SECOND CONTINENTAL CONGRESS — [ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON]. RIVINGTON'S NEW YORK GAZETTEER, 21 JULY 1775

Bifolium (18 1/2 x 11 1/2 in.; 468 x 293 mm). 4 pp. extracted from a bound run of the paper; pages detached, sheet creased and as so printed, occasional spotting. 

On 8 July, the Continental Congress approved and sent the Olive Branch Petition to King George III. At the same time, they sent the appeal stating the case directly to the British people in the last serious attempts at reconciliation with England.  Politically, these addresses were promoted by the more conservative elements in the Congress who wished to exhaust every possibility in finding a peaceful settlement; it was also done in the knowledge that a strong minority of the English public were sympathetic to the plight of the colonies. The entreaty was approved by Congress on July 8, 1775, following the battles of Lexington and Concord in April and Bunker Hill in June. It condemns “the wanton and unnecessary Destruction of Charlestown,” and notes that Boston “is now garrisoned by an Army sent not to protect, but to enslave its Inhabitants.” An exhaustive litany of wrongs, including a review of the Intolerable Acts. However, like the Olive Branch Petition issued by Congress on the same day, this declaration was issued “solemnly to assure you, that we have not yet lost Sight of the Object we have ever had in View, a Reconciliation with you on constitutional Principles, and a Restoration of that friendly Intercourse, which, to the Advantage of both, we till lately maintained.” It closes: “...let us entreat Heaven to avert our Ruin, and the Destruction that threatens our Friends, Brethren and Countrymen, on the other side of the Atlantic....”

The last serious attempt at reconciliation failed, arriving with news of the far-away battles, it is likely the address was not even published in England.