2.12: King George III, Enlightened Monarch of the American Revolution

He’s the man responsible for the loss of Britain’s North American colonies, and a cruel, despotic monarch at that…these are both perceptions of King George III, and it’s realistically how many Americans learn about Britain’s king at the time of American independence.  But he reigned for 60 years…and the Revolution lasted for 8, so clearly there must be more to this man than just “losing a war,” right?  In our final episode of Season 2 of History: beyond the Textbook, we’ll explore the reign of King George III, Enlightened King of the American Revolution.

Key People
King George III
Lord Frederick North
Thomas Hutchinson
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
Ben Franklin

Key Events
Treaty of Paris/Peace of Paris
Intolerable Acts
American Revolution

The third season of History: Beyond the Textbook focuses on the stories of individuals who shaped "America's Crucial Years" of 1783-1790, and runs from October 8-December 24. Catch up on Season One, "America's Colonial Era," and Season Two, "America's Revolution," wherever you listen to your podcasts!

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Transcript

He’s the man responsible for the loss of Britain’s North American colonies, and a cruel, despotic monarch at that…these are both perceptions of King George III, and it’s realistically how many Americans learn about Britain’s king at the time of American independence.  But he reigned for 60 years…and the Revolution lasted for 8, so clearly there must be more to this man than just “losing a war,” right?  Well, he reigned through the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the War of 1812.  He was a loving husband to Queen Charlotte, and father of the 15 children that she bore during a 21-year period.  There’s also the so-called “Madness” of King George that forced his son to rule as regent for the last 9 years of the former’s life…but even that perception, and the true condition, may not be as accurate as once thought.  In our final episode of Season 2 of History: beyond the Textbook, we’ll explore the reign of King George III, Enlightened King of the American Revolution. 

Act I: Negotiations

When word of Yorktown reached the British Isles, Lord North was famously said to have exclaimed, “My God!  All is over,” and he would shortly thereafter resign his post as Prime Minister, which was something he had wanted to do for some time.  It became clear that the American Revolution, which had become widely unpopular in Great Britain, would be winding to a close, but the matter of treaty negotiations would stretch the war out into 1783.  With his retirement request refused by Congress, Benjamin Franklin was named one of the peace commissioners that would negotiate on behalf of the Americans, and he was a part of a diplomatic group that can only be described as something of an “A-Team” of negotiators.  John Adams, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, and Henry Laurens were also named as commissioners.  Laurens began the negotiations imprisoned in the Tower of London due to his capture on the Atlantic, and although he was bailed out by England’s initial negotiator, he was of little help, while Jefferson remained in America.  John Jay was in Spain when the negotiations began attempting in vain to procure an alliance with the Iberian nation, who had declared war on Britain but did little in terms of helping the Americans.  Adams was similarly attempting to gain loans from the Dutch, and when he received word from John Jay in September 1782 that the British were serious about negotiations, he arrived rather quickly.  Dr. Franklin was suffering from gout, somewhat limiting his attendance, but the trio of Franklin, Jay, and Adams were the one who did the bulk of the talking on behalf of the Americans.  The instructions provided by Congress were written prior to Yorktown and therefore outdated, but the two primary conditions were to acknowledge American independence and the continue their treaties with France.  Additionally, the Americans were instructed to abide by the wishes of the French ministry in negotiating with the British, but the three, as well as initial British negotiator Richard Oswald, agreed to conduct their negotiations without consulting the French court.  So it was that the heavy negotiations to end the American Revolution began in late October 1782.

Act II: Who is the King?

So, negotiations had begun in earnest to end the war, but how did England’s sovereign, King George III, perceive all of this?  He’s been in the background this entire season, although Patriot writers strove to bring his supposed actions to the forefront.  A recent biography by Andrew Roberts sheds new light on the personality of the monarch, and his work was tremendously assisted by the recent publication of over 200,000 papers related to King George III that were previously held at Windsor Castle.  The picture of a cruel tyrant, even a “mad king,” begins to vanish when this new evidence is considered.

Currently the third-longest reigning monarch in the history of Great Britain, bested only by Victoria I and Elizabeth II, George III ascended to the throne in 1760 following the death of his grandfather, King George II.  The first King George, great-grandfather of the man in charge during the Revolution, held a position known as the Elector of Hanover in what’s now Germany.  He was offered the crown in 1714, and rule then passed to his son, and finally, his great-grandson in 1760.  Why did a family with roots in German-speaking Europe assume the British throne?  To be straight and to the point, royal succession, and marriage between European houses of nobility, can get very confusing, especially to an American who did not grow up surrounded by it.  It’s important to our story that George III had German lineage because he, unlike the previous King Georges, was born in England and spoke English as his native tongue.  His wife German-born wife Charlotte took English lessons soon after their marriage and became a fluent speaker as well.  This is important because it paints the image of a king who identified as English, was proud of it, and would make a point of ruling these fairly.

