The Olive Branch Petition Analysis

For starters, the American Revolution was waged as a war of last resort because the colonists could not execute any more plans to make truce with Britain peacefully. The principle of last resort states that a war can only be waged after all the peaceful options are considered and force must be conducted as the last alternative. In the “Olive Branch Petition”, John Dickinson, a representative of the colonists wrote: “We therefore beseech your Majesty, that your royal authority and influence may be graciously interposed to procure us relief from our afflicting fears and jealousies, occasioned by the system before-mentioned, and to settle peace through every part of our Dominions, with all humility submitting to your Majesty’s wise consideration, whether it may not be expedient, for facilitating those important purposes, that your Majesty be pleased to direct some mode, by which the united applications of your faithful Colonists to the Throne, in pursuance of their common counsels, may be improved into a happy and permanent reconciliation; and that, in the mean time, measures may be taken for preventing the further destruction of the lives of your Majesty’s subjects; and that such statutes as more immediately distress any of your Majesty’s Colonies may be repealed.” (Dickinson, John). As inscribed in the “Olive Branch Petition” the colonists’ will was not to detach from Great Britain but to maintain union and peace. Throughout the entire plea, the colonists disclose their

Overall, the colonists were trying to have a very minimal amount of interaction with Great Britain. As Patrick Henry said in 1775 “Give me liberty or give me death” (Document 5). Some colonists were so unhappy with the British that they were willing to fight for their freedom. Their reactions ultimately lead to the American Revolution and, from that,

In response to the Intolerable Acts colonist along with the second continental congress adopted the Olive Branch Petition. The petition was the colonist last try to make peace with Britain without a full-out war. Parliament did not take the petition serious and angered the 13 colonies. This Affected the way colonist looked at British government. The people realized that the king did not care about them but alone what he could get from them.

There were many goals that the colonists had in waging the Revolutionary War, and an innumerable amount of those goals contributed to America’s political system. A few of their goals were to convert into a country free of a king, become independent, get rid of all loyalists, equal rights between men and women, and slaves wanted to be freed. A great deal of these goals were accomplished, although they were not very easy to carry out. “The nearer any government approaches to a republic the less business there is for a king,” (Document 1). One of the colonists’ main goals was to be free of the king of England.

The Revolutionary War was probably one of the most detrimental effects of The Boston Tea Party. The Colonists were talking of uniting and taking action against Great Britain, so they formed the First Continental Congress. The Congress encouraged the people to resist King George and the British Parliament’s attempt at taxing them and the Colonies were beginning to rebel. This proved that the Americans were ready to fight against Great Britain. The Revolutionary War broke out not long after and the Colonists exited the war victorious.

Although any of the treaties passed Parliament, but one that did was called the Olive Branch Petition. When the petition was brought to King George, he was very angered; moreover, the colonists believed that his taxes were unfair. He then declared soon after that all colonists to be traitors and should be put to death posthaste. Tensions had been growing for years between the two countries, but the King’s decision to list all colonists’ traitors angered them so much they decided to create their own kind of government. This scared Britain to the point of attempting

The American Revolution was a war between the American colonies and Great Britain, in which the American colonies won their independence from great Britain. Gaining their independence from Britain was not as easy as it might have sounded. People in America were strongly independent and wanted to do things for themselves, but Great Britain had different plans for the them. The rules that were inflicted upon the Americans evoked many factors that were responsible for the American Revolution. The British government used ways to coerce the Americans.

By 1775 the relationship attitude of the American colonist towards the British led to the American Revolution. Leading up to this event we can trace back to 1763 when British leaders began to try take control of the colonist. The British had set up a policy prohibiting people to settling in the west. Throughout the years the American colonists have changed their attitudes towards the British politically, economically, and socially by the 1775. Politically the British and the colonies were loyal and support to each other between 1700-1763.

