George III was the British monarch when the Declaration of Independence was adopted in 1776.
George III became king of Great Britain in 1760 and reigned until 1820. During the American Revolutionary period, he was the king whose government the colonists challenged and whose authority the Declaration rejected.
The Declaration contains a long list of grievances directed against the king. Its authors presented him as a central symbol of imperial rule, although many of the disputed policies involved Parliament, ministers, military officers, and colonial officials as well.
George III is sometimes confused with other British monarchs named George. George II ruled during the earlier colonial period, while George IV succeeded George III after a regency caused by the king’s illness. The Declaration’s reference is specifically to George III.