Fairly ruling?  Isn’t this the king that history has portrayed as a unilateral tyrant who repeatedly refused to respect the rights of his colonial subjects?  First off, understand that at this point, Great Britain was operating under a constitutional monarchy, and King George III was a steadfast believer in adhering to this constitution.  He could recommend laws, but ultimately it was his ministers, and Parliament, that proved instrumental in debating them and ensuring their passage.  During a roughly 10-year pre-war period beginning in 1764, it appears as though most Americans understood this dynamic and thus distinguished between the Crown and Parliament: lawyer James Otis published a pamphlet in protest of the Sugar Act in that same year and wrote, “We all think ourselves happy under Great Britain.  We love, esteem, and reverence our mother country, and adore our King.”  Lawyer John Adams would even refer to George III as a “Patriot King” when the latter was crowned, indicating the high level of respect that the king’s American subjects had for him.  As late as the early 1770’s, juries would invoke His Majesty when swearing their oaths, and most of the attacks on the lack of “representation” in Parliament were directed at that particular institution.  However, we know that King George III was a firm believer in the English Constitution, and his analysis of it, as well his interpretation of the extensive works of influential legal mind William Blackstone, led him to believe that there was no precedent in English law for the type of colonial governance that his Americans subjects suggested.  It’s worth noting that the concept of “no taxation without representation” was said to derive from the 1689 English Bill of Rights, of which Blackstone did not acknowledge in his multivolume Commentaries on the Laws of England.  Still, Americans seemed mostly loyal to their Sovereign…this was, after all, the King whom poet Phillis Wheatly wrote her ode to in 1768 for the repeal of the Stamp Act.  This good nature was to persist until the Intolerable Acts were passed in 1774 as a response to the Boston Tea Party.  The details of these laws were discussed in episode 2.4 and can provide a good refresher, but it’s important to our tory to realize that King George III gave his metaphorical stamp of approval to the Intolerable Acts, even declaring “it gives me immense satisfaction” when the second of these laws easily passed through Parliament.  Despite the political reality that the laws were essentially the work of Prime Minister North, George signed off on them, and thus he began to face the direct ire of the people for the first time in his reign.  It definitely wouldn’t be the last, and the growing chasm between colonial America and the mother country would serve to intensify the attacks on his character and the blame colonials would heap upon him for their current situation.

Act III: Conducting a War

The first shots of the war were over one year in the future, but American public opinion was shifting against King George III.  Here’s a leader who took pride in being not only British, but well-informed on a wide array of topics; his royal library alone would cost upwards of 120,000 pounds to stock.  To assess the situation in North America in 1774, he personally interviewed the now former Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson, who recently arrived in London following his replacement at the hands of General Thomas Gage.  The two talked at length about many items, and the king would impress Hutchinson with his vast knowledge of colonial affairs: for example, he knew that Samuel Adams was one of the “ringleaders” of Patriot resistance and he wanted to know how he claimed such influence.  That same year, news of a Continental Congress in Philadelphia prompted George III to claim, “I do not wish to severer measures but we must not retreat,” in this case, not retreating from the inflexible position that Britain could administer to Her colonies as she saw fit.  This Congress would also refer to him as “the loving father of your whole people” in one of their petitions, but keep in mind that the more radical members of the Congress, such as Samuel and John Adams, were toning down their rhetoric in favor of more moderate elements.  The First Continental Congress would ultimately request the repeal of the Intolerable Acts, a view endorsed by General Gage, but this would not happen given that the King viewed his constitutional political role as needing to support the Parliament who passed the laws.  If the news of Lexington and Concord was distressing, then news of Bunker Hill was downright depressing and prompted he and his Cabinet to authorize the raising of troops to send to America.  The Americans would famously send the so-called Olive Branch Petition to the King to avoid any potential hostilities…but also to force him to recognize the legitimacy of the Continental Congress, something that his constitutionally-minded principles would not allow him to do.  It also didn’t help that this petition arrives at about the same time as news of Bunker Hill, and prompting him to declare the colonies in open rebellion: he refused to accept it.

