17751776 Club
Hancock and twelve colonies sign a peace plea to King George; the army around Boston stays in the field
The Olive Branch Petition affirms loyalty to the Crown and asks that the Intolerable Acts be repealed, even as colonial troops mass for an invasion of Canada.
By July 1775, blood had already been spilled at Lexington and Concord, and colonial troops were massing for an invasion of Canada. Yet the Second Continental Congress still hoped to avoid full war. On July 8, John Hancock and delegates from twelve colonies signed the Olive Branch Petition, a plea affirming loyalty to King George III while seeking a lasting settlement that would begin with the repeal of the Intolerable Acts. The King never answered it. He had already declared the colonies in rebellion before it reached him…
