When he denounced the colonists for rebelling, King George III was wrong because the established common-law rights were violated by his rule and the colonists’ claims about the violation of these rights were justified. These common law rights (“rights of the Englishmen”) were tampered with by King George III causing the rebellion of so many colonists. This then lead to the statement in King George III’s speech about being the freest member in the nation of Great Britain. This statement made by King George III himself proved the type of rule established in the representative government, a tyranny. The violation of these common- law rights and the false claims promised on these laws just shows how King George III is wrong in the statement delivered to Parliament. …show more content…
What are these common-law rights (“rights of Englishmen”) granted to each and every individual colonist?
(Basil Montagu) These rights are the true meaning of being the freest member in a nation like Great Britain but these common-law rights were abused by King George III. Documents like the Magna Charta, Habeas Corpus Act, the Bill of rights, and the Act of Settlement establish in a document what the rights of the Englishmen truly represent. These documents consist of the intangible rights that every Englishmen has and they include the rights to personal security, personal liberty, and lastly private property. But these are not the only three that set the individual Englishmen apart. Then main right that was abused by King George III was the right to petition the King of the Parliament (pg. 207). These attainable rights were given to every Englishmen and taken away by King George III, being the tyrant that he
is. (Samuel Adams)These common-law rights are awarded to all the people born in the British American Colonies ans this truly begins the idea of an individual being the freest member. These rights given to the natural born Englishmen were established more by force rather than peace. Dating back to the early 1200s is where the establishment of these common-law rights can be originated to. King John of England was forced to sign the Magna Charta which required the King to attain certain liberties and accept that he was not above the law (pg. 417). These privileges were obviously abused by King George III and the idea of denouncing the colonist for rebelling is wrong because he abuses their God given rights. The colonists’ claim that they were entitled to these common-law rights was evident in their appeal for freedom from King George III in the Declaration of Independence. These powers are put in place to create man equal to each other and a government is put in between these powers and the job for the government is to govern these attainable powers. Clearly the King uses his powers for evil rather than good and these powers that are suppose to create men equal are being treated wrongly. The colonists have a valid point about their claim in this matter. The right to have suitable arms for defense is one of the “rights of Englishmen” (Basil Montagu pg.207). The colonists’ claim towards that common-law right of being the freest member allows them to be protected against the armies which can cause their death. King George III breaks this right of the citizens to be protected at all times by sending armies of troops to fight the colonists and will not stop this terror until he sees the death of many of these colonists in front of his eyes. The appeal of the people to the Supreme Judge, in the Declaration of Independence is evident of all of the King George III’s tyranny has caused on the rights of these Englishmen. These rights were God given rights when the Magna Charta was signed in the early 1200s and all men should be equal because of documents like the Bill of Rights and the Magna Charta. (Samuel Adams). This prohibits the colonist from being the freest member of their birth country, Great Britain, and their rights are taken away from them because of the tyranny established by the King himself. The colonists were entitled to these rights and their claim in the Declaration of independence is justified because of this. The information that has been presented to show how wrong the King might have been might not be enough to prove the falsehood of King George III statement about being the freest member. But the document with the main evidence that proves the tyranny used by King George III himself is in a weekly newspaper article. This weekly newspaper article published between January 1775 and October 1776 called The Crisis provided the real evidence of the statement about being the freest member being false. (Neil York) The people were told to beware of the tyrant himself, King George III. They were warned that their common-law rights could be threatened by the King and should be aware from the statements him and his supporters make at Parliament. The King and his supporter’s bitter comments condemned the rights of the colonist and caused them to have a say in what was going on. The men who wrote this were not trying to turn the small protest into the big rebellion that eventually happened and led to the punishment of many colonists, which then led to the battle that goes down in history- The American Revolution (pg. 434). Of course the main piece of evidence that not only supports the colonists’ claim but also the main piece of evidence that objects to the statement from King George III about being the freest member is the Declaration of Independence. This document is one that stirred the most controversy towards King George III and his rule of treating the colonists equally and freely. The amount of injustice that the King had performed on the colonist is evident in this document. The rebellion of the colonist was justified because this document proved that they were not being treated as the freest member of their nation. Their common-law rights were being mistreated by King George III, the tyrant that he is. All the