King George III / Lord North



King George III



The King of England was not above being flattered by his grateful colonies that playfully declared George III the Sovereign King of America. The colonies however, were as yet not pressed by political or economic responsibilities. He regarded the hard-working Americans as strange oddities that in time would be reined in. It was never a question that the colonies would expect a voice in parliament. Both Pitt and North had a more realistic appraisal. 

King George III: I do believe the Americans adore me. It is more than I can say about many members of Parliament who sneer behind my back. Would you not say that in this glorious year of Our Lord 1763 that we have achieved the goals we have set out for ourselves?

Frederick North Prime Minister of Great Britain
Lord North: If ever we should consider ourselves recipients of the mantle of Rome, it is now.
Our colonies are prosperous and obedient, France and Spain seem to have accepted our supremacy and our empire in the east has brought wealth into the coffers of the Crown.This is indeed a period of prosperity unknown to any former age.

King George: Do you know that, from all I’ve heard, the Americans want me as their own monarch with complete subservience to their king without the interference of Parliament. Should the day come, I may take up residence on the green fields of Virginia. For this well-being we have William Pitt to thank.

Lord North: The thought nagging in the back of my mind is that too similar to Rome we have become. We should not forget that the Senate in Rome became greedy and complacent. Corruption was rampant and …

King George: Stop there before you compare me to the abusing Caesars. We have the Magna Carta and since then any number of controls give our citizens their rights, as they perceive them.

Lord North: Let us pray that the generation that sees Great Britain reach it highest peak of dominance will not be the same generation the becomes witness to its decline. For the present American colonists had developed their own economic system within British mercantilism. The colonists still acknowledged they were under British law, and still proud to be Englishmen. English colonists had more advantages than French or Spanish colonists. American colonists benefited from “Salutary Neglect.”


King George: The decline of Great Britain is a sobering thought indeed. Tell me now what you think of this man Alexander Hamilton?

It was perhaps Hamilton’s ploy to exalt the king and in so doing weaken the power of Parliament. And who could have predicted that William Pitt, responsible for raising Great Britain to its zenith, would die in the House of Lords fifteen years later? Or that even as these two men were speaking, economic conditions in the British Empire would begin to make necessary the turning to the colonies for sorely needed funds. In 1763, these matters were not yet of concern.





No comments:

Post a Comment