Olive Branch Petition

Olive Branch Petition
Signature page of the Olive Branch Petition, with John Hancock's prominent signature at the top
Ratified	July 5, 1775
Signatories	Second Continental Congress
Purpose	Avoiding war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies

The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5, 1775, and signed on July 8 in a final attempt to avoid war between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies in America. The Congress had already authorized the invasion of Canada more than a week earlier, but the petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated King George III to prevent further conflict. It was followed by the July 6 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, however, which made its success unlikely in London.^[1] In August 1775, the colonies were formally declared to be in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion, and the petition was rejected by the British government; King George had refused to read it before declaring the colonists traitors.^[2]