After all the taxes and limitations were placed onto the colonists, they were angry and wanted war, this is shown from the tarring and feathering of the British and the disregard of taxes and acts placed on them by the British, many of the colonists used propaganda to support the cause such as Thomas Paine’s book “Common Sense” or Paul Revere’s paining of the Boston Massacre, these were both used as effective propaganda to anger the colonists against the British, but if these were not created, the revolution would not have had as much strength, and might have died down, which would have avoided the war or if people had listened to the colonists that did not want war or loyalists that showed that there was a way to resolve the differences without violence, as shown in James Chalmer’s Pamphlet, “Plain Truth”. Another way the war could have been avoided is if the British had signed the Olive Branch Petition, as shown in the Second Continental Congress meeting, which would give the colonies independence from Britain and there would be no need for the war. However, this did not happen, the British declined the Olive Branch Petition and went to war with the colonies. These sources show that there was many ways other than actions that the Revolutionary War could have been avoided. To sum it all up, there was many ways that the Revolutionary War could have been avoided, such as the British not being unfair to the colonists, or the colonists not rebelling against the British.

In the late 1770s the Thirteen Colonies of Britain wanted to separate and form their own nation. On July 4, 1776 they signed a declaration this was the Declaration of Independence declaring these colonies a new independent nation. When the shot was fired at Lexington it was heard around the world which started the American Revolution. Although some critics argue that the revolution had meager affects, the war actually revolutionized The United States of America which is evident by the greater equality for the social classes, the increase in equality for the minorities, and the creation of a republic.

The colonists refused to submit to a king that was only interested in their money, causing the colonists to become irate with the British once more. Since Great Britain thought that it was superior to the colonies, Great Britain did not give colonists the opportunity to speak up for what they wanted, which lead the colonists to rebel. The arrogance of Great Britain led to the rebellion of the colonists, which sparked the Revolutionary War through social, economic, and political actions. Furthermore, Great Britain caused a tremendous amount of irritation to develop inside of the colonists. The Revolutionary War showed that it is a necessity for Americans to have their opinions voiced.

(Document 5). After ten years of disagreement over Parliamentary representation, the British were still unwilling to grant the colonists this right. Before the Second Continental Congress decided to go to war, there was still hope of reaching a peaceful settlement. The Congress sent King George the Olive Branch Petition in the hopes of restoring peace. His lack of response is noted in “The Declaration of Independence”, which was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, American Independence Day.

This was a more peaceful way of rebelling hence the name “Olive Branch Petition.” “An olive branch has stood for peace since ancient times” (Boehm, Hoone, McGowan, McKinney-Browning & Miramontes 231) and Dickenson kept peace as much as possible when presenting the idea to “repeal the Intolerable Acts… [b]ut…the King refused to repeal the laws” (ibid). In response to this, “the Second Continental Congress decided to form a colonial army” (ibid) in preparation to fight the British to earn freedom. Even though this was an attempt to make peace with England, it became another reason to fight for

During the revolutionary war time period many speeches were wrote based on a political stance. This was a time in American history where things could have turned out very different. Most of the speeches were used as propaganda to sway the public in either direction for or against, to go to war with the British. The Revolutionary War was for a good cause and it pivotal in making America what it is today. The founding fathers of our country all put in their opinion on what should do, whether we should go to war with the British or stay under the Kings arm and continue to pay the taxes.

The colonies have been part of the British crown for 168 years now, but independence is something that America needs. The British had created high taxes with unreasonable causes since they just went to war with the French and Indians in American territory, but colonists should not comply the King’s whims no more. American colonists demand independence since freedom is limited by Britain; for this reason, colonists are thinking about how to obtain it.. The British have planted a seed of hatred in the American colonists thanks to the treatment they have given; consequently, colonists are seeking revenge with the British. Due to the fact that the British have mistreated the Americans, the majority of the American colonists may agree with Patrick Henry and are willing to risk their lives for the freedom that Americans deserve.