Review of "George III: Mad or Maligned?" An A & E biography video

 Review of

George III: Mad or Maligned? An A & E biography video

Five out of five stars

A more honest perspective of George III

 In the United States, children are taught that the war of independence against Great Britain was due to the tyrannical practices of King George III as well as a Parliament that placed onerous taxes on the colonies. Both of these positions are incorrect, the actions of Parliament were thoroughly reasonable, given the British war debt. In fact the British population was more heavily taxed and they were united in believing that the colonists should pay their “fair share.” George was in fact no way a tyrant, being extremely frugal in his personal finances and subject more to the will of elected representatives than other monarchs. While he eventually went mad, that had little to do with governmental practices leading to the war.

 One underlying theme that runs through the tape is the knowledge that the British people were not enamored of their monarchs until the nineteenth century. George III was not popular until he started suffering from his illness, raising the interesting point that it took acts of madness to make him popular. I was also not aware that George may have been married and a father before he married the woman that was his queen. From the perspective of historical accuracy, hopefully some day DNA analysis will determine if that was indeed the case.

 The American history books reflect a cultural bias when they paint George III as a despot who ground down the colonists with a heavy burden until they could bear it no more. Other than his mental illness, he was a reasonable monarch, and he deeply regretted the loss of the American colonies. I enjoyed this tape, seeing sides of George that I never knew before. I would like to see this tape being shown to children in American history classes so that they can see that history is often interpreted rather than factual.