The Olive Branch Petition -Could it have been Successful?

[Frodo]

Knowing what we know of the circumstances surround the Olive Branch Petition, was there any chance that it might have been successful, and that there could have been a reconciliation between the Crown and its American colonies?  Or was it a doomed effort from the start? 

[Dr. Cynic]

Nope. It would take a monarch with a vastly different mindset and someone like Charles Fox or Lord Rockingham, or Lord Shelburne to be Prime Minister.

It wasn't going to happen with George III and his loyal PM Lord North, who, even when he had his doubts about it, was a virtual toady.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The distinction between crown and parliament that the colonists were trying to make was not particularly appreciated by George III. Nor was he particularly interested in having to deal with even more legislatures than he already faced: Great Britain, Ireland, Hannover, and Bremen-Verden. Enshrining the status of the colonies as independent governments was the last thing he wanted. In a very real sense, he couldn't have maintained any degree of control had he done so. The Olive Branch was calling for independence in everything but name.

[Kingpoleon]

Franklin, Adams, and Hamilton could have done a coup like this, particularly if Benedict Arnold had become more important in the army before joining the coup. Patrick Henry would be the person it depended upon, as the enemy of both Federalists and Jefferson/Madison. Maybe George Washington's brother, Lawrence, lives and becomes Governor-General of a semi-Autonomous Amerika?

[Oldiesfreak1854]

If it had been made sooner, yes.  But by that time, the Patriots had ticked King George and Parliament so much that it had no chance.  The cumulative effect of the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre, and the other revolts proved insurmountable by anything but war.