colonists have unalienable rights and these rights came not from the state but from God himself. The King took these rights away from the people and his statement about being the freest member can be proven wrong because f all the evidence presented. The evidence of the meaning of the common-law rights (“rights of Englishmen”), the colonists’ claim on the mistreatment of their rights, the newspaper article- The Crisis, and the other evidence presented shows how inaccurate the statement from the King’s speech to Parliament actually was. In conclusion, the King George III was wrong about his statement when he delivered it to Parliament. (Steven Parissien) King George III has always had a controversial reputation within the government and his rule has always been in question. He might be one of the celebrated rulers of his age but certainly one of the most controversial rulers and all the evidence points towards this rule of tyranny (pg. 36). Common-law rights are something that are given to colonists as their birth given rights and their rights were abused by King George III. These rights were established in the early 1200s and are attainable by each and every individual and King George III has made it hard for the colonists to live freely like they were promised. These God given rights are supposed to be handed to each and every colonist but they were not. This caused the rebellion of millions of colonists; this rebellion was justified because they were not the freest member of their nation. All the evidence points to how King George III’s statement being wrong about denouncing the colonists and his rule of tyranny is served as injustice towards the colonists. King George III proved during his reign as king that the rule of tyranny does not justify with the colonists because it takes away their common-law rights. The statement provided by the king to Parliament is wrong and always will be wrong because all the evidence points towards the way of justice.
...no loyalty to the Crown now, in future conflicts, the colonists may turn against us and become our enemy. Radical action must be taken in order to regulate their behavior. They must recognize the royal authority.
The colonists were in every right, aspect and mind, not only justified but also it was about time that they stood of and actually take action against the British. The choice of going to war with them, was the only choice that they had. All diplimatical options that they had ceased to stand a chance against the tyrant Britain. From the very beginning when the colonists felt upset against their mother country and the way that they went about the law making, up until the beginning of the war, they tried all diplimatical options that they had, by sending letters, you name it. When they didn’t work then they had no other means but to declare war.
Patrick Henry once said, “give me liberty or give me death!” During the revolutionary war. The American revolution had begun in Lexington on April 9, 1775. This was where the first battle of the American revolution occurred. Through all the battles and acts the British had placed on the colonists, they had suffered greatly and decided to break away from Britain. But, were the colonists valid in disuniting from Britain and conducting war? The American colonists were justified in waging war and splitting from Britain because the British were unjust to the colonists , they imposed unnecessary acts against the colonists and the British ignored all requests for change.
The Americans had won their independence, much to the dismay of the British crown. King George III lost his American colonies for a number of reasons. The responsibility of the American Revolution and King George III’s loss of his colonies cannot be placed on one specific event, but rather a build-up of tensions over the years causing the idea of freedom to ring through the colonies and drive them to make the United States of America a free country ‘with liberty and justice for all.’ Works Cited “Boston Tea Party.” Columbia University Press.
The measures made to ensure the king does not have absolute power are not enough to prevent him from ultimately getting his way no matter what that may be. On page 27 Paine tells how the king made the declaration that there will be no law unless put in place by himself. This effort to make the colonists powerless as to how they are governed is tyranny. Paine’s also argues that this event shows how Britain believes America has become too powerful and is trying to slow its growth and development (27). Those who are in parliament so far away from the tragic events that take place in America who live in such a vastly different world are too ignorant to make judgements for America (23). Paine’s statement that in America “law is king,” demonstrates the author’s argument that law developed for the people should be what runs the country not a single man (30). This coincides with the way America was running well before the war ended and Britain decided to exert more power over the colonies. This is made even more evident when Thomas Paine states Britain cannot be relied on to defend them because Britain is the entity that had been trying to take away America’s power and the people rights. Furthermore,
The question raised in the title of this paper is: Are the Bill of Rights, written well over 200 years ago, still relevant today? Of course, they are and probably even more so. To illustrate this fact, we will examine each of the ten amendments, rewrite each one using common everyday language of today, and if possible discuss why this was important in 1791 and why we may or may not need this document in writing today. In restating each amendment, I will try to write it as if it is a brand new document, which is a stretch to say the least. Without the struggle of the colonies through war and abuse by the English Monarchy, would one have the foresight to see how a government may take for granted the rights of its citizenry?
