Vic's News 2016 Jul 8

…On this day in 1775 the Olive Branch Petition was signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies. The petition was intended to try to reconcile with the King of England and try to avoid the coming war. The King refused to accept the petition and had already declared the colonies "in rebellion". It did not help that a "private letter" by John Adams had been intercepted which indicated he was against the petition so the King did not consider the petition to be serious. The original petition had been written by Thomas Jefferson but was rejected because it was considered "too harsh".