The Declaration of Independence lists 27 colonial grievances against King George III.
These complaints form a major section of the 1776 document's case for separation from Great Britain. They accuse the king of obstructing colonial laws, dissolving representative bodies, interfering with courts, restricting trade, and maintaining troops without colonial consent.
The grievances were not a general list of every colonial dispute. They were selected arguments presenting royal policies as a pattern of abuses and usurpations. Thomas Jefferson drafted the declaration, but the Second Continental Congress revised his text before adopting it.
Readers often confuse the 27 grievances with the 13 colonies named in the declaration or the 56 delegates who eventually signed the engrossed copy. Those are separate historical numbers.