George III of the United Kingdom

George III (George William Frederick) (4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820)

Conflict in North America

The rest of the 1760s was marked by bureaucratic instability, which led to denunciations of George III by the Whigs as an autocrat in the manner of Charles I. The incompetent Lord Bute (who had probably been appointed only because of his favourability to George's views on royal power) resigned in 1763, allowing the Whigs to return to power. After George Grenville became Prime Minister, he introduced the Stamp Act, which levied a stamp duty on various legal documents and publications in the British colonies in North America. Grenville attempted to reduce George III to a mere puppet. The King requested William Pitt the Elder to accept the office of Prime Minister, but was unsuccessful. George then settled on Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, and dismissed Grenville in 1765.

Related Topics:
1760s - Charles I - George Grenville - Stamp Act - Stamp duty - Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2nd Marquess of Rockingham - 1765

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