what were king george iii contributions to the american revolution war

Early Years and Education

George William Frederick was born in London on June 4, 1738, the son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and his wife, Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Frederick died on March 20, 1751, and George II, George's grandpa, bestowed Frederick's title upon twelve-year-old George a calendar month later. On October 25, 1760, he succeeded George 2 as rex of Uk and Republic of ireland, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and prince-elector of Hanover. He was the third ruler in the regal British firm of Hanover, a Germanic dynasty that had come to the English throne in 1714, but the outset to exist built-in in England. "Built-in and educated in this country I glory in the name of Great britain," he exclaimed in his get-go speech from the throne.

Prior to George'southward accretion, John Stuart, earl of Bute, had served every bit his tutor, schooling him in the same Whig principles that would nurture America'southward Founding Fathers. The goal was to end factionalized politics past encouraging the monarch to act in the national interest, above the partisan fray, thereby avoiding reliance on oligarchic political parties. But Bute likewise may have nurtured the prince's natural tendency to be suspicious, hypercritical, and self-righteous: George'south governor noted "a kind of unhappiness in his Temper" that made the young prince "Sullen & Silent."

On September 8, 1761, at age xx-3, George III married seventeen-year-old Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; his coronation took place two weeks later on September 22. That year he purchased Buckingham House for Charlotte, which in fourth dimension became the purple palace of option when they were in London. Theirs was an affectionate and fruitful wedlock, resulting in fifteen children.

Like his wife, George 3 was of average intellectual capability. He compensated for this by being thorough, at times obsessively so, in whatever he turned his mind to: book and fine art collecting, music, astronomy, phytology, and clocks and other engineering science. Such pursuits advise the importance to him of gild and regularity. Dissimilar his predecessors, who had been born in Hanover and raised as Lutherans, George Iii was a devout and sincere Anglican. His Christian faith shaped a strong sense of duty and high moral standards to which he held his friends and family members.

Seven Years' War

During George III'south reign, U.k. was a constitutional monarchy. As such, it was ruled past a cabinet or ministerial authorities. The term "the Crown" functionally referred to powerful men, interim in the name of king, who controlled parliamentary factions. Throughout the eighteenth century the direct political power of the monarch declined, a development at work since the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the passage of the English Bill of Rights, which express monarchical ability, in 1689.

When he came to the throne, George Iii inherited a ministry that had started the Seven Years' War, a global disharmonize with France and Kingdom of spain, among other powers (the fighting in North America was known as the French and Indian State of war). The government had borrowed huge sums of coin to finance the disharmonize, which provoked discomfort amongst the English well-nigh the unprecedented level of government debt. Part style through the war, in 1757, a Whig ministry formed nether Thomas Pelham-Holles, the duke of Newcastle. Guided by William Pitt (the elder), the king'southward first government won the war, but at a high fiscal and political cost.

It was Pitt, seeking the opposing party's support for the Whig ministry, every bit much as George Three, who drew the Tories—Royalist supporters—into the political center after the king's accession. But rather than contributing to the goal of eradicating the authority of politics by the political parties, this development led to increased ministerial instability, which was exacerbated when George III appointed his friend and erstwhile tutor Bute prime number minister in 1762.

Though he was a dearest friend of the king's, Bute was wildly unpopular with the public, in office considering of his rumored (but unlikely) thing with the dowager princess of Wales. His poor wellness made information technology difficult for him to focus on his position, and he institute it stressful to be in the public eye. He was replaced in 1763 by George Grenville, who introduced the Stamp Act (1765). The human activity taxed printed materials used in the colonies and was meant to help offset the large cost of the war and of maintaining peace in its backwash. Grenville and the rex saw eye-to-heart on many bug, including American policy and the prosecution of John Wilkes, a member of Parliament who had repeatedly insulted the king in his radical newspaper, The North Briton. Just their personalities clashed, and Grenville barbarous from power in 1765. His administration gave style to a ministry led by Charles Watson-Wentworth, marquess of Rockingham.

