George III
George III (1738–1820), king of Great Britain.George III ascended the throne in 1760 upon the sudden death of his grandfather, George II, with whom he was politically at odds. He was a member of the House of Hanover, an ethnic German family that succeeded to the British throne in 1714. The new king tended to defer to his ministers’ advice, especially in colonial matters. He was not averse to conciliation, provided that it did not diminish the authority of king and Parliament. In 1766, he backed the repeal of the Stamp Act. After the Boston Tea Party in 1774, however, his willingness to compromise vanished. The king supported the Coercive Acts of that year and adamantly rejected the colonists’ argument that they could disobey Parliament while remaining loyal to the king.
George III became a fervent advocate of the war against the Americans. He participated minimally in the war's actual planning and management, but he used his...
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