What did King George III do?

King George III, who ruled Great Britain from 1760 until his death in 1820, signed the laws and policies that imposed new taxes on the colonies, restricted colonial freedoms, and ultimately drove America to independence. He inherited the throne at age 22 from his grandfather George II and inherited a kingdom that had just won the Seven Years' War with vast new territorial claims and a national debt of about £130 million. He believed the colonies should help pay for their own defense, supported Prime Minister George Grenville's plan to raise revenue through colonial taxation, and signed the Sugar Act of 1764, the Stamp Act of 1765, and the Currency Act of 1764.

After widespread colonial resistance forced repeal of the Stamp Act on March 18, 1766, he supported the Declaratory Act of the same date asserting Parliament's authority to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever. He approved the Townshend Duties of 1767 imposing import taxes on glass, paper, paint, lead, and tea, the Tea Act of 1773, and most consequentially the Coercive or Intolerable Acts of 1774 punishing Massachusetts after the Boston Tea Party. He approved the dispatch of British troops to occupy Boston in 1768 and to garrison the colonies generally, and he authorized General Thomas Gage to use force against the rebellious Massachusetts Provincial Congress in early 1775.

When the Second Continental Congress sent the Olive Branch Petition on July 8, 1775 asking the King to intervene with Parliament for reconciliation, he refused to receive it and instead issued the Proclamation of Rebellion on August 23, 1775 declaring the colonies in open rebellion. He pressed for a vigorous military response and approved the use of foreign mercenaries, hiring approximately 30,000 German Hessian troops to fight in America. He delivered the speech to Parliament on October 27, 1775 calling for severe measures and approved the Prohibitory Act of December 22, 1775 closing American ports to all trade.

The Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776 lists 27 grievances against him personally rather than against Parliament, charging that he had refused his Assent to Laws, dissolved Representative Houses, kept Standing Armies among the people, and waged Cruel War against his own subjects. After Yorktown in 1781 he resisted recognizing American independence but eventually conceded with the Treaty of Paris signed September 3, 1783. Although his ministers controlled day to day policy, the king's personal commitment to maintaining royal authority over the colonies pushed Britain toward war and toward defeat.

He suffered recurrent mental illness in later life, possibly from porphyria, and his son governed as regent from 1811 until George III's death on January 29, 1820.