The male monarch firmly believed in choosing his own chief ministers, and it was his exercise to let his cabinet codify policy while counseling his ministers to be business firm and resolute. But George 3 was clashing regarding the political firestorm provoked past the Stamp Act. Three American colonies, including Virginia, had sent petitions protesting the legislation; the Business firm of Commons rejected them all, an action that was in turn condemned past the House of Burgesses in the Virginia Resolves (1765). The king favored modifying the human action rather than enforcing or completely repealing it, which left parliamentarians who looked to him for their cue perplexed. To resolve the imbroglio, Rockingham forced the rex to cull betwixt repeal and enforcement, and, indeed, George Three and then urged wavering members of the House of Lords to support repeal. The colonists rejoiced at the news, even erecting a statue of the king in a New York Metropolis park. After state of war with the Americans broke out he was to regret his conclusion, opining in 1779 that this initial capitulation to American resistance was the beginning step down the path to revolution.

American Revolution

Rockingham'due south tenure, like that of his predecessors, was brief. The king dismissed him in 1766 and replaced him with Pitt, who had accepted a peerage and rose from the House of Commons to the House of Lords as the earl of Chatham. George 3'southward option of Pitt, a critic of British tax of Americans, to lead his government suggests the American problem did not yet loom big in royal adding. His engagement did non consequence in the unified government for which George III had hoped: in the move to the Firm of Lords, Pitt lost the popularity and political influence he'd enjoyed equally a member of the House of Commons, became ill, and suffered a nervous breakdown.

The Pitt government marked a turning signal in the male monarch'due south posture during the American crisis. Prior to 1767 George 3 had been fundamentally passive, informed about policy past prime number ministers rather than helping course information technology; now he became more involved. In 1767 the Revenue Human action, drawn upward by Charles Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer, proposed duties on various goods, in particular, tea imported by the East India Company. Several colonies, including Virginia, boycotted the trade goods enumerated in the Townshend duties. The chiffonier responded to the crisis past proposing to delete the Townshend duties for colonies like Virginia, which provided revenue for colonial administration, just the male monarch commented that it "would not be proper" given the offensive criticism of the British government in the Virginia Resolves. After Augustus FitzRoy, duke of Grafton (1735–1811), replaced Pitt in 1768, George Iii encouraged Grafton'south cabinet to reject the prime minister'due south proposal to repeal American taxes completely.

From the British metropolitan perspective, a financially sound royal policy would maintain the fragile peace with French republic and Espana secured in 1763. But the motility toward imperial centralization as the solution to both European and global situations came at simply the moment many influential Americans wanted more freedom from Britain, non less, and the shifting British policies alienated the colonists further. In 1768 a new office, Secretary of State for the Colonies, was created to focus on American issues.

It was in this context that in 1770 the king asked Frederick Due north, earl of Guilford to form a regime. Lord North's ministry building, every bit measured by longevity, was better than any during the previous decade. He remained prime minister for twelve years, both because he and George III remained on adept terms, merely likewise because divisive bug such every bit the Wilkes affair and the Falklands crunch with Espana had faded away. During N's tenure George Iii moved away from the more agile part he had assumed earlier.

Northward would have preferred a complete repeal of the Townshend duties, but Parliament pushed for a firm hand. The Boston Tea Political party, one response to the Tea Act of 1773, led to farther hardening of the parliamentary opposition regarding a compromise with the American colonists: the series of laws known as the Coercive or Intolerable Acts. The king supported taking a tough stand toward the colonists, specially in light of the Showtime Continental Congress'southward intransigence regarding Parliament's right to legislate for the colonies: "The dye is at present cast," he wrote to North in 1774. "The colonies must either submit or triumph. I do not wish to come to severer measures, but we must not retreat."

Some historians believe that the king was unable to recognize the bear on the Intolerable Acts would have on the colonists. George III was inappreciably a belligerent; his desire for a quick end to the Seven Years' State of war had established his reputation every bit a peacemaker, and he believed throughout the American Revolution that "a majority of the people of America" still wanted to be British subjects. He ultimately accepted the North cabinet'south more conciliatory policy to exempt colonies that provided revenues for their civil and armed services affairs from British taxation. But later the outbreak of armed disharmonize at the battles of Lexington and Concord, George III entered into the cabinet's give-and-take of strategy and played a critical role in encouraging North to remain in office when the prime minister repeatedly wished to resign.

