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‘No Kings’ Protests Highlight Legacy of Olive Branch Petition on 250th Anniversary

It was a final bid for reconciliation that united delegates around armed readiness, paving the way to outright revolt.

FILE - Portraits of a red-headed Thomas Jefferson, left, and John Dickinson, right, by by Charles Willson Peale are seen at the refurbished Second Bank of the United States in Philadelphia on Nov. 26, 2004. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Larma, File)
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FILE - Demonstrators march down Fifth Avenue during the "No Kings" protest, June 14, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah, File)

Overview

  • The Continental Congress ratified the Olive Branch Petition on July 5, 1775 as a last-ditch appeal to King George III for peace.
  • Pennsylvanian John Dickinson largely authored the petition, balancing denunciations of British abuses with respectful tributes to royal benevolence.
  • King George III refused to receive the document and declared the colonies in rebellion, accelerating unity among delegates and moves toward independence.
  • Scholars marking the semiquincentennial emphasize the petition’s dual role as both a conciliatory gesture and a catalyst for colonial solidarity.
  • Recent “No Kings” rallies against executive overreach draw on 1775’s constitutional conflicts to challenge today’s debates over presidential power.