text analysis 11/4: The Olive Branch Petition, Continental Congress

1. Who is writing?
-The faithful subjects of the colonies New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Province Plantations Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina are the writers.

2. Who is the audience?
-The King of England and his Ministers are the audience.

3. Who do the writers represent?
-The writers represent the inhabitants of the colonies stated in the answer displayed in number 1.

4. What is being said, argued, and/or requested?
-The writers of this petition were basically stating all the things that the King and England said the colonists had done wrong. The colonists then explained how they never really did any of those things to prove that they were right. The colonies still wanted to have a connection with England so they were trying to find some kind of 'happy medium' so that both England and the colonies were happy and so that they both could get along with each other and not become total enemies. In the next letter that was writen to Great Britain, the colonies described all of the rights they had been denied by England. They feel that their friendship with England was violated when the King decided to deny them certain rights. They then started asking the king all sorts of questions and answered them to show the King that he was wrong. Towards the end the colonists stated how they would have given anything up except for their liberty.

5. How is it being said, argued, and/or requested?
-The delegates stated their thoughts in a bold way. They weren't nice and thoughtful about it. They got straight to the point and didn't hold back their feelings. They were honest and smart with the way they said everything.

6. What proof and/or justification is being used to legitimize the request?
-This information is legitimate because all of the delegates helped write the letters to the King. They all gave their input for the journal and the fact that so many people agreed on what to say makes this a legitimate text reading.