American Revolution Dbq

On April 19, 1775, the British marched into Lexington, ordering the Patriots to disperse as an undetermined gun fired “the shot heard around the world”. Only one British soldier was wounded, but the American Revolution had begun. On August 23, 1775, King George declared the American colonies in “open and avowed rebellion” and that “they must submit or triumph.” He viewed the rebellion as traitorous and urged Parliament to move quickly to end the revolt. He signed The Proclamation of Rebellion, giving Parliament the authority to dispatch troops against his own subjects, something the colonists believed impossible. Four months later Parliament declared the colonies beyond protection. Still, the King urged the colonists to understand “that

to be a subject of Great Britain, with all its consequences, is to be the freest member of any civil society in the known world.” Instead, the colonies declared their independence on July 4, 1776 – 442 days after the first shot was fired.
Subsequently, it was another Englishman, Thomas Paine, who stoked the rebellious flames of the colonists stating a government must serve its people and when it fails in that aspect, a revolt was not only acceptable but required.

It is historically important to note that the Americans sought to reconcile their differences with the King, asking him to intervene with Parliament immediately after taxation was enacted. He ignored their pleas, labeling them as rebellious traitors. Victorian author, George Trevelyan, argued the King intended to keep his country at war and refused to heed counsel from his advisors. He farther contended George wanted to keep the rebel’s poor, anxious and harassed until the day came when their disappointment and discontent were transformed into remorse and penitence. Trevelyan supported this argument with a statement from prominent Whig John Dunning, “The influence of the Crown has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished.” He introduced a motion in the House of Commons that the King had abused his powers, which passed by a slim margin. Parliament - the sovereign political body - concluded that the King had overstepped his

bounds.
However, several historians assert the American Revolution was caused by the discord of Parliament led by Prime Minister Lord North. They insist that the Tory policies and control of parliament from 1770 to 1782, enraged the Whigs and British Americans. Although many Americans, such as Thomas Jefferson, placed the blame squarely on George’s shoulders, it is more plausible that the British Monarch had no real constitutional authority in more than a century. A harsh critic of George, Horace Walpole clarified the King “seemed to resign himself entirely to the conduct of The House of Commons” before 1774. This contention showed the King understood the true sovereignty of Britain was with the Parliament.
King George’s reign was filled with wars and numerous changes to the monarchy.

He ruled during the American Revolution, oversaw the defeat of Napoleon, observed the founding of the “second British Empire”, and witnessed the decline of monarchical power. His private writings reveal he closely tracked the war’s path in maps and regiment lists even though he lacked the education to understand the true impact of these events. Rick Atkinson, a two-time Pulitzer prize winner, extensively studied the writings of George III. He described the King as “someone who is puzzling through an extraordinarily complex problem for which he does not really have a vocabulary.” David Starkey’s documentary Monarchy shows George drafted his own letter of abdication after the loss in Yorktown in 1781 and agonized over the decision at length. Although he did not resign as king, George viewed this as a personal failure on his leadership abilities which weakened his position with

Parliament.
In the fall of 1783, a British father of 15 sat down to think about the world “turned upside down”. The Revolutionary War ended in defeat for this father who was the King of Britain, a man who rarely set foot outside London and had never visited the American continent that had caused him so much distress. The private papers of George portray a man who was humble, caring and empathetic yet as King he was deemed “unfit to be the ruler of a free people” and a “Prince whose character deemed him a tyrant” by the colonists turned citizens. King George III never fully recovered from the loss of the colonies as he soon began to suffer bouts of madness which left him unable to rule and in isolation. The loss of the American colonies seemed, at the time, a great calamity to both the British and victorious colonists.
Nonetheless, the American Revolution was not solely a revolt against taxation; it was also an uprising to resist privilege, oppression and aristocratic rule. The United Kingdom became greater and more powerful after the separation than it had ever been before and the Monarchy remained a symbol for the people with little power but major influence. It was Winston Churchill who acknowledged that “The loss of the colonies seemed a great calamity; yet in America, there developed a great nation of kindred speech and institutions.” Lessons learned included how to rule colonies without oppression and to view them as sources of strength. Historically, George III remains “the King who lost America” although a broader lesson of the American Revolution is that government must obey the will of its people. In the end, there is ample evidence to support George III was the King who took the first step towards political liberty and freedom for both Great Britain and America. It is given more significance as the lesson is taught by a man who once declared he was born for the happiness or misery of his country.