Summary Of The Olive Branch Petition

I believe the Founding Fathers were justified in rebelling against the British Government and declaring war. It all started prior to the French and Indian war (1756-1763), the colonists possessed substantial self-reliance and liberty. Following the conflict, the British Empire strongly challenged the self-reliance and liberty, and also resolved that the colonists directly pay taxes into the imperial chest to help reduce the huge debt from the war.

On July 4 1776 in Philadelphia the continental congress and the founding fathers sing the final draft of the Declaration of Independence separating them from britain. The colonist were sick of Great britain’s king using unfair power on them. What were the reason the colonist declared their independence from britain? The colonist wanted independence because they wanted liberty, freedom of choice, and peace.

I believe the colonists were justified in rebelling against the British, because of the abusive king and British parliament, the taxes without representation, the laws without consent of colonists (such as the Quartering Act), and deaths of the colonists in brutal events, such as the Boston Massacre. All these events combined caused outrage throughout the colonies (such as the Boston Tea Party, and tarring and feathering of British officials), and sparked a rebellion that would change the history of the colonies forever.

Imagine everything that is said is heard in a British accent. It sounds funny now, but that's how it could have been if the colonists had never declared their independence from England. That isn't what happened though. Grievances were made, events came to pass, and the Declaration of Independence was written. Taking a look at the documents from that time, as well as treatment of other colonies by the British one can see that the colonists were completely justified in declaring their independence from England.

Colonists sought independence from British government for a multitude of reasons. Tension quickly rose between England and the thirteen colonies due to the unjust taxing without fair representation in Parliament, the colonist’s rights to assemble were taken away by the British, and there were many unreasonable Acts and laws put into place in attempt to have complete control over the colonists as well as intimidate them. For these reasons and the suffering that the colonists endured at the hands of the British government, I feel that the colonists had plenty just causes to separate themselves from England.

In the year of 1776, emotions intensify in Colonial America creating an atmosphere prime for dissidence and a yearning for independence. The livid Americans, overtaxed and mistreated by the British after the French and Indian War, debate and argue amongst themselves about the fate of their fledgling colony. The American colonies interested in seeking independence from their motherland Britain, look abroad in hopes of finding moral and political reasons to justify revolution. In the pamphlet, Common Sense, Frenchman Thomas Paine conveys such reasons using rhetorical elements such as figurative language, rhetorical questions, and assertions in order to enhance the morale of the colonists and support the Americans in their revolution against Britain.

The first similarity between Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson is that both documents called for the independence of American colonies under the British crown. Thomas Paine explained to the colonist the reasons why they should become free from British rule. One of the topics Paine focused on was how the king of Britain abused the rights of the colonist. Some of the mal-practices the crown imposed on the colonist include, the heavy taxation on the colonist to help Britain recover from its war expenses against the French and to help rebuild the nation and wellbeing of its citizens back

The founders were are their way to creating a government respecting the natural rights in the case of a corrupt government the people of the nation could still have their rights. The British King did not believe in natural rights, he wanted to have power over his people therefore he created laws that would only benefit him. The colonies believed they were being treated poorly, therefore, they decided to declare independence. The colonists had no say in what the british government said or did, they could not vote for laws being made. The colonies were subordinate to the Parliament, but the Americans lost their connection to Britain and would not obey their laws due to the fact they had no

Today we look back at the American Revolution and picture a united people fighting for inalienable rights, but to grasp the impact that Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” had upon his contemporaries we must understand the situation in the American colonies in 1776. When Paine wrote his pamphlet, the colonist and The Parliament in London, were almost 10 years into a debate over the rights of limited self-government by the colonies. In the months preceding the publication of Paine’s pamphlet the situation had steadily worsened until the April 19th, 1775 armed confrontation between Massachusetts colonists and British Army soldiers. By the end of that day, blood had been shed by both sides, and armed colonists placed the British garrison in Boston under siege. Despite this violence, most colonists viewed the events as a part of a struggle between Englishmen that would be resolved with the continued allegiance of the colonies to the Crown, but with more favorable treatment from London. It was with this popular mindset throughout the colonies, that Paine would deliver his “Common Sense” pamphlet arguing for complete independence from England. Paine understood that to make his argument resonate he needed to appeal to the public in a manner that had yet to be done.

Many began producing rhetoric speeches and poetry that showed their desire for independence and the anger that they were building up because they were turned down for their representation. A pamphlet titled the Common Sense by Thomas Paine brought upon the ideas that they should have independence from Britain and a republican government instead-this pamphlet became extremely popular and sold over 150,000 copies. The acts that did not give proper representation led the colonists to boycott and think individually for their country-it was a primary source to the revolutionary movement including the Revolutionary War that ended with success of the Americans.

Back when America was still young and under the control of Great Britain, the colonists were being taxed in unfair ways and forced to quarter British soldiers. The Founding Fathers made the Declaration of Independence to tell Britain that they did not want to be taxed anymore, and wanted freedom from Britain's rule. Many would think that this was noble, but others would think that the Founding Fathers were being selfish when they created this document. However, this is not the case. The Founding Fathers were not selfish when they wrote the Declaration of Independence because even though they wanted Britain to leave them alone, which might seem like a selfish act, but they did it for the good of America.

The founding father had a much different reason for rebelling against the British government. Colonists believed that the government was not protecting their rights as citizens, the taxation system was unfair, and their interests were not being properly represented in parliament. The colonies had peacefully petitioned King George 3, but he refused to give them representation. The British also had repeatedly ignored the need of the colonists.

In result of The Seven Years’ War Britain controlled American trade and territory. In order to pay for the expenses of the war several taxation acts and military presence were implemented such as the Sugar Act, Stamp Act, Currency Act, Quartering Act and the presence of British troops at the colonies. Consequently, Americans who thought these actions violated their political and constitutional liberties opposed these policies with petitions, boycotts, and resistance strategies known as the Imperial Crisis. In January 1776 Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was composed to convince Americans of the need for independence from British rule and establishment of democracy. This pamphlet

Paine outlined the benefits that colonists will cherish upon breaking up with England . "Common Sense" worked like a charm on colonists and the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the dissenting colonists. Few people realize that although Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, that there was actually a committee formed to be sure that the colonists' position was clearly presented. Raise your hand if you can name the other members of the committee. (Call on a few raised hands) That's right: Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston.

Unfortunately, not every American saw the issue as clearly as Franklin. Most were afraid of the consequences to a rebellion against British rule. John Dickinson, put forward the last appeal to England on July 5. It later became known as the Olive Branch Petition, in which Congress called for the King to "come to America's rescue".