HIST 383 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: George Grenville, Tyrant, Intolerable Acts
Document Summary
He came to power in 1760 and saw himself as a virtuous reformer who would rule as a patriot king. He inherited the throne at 22 and had been brought up in isolation. He gave up the woman he loved to marry a german princess, they had 15 children and there was no evidence of illegitimate children. He was marked by contemporaries as being frugal and having simple tastes. He was stubborn who was convinced of his own opinion and wanted to reimpose monarchical authority. He wanted to restore the monogamy of monarchs. He broke from years of whig oligarchy - he wanted control and to choose his own ministers. This made him a target of political radicals at first in britain and then in america. He was relatively inexperienced and 25 years older than george. He was an advisor to the king"s mother and was highly unpopular. He was seen as a tyrant and was attacked in mob politics.