In July 1775, the bourgeois Pennsylvania delegate John Dickinson persuaded the Second Continental Congress to send George 3 what became known every bit the Olive Branch Petition, asking him to arbitrate in Parliament on the colonists' behalf. The rex refused to receive the petition and in August proclaimed that the Americans "were engaged in open and avowed rebellion." His announcement solidified the growing perception among rebelling colonists that their enemy was non Parliament or the king's ministry, just rather the rex himself. When Congress issued the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the document charged George III with violating the colonists' rights, calling him "unfit to be the ruler of a free people." Upon hearing the Declaration read aloud, George Washington's troops and a group of civilians tore downwards the statue of George Iii that had been erected in New York Metropolis afterwards the Stamp Act repeal.

Policy and personality combined to form the king's mental attitude toward the American conflict. In 1777 he wrote to Lord North that "the too keen leniency of this country increased their pride and encouraged them to rebel," a stance that reflects his unwillingness to compromise and disability to see things from another's point of view. But he also securely believed that if 1 office of the empire "cast off its dependency then the others will infallibly follow," and that failing to accept a stiff stand against the Americans would weaken Britain in the eyes of her European competitors—and so his agreement of his nation in the context of global affairs cannot be discounted.

Following the British surrender at the Battles of Saratoga, France so Spain entered the war in support of America. This prompted heated debate in Parliament over whether to increase troop forcefulness overseas, move the fighting from land to sea, or withdraw from the disharmonize altogether. George Iii still hoped for victory until the debacle at Yorktown in Oct 1781. Following a Firm of Commons vote to suspend armed forces operations in N America, Lord North almost lost a vote of no conviction in the House of Commons. On March 20, 1782, he announced his resignation.

George reluctantly accepted the new government of Lord Rockingham and William Petty, earl of Shelburne, which made peace with the American rebels. Merely the administration collapsed over the terms of the Treaty of Paris, which granted the Americans more than territory than had been fought over and failed to protect Loyalists. Rockingham died suddenly on July 1, 1782, and in 1783 North returned in alliance with the duke of Portland and Charles James Fox. The rex despised Play a joke on, even drafting an abdication speech in protest of the current regime, just he never delivered it. Instead he dismissed Trick and North and appointed William Pitt (the younger) as prime minister. Pitt's victory in the 1784 general election strengthened the government's position in Parliament; simultaneously, the finish of the American conflict removed a divisive political issue. Even the rex accepted the outcome of events, telling John Adams, the kickoff ambassador of a sovereign America, that he desired to "meet the friendship of the Us as an contained power."

Afterwards Years

In the 1780s George 3 experienced the first signs of an illness—mayhap porphyria, a genetic illness that tin can cause mental disturbances—that would plague him for the remainder of his days. During this decade political lines were redrawn between moderate Whigs and Tories, who together supported Pitt, and the more radical Whig opposition, led by Play a trick on. In 1788 and 1789 the male monarch's mental condition and health were so unstable that the parties fought over whether his son the Prince of Wales should go regent; the rex'south recovery put an terminate to the crisis.

Early in the 1790s war with revolutionary French republic broke out; this in turn encouraged the Irish Rebellion of 1798. George 3 played an of import role in shaping the outcome of the latter crunch, advocating suppression of the rebellion and then unification of the parliaments of United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland and Ireland. The Acts of Union of 1800 did just that, creating the United Kingdom of Swell Britain and Republic of ireland. Shortly thereafter, Pitt resigned considering of a disagreement with the king over the political emancipation of Roman Catholics. Pitt had supported emancipation as a concession to Republic of ireland; the male monarch felt that granting information technology would be in violation of his coronation oath to protect the Church of England.

Earlier historians have argued that George III was trying to turn the clock back and reestablish monarchical authority lost to Parliament following the Glorious Revolution. Examining his office in determining policy regarding the American colonies, it is now clear that until the revolution the king backed his governments rather than dictating to them. George III defended parliamentary authorization over the British empire by pushing his leading ministers to win the state of war. In both cases he had deep support in Parliament for his actions. Although he wished to restore the monarch's power to determine his ministers, once he chose them they were allowed a free hand to govern the kingdom.

