Stand Alone Pages on 'Musings of an Old Curmudgeon'

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04 July 2021

A Few Facts for Catholics About HM King George III

From a Facebook post by a friend of mine (slightly edited).

Here are a few things American Catholics ought to know about King George III:
- It was under his reign that the penal laws against Catholics began to be repealed. Catholic relief acts were passed in 1774, 1778, 1782, 1791 and 1793.
- He gave royal pardons to remaining Jacobites who tried to overthrow his father and grandfather. To the remaining Jacobite clans in Scotland he also offered tracts of land in the American colonies, mostly around the Mohawk Valley of New York and Cape Fear in North Carolina. Both areas were staunchly loyalist and fought for the crown during the revolution. It has been said that George became their "new king over the water".
- He gave an annual stipend to Henry Benedict Stuart, who was the last Stuart claimant to publicly claim the British throne as well as the last Stuart. Upon his death, the Jacobite claims passed to the House of Savoy, then to the House of Habsburg (Austria-Este), and to the House of Wittelsbach where they are today, none of which have ever claimed the throne. George III's son, the future King George IV, also personally donated money for the construction of the Stuart family tomb in Rome (now a monument).
- He allowed England to become a refuge for French aristocrats and merchants fleeing bloodshed during the revolution in France.
It has been said that King George III did not pursue full emancipation for Catholics because it would violate his Protestant coronation oath. However, it should be noted that after the Quebec Act of 1774, the American founders called King George a "papist" and cited it as "an intolerable act" and a reason for their rebellion against him. Also, following the Catholic relief act of 1778, large scale rioting broke out in London. The Gordon Riots became the deadliest riot in British history in which over 200 people were killed in June of 1780. So it can also be said George was afraid that widespread, violent backlash would follow full Catholic emancipation. In fact, some may find it hard to believe, but many Catholics of this era did not want full emancipation for that same reason.
It would also be wise for American Catholics to ask themselves that if British rule was so oppressive towards Catholics in comparison to America, why was Catholicism legal in Canada and illegal in most of the rebellious colonies, and why did the loyalist countries of Canada, Australia and New Zealand all have a Catholic prime minister before we had a Catholic president here in the US?
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2 comments:

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