Englishman Thomas Paine published Common Sense in January 1776, which we covered in episode 2.6, and Paine’s pamphlet was written in such a clear way that Americans were forced to choose sides…and he also took some not-so-subtle attacks at the king.  Besides referring to him using unflattering terms such as “obnoxious” and “conceited,” Paine also explained to his audience that the king was “a…stupid, stubborn, worthless, brutish man,” even going so far as to claim that George III was the “cruelest sovereign tyrant of this age.”  We’ve used the word “tyrant” several times, so it may help us to understand that this word stems from the Greek word “tyranny,” translating roughly to “one-man rule.”  Yes, King George III was the singular King of Great Britain and he ruled over his subjects, but his actions, as well as his beliefs, were more in line of a sovereign who viewed himself as father figure: the well-worn England as “parent” and colonial Americans as “children” cliché certainly applies in this instance.  However, to use such adjectives about a man who was well-read, well-informed, and didn’t actually make the laws was, in hindsight, a bit over the top.  However, given the simple language of Common Sense and the publication tactics that made it easily accessible to the masses…it’s no wonder that more Americans began to shift towards independence and away from their liege.  A bit more formally, and with more tact, were the words of Thomas Jefferson, author of the first draft of the Declaration of Independence.  However, his criticism was no less biting, stating, “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states.”  No mention was made of Parliament, the legislative body that most directed their anger at with their “no taxation without representation” chants…not in the entire document.  Nearly every grievance lay at the feet of George III, the very king to whom most pledged their loyalty not long before this Declaration.  The cliché “the die has been cast” is certainly appropriate, for there could be no turning back.

Or was this truly the case?  We have implied during this season that, even following the Declaration of Independence, Britain’s military commanders sought to impress their colonial cousins with a show of force that would be just enough to convince them to end their little charade.  Cousins?  Remember, George III considered all of his subjects to be his “children,” and would write following the news of victory at New York: “Notes of triumph would not have been proper when the successes are against subjects not a foreign foe.”  Even though he never travelled as far as Continental Europe, much less to America, George was well-appraised on developments in the American Revolution.  He blamed his Hessian allies for their defeat at Trenton, dealt with numerous attempts by prime Minister North to resign, and responded to the news of Saratoga by recommending a court martial of General Burgoyne…which never happened.  Even worse, this American victory ensured their alliance with France, England’s natural enemy, who had retooled their land and naval forces following the Seven Years’ War.  Now, one of the reasons why, in many traditional U.S. History classes, there is a monumental leap from Saratoga and Valley Forge to Yorktown is that England committed relatively few troops to North America following word of France’s entry into the war.  Their territories in the West Indies were the real moneymaker, so protecting them from the French fleet became priority number one…a situation eerily similar to England’s situation two decades previous.  George did state, “if we are to be carrying on a land war against the rebels and against those two powers [France and potentially Spain], it must be feeble in all parts and consequently unsuccessful.”  This premonition also helps explain the Southern Strategy: with England’s military resources now stretched thin on multiple fronts, it was best to take advantage of the Loyalists wherever they were said to be most prominent.

Act IV: Acceptance, and Retrospection

We’ve now chronologically arrived at the Southern Strategy that culminated in the British disaster at Yorktown, something that our past two episodes have covered in sufficient depth.  Since we began with the Treaty of Paris, it stands to reason that we should be aware of what exactly the terms were that ended this destructive war.

The initial negotiations in 1782 were complicated by the fact that Lord North was finally permitted to resign, and thus two men were jockeying for prominence in the new ministry, leaving England with two separate negotiators: the aforementioned Richard Oswald was there are the bequest of Colonial Secretary Lord Shelbourne, and Foreign Secretary Charles Fox sent Thomas Grenville.  As the first American on the scene, Franklin preferred to deal with Oswald who, recall, knew American commissioner Henry Laurens and even paid to bail him out of jail.  Once John Jay arrived, he refused to entertain any official talks until the British agreed to acknowledge American independence, and upon completing this step, the British almost immediately agreed to the American requests regarding the new boundary lines: Canada would remain in the hands of the British, but the new nation would stretch from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and from the Great Lakes down to the borders of what was then referred to as West Florida and East Florida, which were now in Spanish hands.  On the subject of Spain, their territorial possessions west of the Mississippi River meant that they would spend years denying the Americans navigational and commercial access to this river, something that they should have earned based on the treaty, but we’ll address this in future seasons.  When it came to compensation for losses…Loyalists had lost property, and Southerners had lost slaves that understandably took advantage of the opportunity for freedom, so there was financial compensation to be discussed.  Jay and Franklin believed that the debts should cancel out, but John Adams believed that the United States should honor their debts to demonstrate that we could be trusted to carry out our promises.  Adams also insisted on securing fishing rights off the coast of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic, a point which apparently nearly derailed the talks, but the deal was done, and with an agreement in place in late 1782, the commissioners would go home.