From 1780 to 1810 the king became the symbol for a national revival and robust patriotism that but deepened following the loss of America and the rise of conflict with revolutionary and Napoleonic French republic. In these years "God Save the King" (ca. 1745) pushed out "Rule Britannia" (1740) as the national anthem. The public saw him equally Farmer George, a devout family human being with simple tastes and a bully interest in agriculture. In reality, his strict morals and divineness were often a source of conflict between the king and his family, particularly his son George, Prince of Wales, whom he viewed equally a profligate.

The male monarch'south Golden Jubilee (the fiftieth twelvemonth of his reign) was popularly celebrated in 1809, merely soon afterwards George III'southward mental state complanate. This was probably provoked by the death of his favorite girl, Amelia, from tuberculosis in 1810. He completely lost his sight and hearing; one of his doctors commented that "he appears to be living in another earth and has lost most all interest in the concerns of this." On February 5, 1811, he was alleged unfit to rule and his son George was appointed equally regent. George III died—deaf, blind, and lame—on Jan 29, 1820; he was buried two weeks later in a private ceremony in St. George'south Chapel, Windsor Castle.

TIMELINE

1663

Parliament passes the Staple Act, limiting the export of certain enumerated crops, most prominently Chesapeake tobacco and Westward Indian sugar, to England.

June four, 1738

George William Frederick, the future King George III, is born at Norfolk Business firm in London. He is the son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.

March twenty, 1751

George William Frederick's father, Frederick, Prince of Wales, dies.

October 25, 1760

King George II dies afterward suffering a stroke at Kensington Palace in London. George William Frederick succeeds his grandfather every bit male monarch, taking the name George Three.

September 8, 1761

George III marries Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The couple will take xv children.

September 22, 1761

George Iii and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz are crowned in a coronation anniversary at Westminster Abbey in London.

October 1761

William Pitt (the elder) resigns as secretary of land afterward failing to convince the cabinet that Britain should declare war on Kingdom of spain to prevent Espana's involvement in the Seven Years' War.

May 26, 1762

George Iii appoints John Stuart, earl of Bute, as prime number minister of Uk.

Feb 10, 1763

Britain, French republic, and Spain sign the Peace of Paris, catastrophe the Seven Years' War, a global conflict known in North America every bit the French and Indian War.

April 16, 1763

George Grenville replaces John Stuart, earl of Bute, as prime minister of U.k..

March 22, 1765

Parliament passes the "Duties in American Colonies Deed 1765," better known as the Stamp Human action, a piece of legislation introduced by George Grenville, the British prime minister. It requires all printed materials in the American colonies to be produced on specially stamped paper manufactured in London, England.

May 29, 1765

Patrick Henry persuades a sparsely attended House of Burgesses to adopt 5 resolutions condemning the Postage Human action as a violation of the ancient rights of Englishmen in Virginia, known equally the "Virginia Resolves on the Stamp Deed." Burgesses rescind one resolution and never formally propose or vote on two others.

March 17, 1766

Under pressure from Charles Watson-Wentworth, marquess of Rockingham, King George 3 agrees to repeal the Stamp Act.

1766

Grateful for the Stamp Act repeal, a group of New York City merchants commissions a statue of King George III, to be erected in Bowling Greenish Park.

1767

Charles Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer, introduces the Acquirement Act, which imposes duties on appurtenances imported to the American colonies, including tea imported by the East India Company.

January 28, 1770

George 3 appoints Frederick North, earl of Guilford, as prime government minister of Keen Britain.

Dec 16, 1773

In response to the Tea Human action, which restores the tea tax that had been repealed in 1767, a group of men, some dressed as Mohawk Indians, board three tea ships docked in Boston Harbor and throw the cargo into the sea.

July viii, 1775

In an effort to reconcile with England, the 2nd Continental Congress sends the then-chosen Olive Branch Petition to Male monarch George 3 asking him to arbitrate in Parliament on the colonists' behalf. The male monarch refuses the petition.

