On July 5, 1775—less than three months after the first shots of the American Revolution were fired at Lexington and Concord—the Second Continental Congress adopted what would become its final formal gesture of conciliation with King George III: the Olive Branch Petition. Drafted by…
Read MoreOn a warm summer day in 1775, as the tension between the American colonies and Great Britain simmered, the Second Continental Congress convened in the Pennsylvania State House. Inside, the air was thick with the weight of recent battles at Lexington and Concord, and…
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