The Grievances

The next section of the Declaration of Independence lists 27 grievances against King George III and Parliament. This is the longest section in the document, and the grievances focus on political, economic, and military issues. The Second Continental Congress understood the importance of thoroughly explaining to their various audiences—King George and Parliament, the American colonists, the world—the reasons for their unprecedented decision to declare independence from the mother country. Read through the selection of grievances and answer the question that follows.

GRIEVANCE: He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

Parliament passed the Intolerable Acts in 1774, after the Boston Tea Party. The act revoked the Massachusetts colony’s charter; made British general Thomas Gage the military governor; and empowered Gage to dissolve the current Massachusetts legislature, appoint a new one, and force them to meet where he demanded.

A full-length portrait of King George the Third standing proudly and dressed in clothing for royality that is golden and includes a lavish, flowy robe.

King George III in coronation robes.

GRIEVANCE: He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing to Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

Under the Intolerable Acts, Parliament abolished the Massachusetts colony’s right to elect/appoint its own judges and appointed judges for them.

GRIEVANCE: He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

Great Britain continued to maintain a military force in the colonies even after the French and Indian War had ended in 1763. The presence of the British army in the colonies made the American colonists suspicious about the king’s true intentions.

GRIEVANCE: For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.

In 1765, Parliament passed the Quartering Act, which required colonies to provide housing for troops stationed in their towns and to pay for their basic necessities, such as food.

GRIEVANCE: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.

Although the Navigation Acts were passed by Parliament in the 1660s, they were not enforced until the 1760s. These acts regulated who the colonies could trade with and how that trade was to be conducted.

GRIEVANCE: For imposing taxes on us without our consent.

Parliament claimed the right to tax the colonists as they pleased. The colonists insisted that only their legislative bodies, in which they had direct representation, had the authority to levy internal taxes.

GRIEVANCE: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of trial by jury.

All cases related to the enforcement of the Navigation Acts were tried by the British Admiralty Court, which did not use juries: the court’s decision came directly from the judge.

GRIEVANCE: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

Royal governors had the power to suspend colonial legislatures and enact royal proclamations that would then become law. This occurred in the colonies of New York, Virginia, Georgia, and South Carolina.

GRIEVANCE: He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

In December 1775, Parliament authorized the Royal Navy to seize colonial ships and to impress, or force into service, captured sailors into the Royal Navy.

Take Notes

Choose two of the grievances listed above. For each one, explain why you think that the Committee of Five thought that it was significant enough to include in the Declaration of Independence.