On July 8, 1775, in a last-ditch effort to avoid a war with Great Britain, 48 representatives from 12 American colonies signed the Olive Branch Petition. Among the signatories were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, all of whom signed the Declaration of Independence a year later when King George III refused to take the offer.
In August of this year, there was a petition about the TSA airport screening procedures listed on the White House We the People website. The petition needed roughly 2,500 more signatures to warrant a response from the Administration, but the time period...
