Text Analysis Olive Branch Petition

1.) The writer of this document was the first continental congress.

2.) The audience is people in Great Britain. The congress also wrote to the King.


3.) The Continental Congress was the first of its kind, and they represented the view of some of the colonists of America. They weren’t necessarily for independence. They were also representing the loyalists to Great Britain.

4.) The Continental Congress is stating they’re point of view on whether America should be independent or stay apart of the British Empire. Their position pretty much stated that they were loyal to the king, and that not all the colonists in America were for independence. Their position is expressed in the quote that says, “[W]e not only most ardently desire the former harmony between her and these colonies may be restored, but that a concord may be established between them upon so firm a basis as a perpetuate its blessings[.]” This quote was a really good example how the Continental Congress thought of the situation and how they still wanted to be connected with Great Britain.

5.) This document has a lot of compassion in it. I could see that the Congress compassionate, by the connotative words they used throughout the document such as “cruel” when describing the colonists who weren’t loyal, “confidence and “authority”, when describing the king. These words trigger emotions that helped me as a reader really understand how the loyal colonists felt toward Great Britain.


6.) The document is legit because it was written by the Continental Congress, which was a group of representatives put together to express the view of the loyal colonists. It also states the names of the leaders from each colony, which shows the actual people whose opinions and thoughts were represented in the document.