August 23, 1775

King George Iii proclaims the thirteen American colonies to exist "engaged in open up and avowed rebellion."

July 4, 1776

The 2nd Continental Congress bug the Announcement of Independence, which labels King George III a tyrant and calls him "unfit to exist the ruler of a costless people."

July nine, 1776

An angry mob, incited by a public reading of the Annunciation of Independence, pulls down the statue of King George 3 in Bowling Green Park in New York City. The pb statue is melted down and molded into musket assurance.

October 16, 1777

After American troops surroundings his forces virtually Saratoga, New York, British general John Burgoyne surrenders his army to American general Horatio Gates.

March xx, 1782

Frederick North, earl of Guilford, announces his resignation equally prime number minister of Great U.k.. He is succeeded by Charles Watson-Wentworth, marquess of Rockingham.

September three, 1783

The Treaty of Paris is signed in Paris, France, by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, John Jay, and David Hartley. In the document, Britain formally recognizes American independence and cedes to America all lands southward of the Great Lakes and eastward of the Mississippi River except for the Florida colonies.

December 19, 1783

William Pitt (the younger) is appointed British prime government minister.

August ii, 1786

Margaret Nicholson attempts to kill Male monarch George III with a dessert knife; the male monarch is not injured in the set on. Nicholson is examined by the Privy Council, declared insane, and committed to Bethlem Imperial Hospital in London.

1788—1789

King George III's mental and physical health become so unstable that factions of Parliament begin to fight over whether his son George, Prince of Wales, should exist allowed to dominion every bit regent. The king's recovery puts an end to the regency crisis, but he will relapse in 1801, 1804, and 1810.

Apr 23, 1789

King George 3 celebrates his recovery with a thanksgiving service at Saint Paul's Cathedral, in London.

Feb ane, 1793

The French National Convention declares war on Britain, who earlier in the year protested the imprisonment and execution of French king Louis Xvi past joining the First Coalition against French republic (a group that includes Spain, Austria, and Prussia).

1798

In Ireland, a group including Protestants and Catholics, called the Society of United Irishmen, initiates a cord of bloody uprisings against the British, who in their view exert too much control over Irish affairs.

May xv, 1800

James Hadfield shoots at King George 3 before a functioning at Drury Lane Theatre in London. The rex is unharmed and insists on staying to watch the play.

January 1, 1801

The Marriage with Ireland Act and the Act of Matrimony go into effect, creating the United Kingdom of U.k. and Republic of ireland.

October 25, 1809—October 25, 1810

King George III's Golden Jubilee is celebrated, mark the fiftieth year of his reign.

November 2, 1810

King George III'south youngest and favorite daughter, Princess Amelia, dies at age twenty-7 of tuberculosis. After her death, George III's wellness and mental country reject permanently.

February 5, 1811

King George III, who suffers from a debilitating physical and mental illness (possibly porphyria), is declared unfit to rule. His son George, Prince of Wales, is appointed regent.

Nov 17, 1818

Queen Charlotte, married woman of Rex George III, dies; she is cached at Saint George's Chapel, at Windsor Castle.

Jan 29, 1820

George 3 dies at Windsor; he is cached two weeks later in a private ceremony at Saint George's Chapel, at Windsor Castle.

Farther READING

• Black, Jeremy. George Iii: America's Final King. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale Academy Press, 2006.
• Brooke, John. King George III. London: Lawman, 1972.
• Cannon, John. "George Three (1738–1820)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 21. Oxford: Oxford Academy Press, 2004.
• Carretta, Vincent. George III and the Satirists from Hogarth to Byron. Athens: Academy of Georgia Printing, 1990.
• Thomas, Peter D. G. "George III and the American Revolution." History 70, no. 228 (February 1985): 16–31.

CITE THIS ENTRY

APA Commendation:

Baer, Marc. George 3 (1738–1820). (2021, December 22). In Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/george-iii-1738-1820.

MLA Citation:

Baer, Marc. "George III (1738–1820)" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, (22 December. 2021). Spider web. 09 Apr. 2022

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Source: https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/george-iii-1738-1820/

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