Long accustomed to a considerable degree of self-government and freed, after 1763, from the French danger, American colonists resented any attempts to make them pay a share of the cost of imperial defence in the form of assorted taxes and duties. They also resented British attempts to treat colonial legislatures as secondary to the government […]

In 1760, the aged George II was succeeded by his grandson, George III. Unlike his predecessors, George III was more interested in English than German af­fairs. George tried to enter politics as an independent force. He did not attempt to free himself from the control of Parliament, as the time when that was pos­sible had […]