Quote Originally Posted by Phil View Post
Just think – if there hadn’t been that little bit of difficulty back in 1775 all of this speculation could have been of some significance to our American compatriots. As it is I wonder why there should be such fascination about these individuals? Perhaps it is time for a groundswell of opinion in your country for a restoration of the monarchy and a return to the fold. After all what rational being would really want any old Tom, Dick or Harry being elected as the Head of State?
Just think of the advantages. No more Presidential elections every four years with all the hassle and expense that entails. And worthy figures like Donald Trump could become courtiers and nobles with titles, ermine robes and all the flummery that goes with that. No more worries about having to aspire to be the President any more. All that would be solved and everyone could be happy becoming subjects of a hereditary sovereign instead of that pesky citizen nonsense. And, of course, there would no longer be any need for a Constitution. Not with a monarch who rules with absolute authority. I mean how could anyone want anything else?
But I forget, of course. Some people in 1775 actually wanted something different – and they did something about it.
Calling George III a "monarch with absolute authority" might be a bit of exaggeration. By 1776, the monarch's authority had been reduced dramatically as a result of the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution, which removed the "Divine Right" Stuarts from the throne and placed Parliament in the driver's seat. In fact, if you look at the "wrongs" committed against the North American colonies, a majority of them were committed not by a tyrant absolute monarch, but rather Members of Parliament. You can't have 1776 with 1688.

And of course, not every colonial American wanted something different -- many Loyalists here in the colonies, as well as residents of the Canadian colonies and the Caribbean strongly disagreed with their fellow colonials that the system was broken. Among that population were (to keep this post on-topic) former Jacobites from the Highlands who preferred a "German" king to mob rule.

And as terrible as the relationship was, American colonials enjoyed far more freedom than residents of Spanish or French colonies of the same period -- not to mention that residents of the British Isles paid twice the amount of taxes than the average American colonist.

<historian's rant over>

T.