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George III, Tyrant: The Crisis as Critic of Empire, 1775–1776
Article first published online: 23 SEP 2009
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-229X.2009.00465.x
© 2009 The Author. Journal compilation © 2009 The Historical Association and Blackwell Publishing.
Additional Information
How to Cite
YORK, N. (2009), George III, Tyrant: The Crisis as Critic of Empire, 1775–1776. History, 94: 434–460. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-229X.2009.00465.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 23 SEP 2009
- Article first published online: 23 SEP 2009
Abstract
The Crisis, a London weekly published between January 1775 and October 1776, attempted to join Britain and the American colonies in a transatlantic community of protest. It did so more stridently than virtually anything printed either in the colonies or elsewhere in the London press. King George III, his chief ministers, and their supporters in parliament were all fair game for its caustic commentary. It condemned their imperial policy as self-destructive and their treatment of the Americans as foolishly shortsighted. It condoned American resistance to what it characterized as tyrannical policies and called on Britons to beware that what began as oppression of the colonies could end up threatening rights on their own side of the Atlantic as well. Even so, the men behind The Crisis hoped for a solution to the problems of empire within it, not outside it, and their ardour for the Patriot cause cooled once Revolutionary Americans declared independence. Despite their rhetorical blasts at Whitehall and Westminster, the men behind The Crisis were not looking to turn protest into rebellion nor were they interested in trading monarchy for a republic. They fell silent when their differences with American Revolutionaries became too obvious to deny.