This all occurred in 1782, but the deal was not signed until various dates in 1783, with the last British troops not withdrawn until November, and Washington wouldn’t resign his commission until December.  What was with all of the delays?  Part of the issue was that, just prior to Yorktown, King George III seemed to realize that absolute victory in the war with America might not occur, but a peace that allowed for Great Britain to hold onto her North American possessions may still be feasible.  Yorktown altered this plan, with his speech to Parliament following his reception of this news stating, “No endeavours have been wanting on my part to extinguish that spirit of rebellion which our enemies have found means to forment and maintain in the colonies, and to restore to my deluded subjects in America that happy and prosperous condition which they formerly derived from a due obedience to the laws.”  This, and meetings with his ministers, made it clear that the King wanted to keep fighting until the end, something that General Washington anticipated might be the case.  However, the mood of Parliament, and especially the mood of the English populace, shifted against aggressively pursuing further action in America.  The ministry was divided, which meant that the path forward would involve “staying the course” n America while pursuing more pressing issues elsewhere.  Translation: no new units would be sent to North America, but there would be an increased emphasis on places of monetary importance, such as the West Indies, and strategic importance, such as Gibraltar.  The Americans were no longer the primary problem: that distinction would belong to the French and Spanish.  And so it was in this vein that the eventual Treaty of Paris, or “Peace of Paris,” was finalized, and the King would publicly state that he “did not hesitate to proclaim [America] free and independent states,” further laying the blame for the loss of the war on others.  So ended eight years of fighting which, according to Andrew Roberts, doubled England’s national debt and cost 80 million pounds to engage in.  It was certainly a devastating defeat for the nation that certainly did not seemed destined to be the seat of an empire on which “the sun never set.”  However, the King would also state, “Religion, language, interest, affections may, and I hope will, yet prove a bond of permanent union between the two countries.”

The main event that most Americans associate with King George III, the American Revolution, is over…what next?  I mean, it’s 1783, and the man still had another 27 years left in his lengthy reign.  What else should we know about him and should pique our interest?  Besides his roles as husband and father, which we addressed in the opener, he continued to play the role of “Enlightened monarch,” patronizing the arts and expanding his cultural horizons.  According to common lore, King George III is allegedly the reason why it is tradition to stand during the “Hallelujah Chorus” of George Fredrich Handel’s Messiah.  When American Chief Justice John Marshall published his five-volume biography on George Washington, the King purchased a copy for his library, as well as stocking it with a copy on Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia.  He accepted America’s First Minister to Great Britain, John Adams, in 1785 with respect and grace, and Adams was to report that George “listened to every word I said with dignity.”  Clearly, the loss of his former possessions did not dampen the King’s public decorum, nor his private taste for American literature.  He even dabbled in farming, publishing an article on crop rotation to a British agricultural journal in 1787.  As for his supposed “madness,” which has been traditionally diagnosed as “porphyria?”  Not the case, as his condition was most likely an issue of mental health, rather than metabolic.  Nevertheless, it sidelined him for almost the entire final decade of his reign, causing many to overlook the positive attributes that contributed to his time as King of England.  Yet, from our American lens, it certainly is difficult to cast aside his reputation as the Man Who Lost America. 

And so we arrive at the end of “America’s Revolution,” and Season 2 of History: Beyond the Textbook.  As we stated in our first episode, we’ve covered, officers, soldiers, civilians…and even a king.  A huge thank you to all members of the History: Beyond the Textbook team in continuing to make this podcast a reality: Executive Producer Molly Mattke, as well as sound mixer, editor, and engineer Riley Guyette.  Thank you to you, the listener, for providing us with the inspiration to continue sharing these fascinating stories with you.  As was the case with Season 1, we don’t intend these seasons and stories to be any type of “end all, be all” of American history: we hope that they are informative, educational, and inspire you to read more about these people and events that shaped our nation’s path.  We’ll return next October for Season 3 when we focus on “America’s Crucial Years…” you know, the ones following the war, and when we were just beginning to figure out what kind of nation we wanted to be. As always, if you like what you hear, tell others about History: Beyond the Textbook, subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts, leave a positive rating and review, and reach out to us at hbttpodcast@gmail.com with your feedback.  We can’t wait to return next fall, and remember to go to your local library, so you can keep on reading.