The Five Worst Grievances of King George III

The Five Worst Grievances Committed

By King George III

5 - Trial by Jury

1 - Standing Armies

Britain took away the colonists’ rights to have a jury when committing a crime that goes to trial. I believe this is the 5th ranking because while it is a serious issue to take away political rights, only colonists who either committed a crime or were unfairly accused by government officials were affected by this tyrannical act. As stated in an excerpt from founding.com, “It meant that before the coercive power of government could be brought to bear against a man, it had to be approved by a body of men, most likely his neighbors, who are not government employees.” This quote demonstrates that it is unfair that the British government has the ability to directly punish guilty or even not guilty colonists without their consent.

To keep an eye on his old citizens, King George and the other rulers of Britain decided to send thousands of British soldiers over to the new nation. These soldiers had permission to punish any out-of-line citizens. The colonists were even forced to quarter, or house, these men, and were supervised by them all hours of the day. I believe that this act of violence and unlawful behavior tops the list of tyrannical acts put in place by the King. Even founding.com agrees that this is unruly behavior, stating that “This practice was a violation of the principle that government derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.”

The Five Grievances

● He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly

firmness his invasions on the rights of the people

● For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent

● For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury

● He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the Lives of our people

● He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures

2 - Destroying and Plundering

4 - Representative Houses

When it comes to suffering losses, human lives are the most important. King George III is responsible for taking many colonists’ lives, making him, in the eyes of many colonists, an unruly leader. On founding.com it states, “The British considered that the Americans were in open rebellion against their lawful rulers.” This deserves this ranking because this affected the most colonists, putting all of their lives in danger.

King George III was very adamant about not letting the colonists have a representative body in the government. “This charge refers to edicts issued by the King that the representative bodies of the colonies be dissolved for various reasons (founding.com)”. This means that the British government could give orders and create new laws to the colonists without them having an active role in the government. I believe that this issue deserves the 4th ranking because it has an effect on all the colonists and led to major events such as the Sugar and Stamp Acts.

3 - Imposing Taxes Without Consent

The British government forced taxes upon the colonists without their consent or representation. Patrick Henry famously said, “No taxation without representation!” On founding.com this quote is explained further when it says, “The principle ‘no taxation without representation’ was soon extended to the whole conduct of government.” This states that without representation in government to make decisions concerning the Patriots, the colonists should not be taxed by Britain. Some examples of these taxes were the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and the Townshend Acts.