George's Legal Troubles: What Laws Were Broken?

The United States Declaration of Independence lists 27 grievances against King George III, accusing him of committing repeated injuries and usurpations against the colonies in North America. These grievances include the refusal to assent to laws for the public good, obstructing the administration of justice, and imposing taxes without consent. The Declaration also accuses King George of dissolving representative houses, preventing population growth, and waging war against the colonies. Each of these grievances contributed to the colonists' growing dissatisfaction and their eventual declaration of independence from Britain.

George III's 'madness'

King George III, who ruled from 1760 until his death in 1820, is often referred to as 'The Mad King'. He had four prolonged periods of illness during his reign, exhibiting both physical and mental symptoms.

During his periods of illness, George experienced fever, frequent vomiting, swelling of the legs and feet, aches and pains in his stomach, head and joints, and violent convulsions. He also suffered from abdominal pain and seizures, during which he had to be restrained by his attendants.

The most alarming effect of the king's illness was his periods of mania. At their mildest, George experienced an uncontrollable desire to talk incessantly, sometimes for hours, until he was hoarse and foaming at the mouth. His behaviour during these episodes was often inappropriate and wild, and he could be violent towards his staff, doctors, and even his wife, Queen Charlotte.

George's illness also caused his language to become coarser and crueller, and he became more melancholy and erratic. On one occasion, he demanded to be wheeled around his rooms like a child, and on another, he stole the page's wigs and burned them.

The exact nature of the king's mental illness is not known definitively, but historians and medical experts have suggested that his symptoms and behaviour were consistent with either bipolar disorder or porphyria. In recent years, however, it has been argued that George III did, in fact, suffer from a severe mental illness rather than porphyria.

George III's recurring bouts of illness caused him to withdraw from daily business and recuperate out of the public eye at Kew Palace. Each time he withdrew, a political crisis was triggered, as the question of who would make decisions in his absence arose. Despite his illness, George III was a dedicated and diligent king, and his 60-year reign was marked by significant military conflicts and political instability.

The Stamp Act

The purpose of the tax was to help pay for British military troops stationed in the American colonies after the French and Indian War (also known as the Seven Years' War). The British argued that the colonists had benefited from the war as much as anyone else in the British Empire and should, therefore, shoulder part of the cost. Additionally, the troops would also help maintain peace between Native Americans and the colonists.

The colonists, however, objected to the Stamp Act, arguing that only their representative colonial legislatures could tax them. Their slogan was "No taxation without representation". They also took issue with the fact that violators of the Stamp Act could be prosecuted in Vice-Admiralty Courts without juries.

Colonial resistance to the Stamp Act was widespread and included petitions, protests, and violent demonstrations. One of the most famous acts of resistance took place in Boston, where a group called the Sons of Liberty led a mob in opposition to the Stamp Act. They hanged an effigy of Andrew Oliver, Boston's stamp distributor, from the Liberty Tree, before ransacking his home. Oliver was forced to resign his commission, and similar events took place across the colonies, with most stamp distributors being intimidated into resigning.

In March 1766, Parliament repealed the Stamp Act due to colonial resistance and pressure from London merchants. However, they also passed the Declaratory Act, reaffirming their power to legislate for the colonies "in all cases whatsoever". The issues raised by the Stamp Act continued to strain relations between the colonies and Britain, eventually leading to the Revolutionary War and American independence.

The Boston Port Bill

The Boston Port Act, also known as the Trade Act 1774, was passed on March 31, 1774, and took effect on June 1, 1774. It was one of five measures, called the Intolerable Acts, the Punitive Acts, or the Coercive Acts, enacted in the spring of 1774 to punish Boston for the Boston Tea Party. The law closed the Port of Boston to all commerce and ordered the citizens of Boston to pay a large fine to compensate for the tea thrown into the river during the Boston Tea Party.

The Act was a response to the Boston Tea Party, which took place on December 16, 1773, when a group of colonists boarded British ships and dumped chests of tea into Boston Harbour to protest a British tea tax. In a speech on March 7, 1774, King George III charged the colonists with attempting to injure British commerce and subvert the constitution. The Port Bill, introduced by Lord North on March 18, outlawed the use of the Port of Boston until restitution was made to the King's treasury and to the East India Company for damages suffered. In other words, it closed Boston Port to all ships, regardless of their business.

The Act also provided that the seat of government of the Massachusetts Colony should be moved to Salem and that Marblehead should be made a port of entry. Even some of the strongest allies of America in Parliament initially approved of the Act, deeming it moderate and reasonable. They argued that the town could end the punishment at any time by paying for the merchandise destroyed in the riot and allowing law and order to prevail. However, the Whig opposition soon rallied, and the bill was fought by Edmund Burke, Isaac Barré, Thomas Pownall, and others. Despite this, the Act became law on March 31 without a division in the Commons and by a unanimous vote in the Lords.

Royal Navy warships began patrolling the mouth of Boston Harbour to enforce the Act, and the British Army joined in enforcing the blockade, with Boston filled with troops led by Commander-in-Chief Thomas Gage. The colonists protested that the Port Act penalised thousands of residents and violated their rights as subjects of George III. The Port of Boston was a major source of supplies for the citizens of Massachusetts, and sympathetic colonies as far away as South Carolina sent relief supplies to the settlers of Massachusetts Bay. The response was so great that Boston leaders boasted that the town would become the chief grain port of America if the Act was not repealed.

The First Continental Congress was convened in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774, to coordinate a colonial response to the Port Act and the other Coercive Acts. The Continental Congress went on to issue the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776.

The American War of Independence

The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. It was the culmination of the civil and political American Revolution, which saw a series of acts by the British Parliament met with resistance in Britain's Thirteen Colonies in America. The colonists, who had previously enjoyed a high level of autonomy in their internal affairs, viewed Parliament's acts as a denial of their rights as Englishmen, particularly as they had no direct representation in Parliament.

The colonists' grievances were laid out in the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted by the Continental Congress on 4 July 1776. The Declaration included a list of 27 complaints about King George III's abuses, including that he had "plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people". It also stated that the King had "abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us".

The colonists' grievances were not only with the King, but also with the British Parliament, which had imposed taxes on the colonists without their consent. The colonists protested that, like all Englishmen, they had the right to "no taxation without representation". The King and Parliament ignored petitions sent by the colonists and, in 1775, the King declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion. A year of fighting ensued, and the colonists eventually declared their independence in July 1776.

The war ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which resulted in Great Britain ultimately recognising the independence of the United States of America.

The Intolerable Acts

The four main acts were:

• The Boston Port Act, which closed Boston's port to commerce until the British East India Company was fully compensated for the destroyed tea.
• The Massachusetts Government Act, which replaced the elected local council with one appointed by the military governor, eroding representative government in Massachusetts.
• The Administration of Justice Act, which allowed British officials charged with capital offences to be tried in England rather than in Massachusetts.
• The Quartering Act, which allowed British officers to requisition unused buildings to house their soldiers.

A fifth act, the Quebec Act, is often associated with the Intolerable Acts. It was not intended to punish the colonies but it angered them nonetheless, as it advanced the interests of Britain's new Roman Catholic, French-Canadian subjects at the expense of the Americans.

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