Proclamation by the King for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition

Questions for Further Study

• 1. Compare and contrast Proclamation by the King for Suppressing Rebellion and Sedition with the Declaration of Independence. How are the documents structured? Do they share any similarities in language or in form? What were the intents of each author? On what legal foundations are they based? What rights does each claim to protect?
• 2. Why do British colonists in North America read the proclamation so differently from their British counterparts? In what ways does this difference characterize the lack of understanding that existed on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean?
• 3. What factors constrained George III's response to the colonists' actions? Which are constitutional in nature? Which are parts of the mind-set typical of an eighteenth-century ruler? In your opinion, as an eighteenth-century monarch, could George III have acted in any other way?
• 4. If you were a landed gentleman and minor officeholder in Massachusetts in late 1775 and undecided about which side in the debate over the rebellion you favored, how might you have reacted to George III's proclamation? What pressures might your neighbors, some conservative and some radical, have applied to sway your opinion?