<P> The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5 , 1775 in a final attempt to avoid a full - on war between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies represented in that Congress . The Congress had already authorized the invasion of Canada more than a week earlier , but the petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and beseeched King George III to prevent further conflict . That the petition was followed by the July 6 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms made its success in London improbable . In August 1775 , the colonies were formally declared to be in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion , and the petition was rejected by Great Britain -- even though King George had refused to read the Olive Branch Petition before declaring the colonists traitors . </P>
<P> The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 5 , 1775 in a final attempt to avoid a full - on war between Great Britain and the thirteen colonies represented in that Congress . The Congress had already authorized the invasion of Canada more than a week earlier , but the petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and beseeched King George III to prevent further conflict . That the petition was followed by the July 6 Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms made its success in London improbable . In August 1775 , the colonies were formally declared to be in rebellion by the Proclamation of Rebellion , and the petition was rejected by Great Britain -- even though King George had refused to read the Olive Branch Petition before declaring the colonists traitors . </P>
who refused to receive the olive branch petition
who refused to receive the olive branch petition
King George
King George