In 1774, Jefferson wrote “A Summary View of the Rights of British America”, in which he claimed that the colonies were tied to the king only by voluntary bonds of loyalty. The “Summary View of the Rights of British America” was published without Jefferson’s permission. This document was presented as a political pamphlet. It was taking Jefferson’s career to a whole another level, way further than
Jefferson repeatedly uses “He has” to list all of the unfair actions and laws that King George has done or passed. Jefferson uses “he” to communicate that all of the actions can be tied back to solely the king and no one else. The king is the only one responsible for all these actions. King George III took away the colonists unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thomas Jefferson used civil disobedience to help rebel against the king of Great Britain and to help document the separation between the two countries. Jefferson hoped for other colonists to help separate the 13 colonies from Great Britain, to help restore their unalienable rights.
Today, we have freedom in many forms, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of religion. The Magna Carta and John Locke’s Second Treatise on Government laid the foundation for the freedom we enjoy today. The Magna Carta accomplished the liberty Englishmen currently enjoy by raising the status quo of peasants to commoner. This means those born to royalty will begin to treat the peasants as people, for instance the Magna Carta states, “(9) Neither we [feudal barons] nor our officials will seize any land or rent in payment of a debt, as long as the debtor has movable goods sufficient to discharge the debt.” Similarly to the U.S., which has three branches of government to limit power, executive, legislative and judicial; the Magna
This the main concern for most people because in England they were controlled by the central government an people did not have many rights to protect them. In the end the Bill of rights were inspired by Jefferson and drafted by James Madison in
Six months before the Declaration of Independence is written in 1776, Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is published, causing a substantial amount of colonists to rebel against the British once and for all. This radical document doesn’t just sell 120,000 in a few months, it changes colonists’ thoughts and outlook regarding the British monarchy, and ultimately pushes the colonies towards independence from Great Britain. His pamphlet starts with a more hypothetical approach about government and religion, then transforms into the detailed problems between Britain and its colonies.
Lawyer James Otis and other colonist rebels referred to King George as a tyrant. As stated by James Otis in The Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved (1763), . . . “The very act of taxing exercised over those who are not represented appears to me to be depriving them of one of their most essential rights as freemen, and if continued seems to be in effect and entire disfranchisement of every civil right.” James Otis’s point of view seemed to express concerns for the civil and constitutional rights and liberties of the colonists.
... idea of Parliamentary Sovereignty: The Controlling Factor of Legality in the British Constitution’ (2008) OJLS 709.
In the third section of the Declaration Of Independence states all the wrongs the people thought the king of England did to them. The colonists thought the king was treating them unfairly. For example he refused to approve laws that would help the colonists. He also made them pay taxes without their consent along with forbidding trade with other countries. They tried to talk to the king about their complaints but he ignored them. All of this made the colonists very angry. In this section the colonists write that they have had it with Britain’s Tyranny Rule.
"John, by the grace of God king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Hazzard, and count of Anjou, to his archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls barons, justiciars, sheriffs, ministers, bailiffs and all his faithful men, greeting."1 So begins the most famous legal document of the Middle Ages. The Magna Carta was a product of the power struggle between King John and his barons in the year 1215. Although it was intended to address concerns that were specific to its time and place, it became a high water mark of legal freedom for centuries to come. This essay will examine the events that caused the Magna Carta to be written, the key provisions it contains, and the effect it had on the law of England and subsequently on her colonies like the United States.