KING GEORGE III (1738 1820)

Jeffrey Carter History 17.1 Spring 2013

King George III of England was born George William Frederick on 4 June 1738 in London. He was the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. He was the first of the House of Hanover Kings, and

first ruler since Queen Anne, to be born in England. On 25 October 1760, at the age of 22, George III inherited the throne when his grandfather, George IIs suddenly died at the age of 77. In 1761 George III met his first and only wife, Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, with whom he had ten sons including George IV and William IV, and six daughters. During his reign Britain became a Naval and industrial power despite the loss of the American colonies after the Revolutionary War. Nature King George III was known as Farmer George as he took a keen interest in agriculture. At the height of the British Agricultural Revolution, George took areas of the crown estates at Richmond, Kew and Windsor, and turned it into arable land. He planted items such as oats, barley, turnips and buckwheat taking advantages in farming techniques at the time. He went as far as having sheep graze the lawn areas to cut down the grass. Supernatural From his youth, he was regarded as very religious although he didnt subscribe to the mandatory use of the Book of Common Prayer in a religious service. As King of England, George III was also the head of the Church of England but only followed it as it pertains to his role as King. He granted religious tolerance in Canada and there was a fear at the time that King George III would cede Papal authority and restore Catholicism to England. However, he refused Catholic tolerance in England not because of any prejudice, but because he was only obedient to his coronation oath. When the French Revolution occurred, he believed this upheaval was God's punishment on King Louis XVI for supporting the American colonists. Universe King George III was a keen observer of science and was the first English King to study it. The Science Museum in London houses many of his scientific and mathematical instruments he gathered throughout his life. He helped fund the construction of the largest telescope at the time, a forty-foot telescope designed by William Herschel. In 1791, when Herschel first discovered the planet Uranus, it was named Georgium Sidus or Georges Star after King George. Time After the Revolutionary War, King George III became more of a relaxed man. With many of his duties assigned to his Prime Minister and later, his Regent son, he was able to spend more time on dabbling in agriculture within the crown estates. However, in 1788, George III suffered his first bought of illness, may have been in factor in reducing his life. Humanity

King George III believed in the primacy of Parliament and was not the absolute monarch as some of his enemies alleged. He was the King of England and subsequently the ruler of the American Colonies and its people. He was very loyal to his country and many people in England were loyal to him. Unlike his brothers, he had high moral standards, and was compassionate and generous. He was fascinated with advancements in agriculture, which only stood to improve the lives of his subjects. He instituted a Constitutional Monarchy where power was shared between the Crown, Lords, and commoners. Fate In 1788, he went mad. At first it started with abdominal pains which his doctors thought it would go away, but didnt. He started suffering from dementia, which manifested into strange ideas like seeing Hanover through his telescope. However, he recovered from his first bout of madness only to suffer more boughts of his madness in 1801, 1804 and 1805. By 1810, at the age of 72, King George III was blinded by cataracts and his health continued to fail suffering from dementia. During one spell, his increased madness was accompanied by 58-hours of non-stop speaking on his part. Despite his madness, despite the loss of the American Colonies, he was still a very popular King. Law King George III believed that monarchs were born to rule. Previous Hanoverian Kings had surrendered considerable power to Whig Party in England. George III accepted the role of Parliament, but he appointed his own Prime Minister he could count on, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. John Wilkes, a Member of Parliament, spoke out and attacked Bute and the King in his newspaper, The North Briton. He was subsequently arrested, setting a bad precedent and putting the king in a bad light. Ten years into his reign, King George III finally had a Prime Minister he trusted, Lord North, whom he appointed in 1770. However, Englands relationship with the American Colonies would put their relationship to the test. George deeply believed that the Colonists were part of England should pay taxes just like anyone else within the Kingdom. The Colonists saw otherwise as they had no representation in Parliament. Lord North proposed to remove all the taxes except for Tea, which George backed, and reduced the tax on tea to undermine tea smuggling to the Colonies. The Colonists rebelled and subsequently threw all the tea into the waters of Boston Harbor during what is now known as the Boston Tea Party. Lord North had a different proposal that would remove all the taxes if the Colonists agreed to fund their own protection. But it was too late; fighting had already begun in Lexington and Concord. On July 4, 1776, the Colonists issued their Declaration of Independence from England. William Pitt and other senior members of Parliament were against the war after the British defeat at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. But the King

saw it as his personal duty to keep his Kingdom together. And in fact, it rallied English citizens at home to join the war effort. The tied of war turned significantly in 1780 when the French, Englands biggest rivals, joined the American Colonists. The lost of the Colonies was deeply painful for George and started to withdrawal from the politics of London. By 1811, with his mental health deteriorating, his eldest son George became Prince Regent, ruling the Kingdom in his stead with the support of Parliaments Regency Act. In the end, although he believed in the power of appointing his own Prime Ministers, he hoped to restore royal status. Instead, he saw political power in exchanged for symbolic power. He started the practice of a Constitutional Monarchy where power was shared and not practiced by a few elitists. King George III died on 29 January 1820, some 60 years after he took the thrown. He would be known as the King who lost the American colonies. Farmer George for his fascination with agriculture. Towards the end of his reign, he was known as the mad King. Despite this, with his high moral character, it is argued that he is still one of the truly great monarchs of England.

WORKS CITED http://www.royal.gov.uk/historyofthemonarchy/kingsandqueensoftheunitedki ngdom/thehanoverians/georgeiii.aspx http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/george_iii_king.shtml http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon55.html http://www.historyhome.co.uk/people/george3.htm http://www.britroyals.com/hanover.asp?id=george3 http://www.kew.org/heritage/timeline/1773to1820_farmer.html http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/stories/the_king_george_iii_coll ection.aspx http://youtu.be/VFGTtcEDBrg