“Once vigorous measures appear to be the only means left of bringing the Americans to a due submission to the mother country, the colonies will submit.” -King George III. “King George III is most well known for being the King of England during the American Revolutionary War.” ( Pavao, October 5) When most people hear of King George III, they either think of the American Revolutionary War or the king that went insane. King George was a very influential person in history beginning with the king’s early life, his actions in the Revolutionary War, and his last moments as acting King of Great Britain.
King George the Third was born on June 4, 1738. His parents were Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe- Gotha. Growing up, George had a learning disability. “This made it extremely hard for him to do his studies and he did not even learn to read until he was at the age of eleven.” ( Pavao, October 5) By this age, he was able to speak English, German, and French. In 1751, at the age of 12, he became the Prince of Wales. When he was 23, he became the King of Great Britain and Ireland in 1760. The King then married Charlotte Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz one year after being king. Even though their marriage was strictly political, they had a very successful marriage. They were married for fifty-seven years and had fifteen children together. Unfortunately, 3 of their children died while they were very young. One of the reasons they were married was because, “They needed a highly born lady, preferably not one from England since that could cause all kinds of power plays, but also one that would not be seen as giving ‘too’ much influence to a foreign nation by her access to the king.” (Cornelius, October 5)She was also chosen because “ [she was a] German duchy that had very little political importance, and she would most likely have “no experience or interest in power politics or party intrigues”. ( Pavao, October 5)
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Even though George became king, he also inherited the Seven Year War. He worked very hard to try and end the war. The Treaty of Paris of 1763 was signed to put a finish to the war. This treaty was a huge accomplishment for Britain. “Britain received Spanish Florida, Upper Canada, and various French holdings overseas.”(History.com, October 9) After the Seven Years' War, Britain was in deep, major debt. Since Britain was in such great debt, the king began to tax the colonies in America very heavily. This caused a huge outcry from the colonies. They wrote him letters, most of which were never opened, but he just simply tossed them to the side. The colonies then started to boycott British goods and buy from other countries such as the Dutch. This made the king extremely furious. Thus he told whoever was bound for the Americas to make sure the tea was to be loaded and unloaded on the ground correctly and safely. This eventually led to the Boston Tea Party. This is when the hundred and fifty white men dressed up as Native Americans and threw tea into the Boston Harbor. After the Boston Tea Party happened, the king basically went crazy. Therefore, he imposed the Intolerable Acts. These laws were meant to punish the colonies from the Boston Tea Party. The five Intolerable Acts included: the Boston Port Act, the Massachusetts Government Act, the Administration Justice Act, the Quartering Act of 1774, and the Quebec Act of 1774. This was one of the many reasons that started the American Revolutionary War. Britain was hugely in debt and could not afford another war, but King George did not want to lose to the colonies. He knew that the war was a lost cause but he still fought. “By 1776, The Americans declared themselves free, but George kept the war going until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783.” ( Pavao, October 5)
King George never recovered emotionally or financially from the war. The people of Britain did not like him because of that. Even though in 1783, he stopped a reform of the East India Company. At first, he supported it, but then realized it was a scheme for parliament corruption. Also, the French rebelled and Britain struggled to overtake them. After all that fighting, in 1788, King George III experienced an insanity episode. It was thought to be a genetic disease, porphyria. Porphyria is a disease in which a buildup of chemicals relating to the red blood cells. One of the main symptoms was mental changes, that the king had. His insanity episode went away till 1811. “ George’s health deteriorated. He developed dementia and became completely blind and increasingly deaf. He was incapable of knowing or understanding either that he was declared King of Hanover in 1814, or that his wife died in 1818 At Christmas 1819, he spoke nonsense for 58 hours, and for the last few weeks of his life was unable to walk” (europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com., October 5) Also in 1810 his daughter Amiliea died and was believed to be one of the reasons he was not able to come back to reality from being mad. Everyone around him figured that he was too unstable to rule as king. The result was that parliament passed the Regency Act and his power was passed to his son Prince George. The dying king “lived in seclusion at Windsor Castle until his death.” Sadly, after reigning for 59 years, the king died on January 29, 1820, at the age of 81 years old. He was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on February 16.
In conclusion, King George’s life was nothing shy of significant. He inherited the throne at twenty-two. He was also forced into a political marriage. He imposed the Intolerable Acts which caused the American Revolutionary war. He fought to the very end during the American Revolutionary War. He was eventually defeated and developed a genetic disease that caused him to go insane. In his lifetime, he achieved a lot for his country and has truly influenced history today.
Citations
- History.com Editors. “George III.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2009, https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/george-iii.
- Timmons, Greg. “George III.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 25 June 2019, https://www.biography.com/royalty/king-george-iii.
- Kyra, Author. “Home.” Kyra Cornelius Kramer, 8 Sept. 2017, https://www.kyrackramer.com/2017/09/08/the-marriage-of-king-george-iii-and-queen-charlotte/.
- liamfoley63, and liamfoley63. “The Death of King George III.” European Royal History, 29 Jan. 2018, https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/the-death-of-king-george-iii/.
- “George III of the United Kingdom Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/george-iii-of-the-united-quotes.
- “The French and Indian War Ends.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2 Mar. 2010, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-french-and-indian-war-ends.
- “Siteseen Limited.” Colonial America for Kids ***, Siteseen Limited, 1 Jan. 2018, https://m.landofthebrave.info/intolerable-acts.htm.
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