To the Kings most excellent Majesty

The Peti Humb Petition of the Freeholders & Freemen of the Colonies of New Hampshire Massachuses Bay Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pensylvania, the Governmt of   on Delaware, Maryland Virginia North Carolina South Carolina & the Parish of St. Johns in the Colony of Georgia, by their Representatives convened in general Congress at the City of Philadelphia the   Day of   1 1775 Most humbly sheweth

That your Majestys American Subjects bound to your Majesty by the strongest Ties of Allegiance & by affection and attached to their Parent Country by every Bond that can unite Societies, deplore with the deepest Concern the continuance of that System of colonial Administration which ^for twelve Years past has been drawing the Strength the Glory for twelve Years past has been drawing the British Empire to the brink^ ^Verge^ of Disjunction given so much have given Alarm and Disquiet to has ^filled the minds^ of the loyal Inhabitants of North America with the most alarming apprehensions of the most alarming Nature

That reposing the utmost Confidence in the Justice of paternal Care of their Prince and the Justice of the British Nation they were compelled to by urged by the perilous Situation of their Liberties to sollicit by their late Peti his Majesty’s Attention by their late Petition2 to their ^real &.^ unmerited Greivances, and to request his royal Interposition in their Behalf

That deceived ^tho Disappointed^ in their Expectations of Relief they still remember their Duty to their Sovereign, & imputing the Rigour of their Treatment to evil insidious Counsel & wicked Misrepresentation, they again beg Leave to entreat for Justice & to request only that Portion of Liberty ^to^ which God and the Constitution have given them Right—

They That nothing but the overruling Laws of self Preservation could ever have induced them to pursue any Measures which might seem ^be deemed^ offensive to their King or disrespectful to the British Nation, and that they ardently desire an opportunity of manifesting their Fidelity to the one and th evincing their Affection for the other—

That neither repeated Oppression nor all the Miseries of which attend the sword or are threatened by Famine have yet weaned them from their Parent Country, and that they cannot yet cease to seek by every dutiful &. peaceable Means in their Power to obtain a Restoration of that Harmony which Formerly gave union Wealth & Power to the Empire

That they most earnestly beseech his Majesty to commission some good & great Men to inquire into the Grievances & examine the of his faithful Subjects, & be pleased to devise some Means of accommodating those unhappy Dissentions which unless amicably terminated must endanger the safety of the whole Empire ^And that, shd. his Majesty not be disposed to hear the Complaints of his American Subjects from their Representatives in Congress most humbly beseech his Majesty to direct that Com[mitte]e from their different Assemblies should assemble to convene for the Purpose^3

That altho the People of North America are determined to be free they wish not to be independent and beg Leave again to assure his Majesty that they mean not to question the Right of the British Parliament to regulate the Commercial Concerns of the Empire in the Manner they have before ex declared ^as their Enemies have unkindly insinuated^ and to remove all Doubts upon this Head are ready to confirm these Declarations by Acts of their Legislatures in the different Colonies

That to facilitate the Restoration of Union & Harmony they beg Leave to ^most humbly^ submit it to his Majestys Wisdom [whether] ^it wd. not tend to facilitate the Restoration of Union & Harmony th[at]^ all the further Effusion of Blood should not be preve[nted] & that every irritating and Measure be suspended and should his Majesty be graciously pleased by his royal Interposition, to relieve his faithful Subjects from the Uneasiness & Anxiety they feel from the several Acts of the british Parliament of ^by^ which they think themselves so greatly agrieved, they will with the utmost Gratitude & Chearfulness return to & resume that former Intercourse with Great Britain ^their parent State^ which Nothing but the most pressing Necessities wcould ever induce them to interrupt

They also take the Liberty of suggesting that when concord & mutual Confidence & good will shall thus be re established between his Majesty’s British & American Subjects, their several Claims may be adju examined with Candor, ^more Temper^, adjusted with Precision and the present unnatural Contest end in a Compact that may place the Union of the Empire on a firm & permanent Basis