, as many of the moderates had argued they should have done, it might have been more effective. Coming as it did, after the Battles of Concord and Lexington (April 19, 1775) and the Battle of Bunker Hill (June, 17, 1775), it was too late to do much good. The fact that at the same time that the Olive Branch was adopted, Congress also adopted “A Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms,” reflects the divided mind of the delegates. The “Declaration” was a very different document, which attempted to justify the colonists’ defense of their homes and blamed the British for the outbreak of hostilities. Ironically, it was also partly written by John Dickinson.
Richard Penn and Arthur Lee, the congressional messengers to London, reported the failure of their mission to the Continental Congress on September 2, 1775. While the hopes of moderate men were dashed, the outright refusal of the king to negotiate had the effect of solidifying the radicals. Over the course of the next 10 months in Congress, it became possible for the delegates to move toward a Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776).
Further reading: Robert Middlekauff, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution,1763-1789 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982); Edmund S. Morgan, The Birth of the Republic, 1763-1789 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992).
—Robert Lively
Oliver, Andrew (1706-1774) politician Andrew Oliver was a Massachusetts Loyalist hated by the radicals. Oliver was born in Boston to a prominent and wealthy colonial family. He graduated from Harvard in 1724 and 10 years later, he married a sister of Thomas Hutchinson. Throughout the remainder of his career, he would be closely linked with Hutchinson. Hutchinson’s sister was Oliver’s second wife, and he had a total of 17 children.
Oliver was a royal officeholder and ambitious politician. He was the delegate from Boston to the Massachusetts General Court from 1743 to 1745. In 1746 Oliver was elected to the Massachusetts provincial council and held that position until 1765. He also served as the secretary of Massachusetts from 1756 until 1771. After the passage of the Stamp Act (1765), Oliver agreed to act as a stamp agent even though he knew how badly the public had received the act. As a result of his new job, his reputation sank even lower. On August 14, 1765, a mob hung Oliver in effigy beneath the liberty tree and then marched to a building on the waterfront owned by Oliver. Many colonists believed the government planned to use this building to store materials associated with the Stamp Act. The mob destroyed the building and then turned and headed toward Oliver’s house. Much to the shock and horror of Oliver and his family, the mob broke windows and demolished expensive furniture, leaving the house in complete ruins. A few months later, Oliver resigned as a stamp agent and publicly renounced the Stamp Act.
Because of his continued loyalty to the Crown, in 1771 Oliver was appointed lieutenant governor of Massachusetts to serve with his brother-in-law, Governor Thomas Hutchinson. He was now the second highest political official in Massachusetts. It was also during this time that Oliver formed The Censor with Hutchinson. This publication was devoted to explaining the virtues and truths of the British constitution. It was not popular or profitable and it ceased publication after a year of operation.
Oliver’s position was not to last. He remained the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts until 1773. During the 1760s Oliver and Hutchinson had written several letters to Britain in which they criticized and apologized for the colony’s outlandish behavior and recommended coercive solutions to control the protests. Benjamin Franklin, who was in London, managed to get possession of the private letters. In 1773 Franklin forwarded them to Boston, where they were made public. A tremendous outcry ensued, and Hutchinson and Oliver were forced out of office. Andrew Oliver died in 1774 before the start of the Revolutionary War (1775-83). During his funeral, a huge mob followed the carriage bearing his coffin, and they cheered as the casket was lowered into the grave.
See also resistance movement; riots.
Further reading: Bernard Bailyn, The Ordeal of Thomas Hutchinson (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1974); Michael G. Kammen, A Rope of Sand: The Colonial Agents, British Politics, and the American Revolution (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1968).
—Brant Day
World History
