Most delegates to the Second Continental Congress follow John Dickinson in his quest to reconcile with King George III of Great Britain.

However, a rather small group of delegates led by John Adams believes that war is inevitable.

During the course of the Second Continental Congress, Adams and his group of colleagues have decided that the wisest course of action is to remain quiet and wait for the opportune time to rally the people.

This decision has allowed Dickinson and his followers to pursue whatever means they choose for reconciliation.

It is during this time that the idea of the Olive Branch Petition is approved by the delegates.

Dickinson is the primary author of the petition, though Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, John Rutledge and Thomas Johnson also serve on the drafting committee.

Dickinson claims that the colonies do not want independence but that they merely want to negotiate trade and tax regulations with Great Britain.

Dickinson suggests that the King draw up a final plan or agreement to settle trade disputes.

To help the King with his plan, Dickinson suggests that the colonists be given either free trade and taxes equal to those levied on the people in Great Britain, or no taxes and strict trade regulations.

The introductory paragraph of the letter named twelve of the thirteen colonies, all except Georgia. The letter is approved on July 5 and signed by John Hancock, President of the Second Congress, and by representatives of the named twelve colonies.

On July 6, 1775 Congress issues a Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms, which contains the words: "Our cause is just. Our union is perfect... being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves...".

The Olive Branch Petition is sent to London on July 8, 1775, in the care of Richard Penn and Arthur Lee.

Penn, the second son of Richard Penn, Sr. (1706–1771) and the grandson of William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, had been educated at Eton College and St John's College, Cambridge before joining the Inner Temple.

In 1763 he and his brother John had visited Pennsylvania, of which his family were still sole proprietors.

Qualified as a councilor on January 12, 1764, he had returned to Pennsylvania in 1771 and had been appointed lieutenant governor, soon becoming acting governor when his brother returned to England to attend to the colony's legal interests.

He had proved popular with the provincials, taking much care over their commercial interests, but less so with his uncle, the proprietor.

After two years he had been supplanted by the re-appointment of his brother as governor.
 
On May 21, 1772, at Christ Church, Philadelphia, he had married Mary "Polly" Masters, daughter of the late William Masters of Philadelphia.

The bride's mother had given them as a wedding present a splendid Philadelphia city house, where Penn entertains members of the Continental Congress, Virginia delegate Colonel George Washington, being among his guests.

Penn had been elected a trustee of the College and Academy of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania) in 1772, serving as president of the board in 1773 and 1774.

With the coming of the Revolution, he retires and returned to England in the summer of 1775, when the Continental Congress entrusts him with the Olive Branch Petition to the King.


Dickinson hopes that word of the bloodshed at Lexington and Concord combined with the "humble petition" will inspire the King to at least negotiate with the colonists.

However, the petition will be received too late to do any good.

George III will refuse to accept the petition, but Penn will give evidence to the House of Lords on the colonies' attitudes toward independence.

The Olive Branch Petition is undermined by a confiscated letter from Adams to a friend, expressing his discontent with it.

Adams had written that war is inevitable, and he thinks that the colonies should have already raised a navy and captured British officials.

This letter arrives in Great Britain at about the same time as the petition; advocates of coercion use Adams' letter to claim that the petition itself is insincere.

On August 21, Richard Penn and Arthur Lee had provided a copy to Lord Dartmouth, the colonial secretary; it will be followed with the original on September 1.

However, the King has refused to see them or to look at the petition, which originates from what he considers an illegal and illegitimate assembly of rebels.

Instead, in response to the news of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the King issues the Proclamation for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition on August 23, declaring the North American colonies in a state of rebellion and ordering "all Our officers...and all Our obedient and loyal subjects, to use their utmost endeavours to withstand and suppress such rebellion."

The proclamation had been written before Dartmouth had received the petition; the King refuses to receive it and the proclamation effectively serves as his answer.