Hanoverian kings: Great Britain and the United Kingdom

Ernest Augustus and Sophia's son, George I became the first British monarch of the House of Hanover. ^[1] The dynasty provided six British monarchs:

Of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland:

• George I (r.1714-1727) (Georg Ludwig = George Louis)
• George II (r.1727-1760)(Georg August = George Augustus)
• George III (r.1760-1820)^[2]

Of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland:

• George III (r.1760-1820)
• George IV (r.1820-1830)
• William IV (r.1830-1837)
• Victoria (r.1837-1901).

George I, George II, and George III also served as electors and dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, informally, Electors of Hanover (cf. personal union). From 1814, when Hanover became a kingdom, the British monarch was also King of Hanover.

In 1837, however, the personal union of the thrones of the United Kingdom and Hanover ended. Succession to the Hanoverian throne was regulated by Salic law, which forbad inheritance by a woman, so that it passed not to Queen Victoria but to her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland. ^[3] In 1901, when Queen Victoria died, the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ascended to the U.K. throne as her son and heir, Edward VII, as son of her husband, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, genealogically belonged to that House — asserting, thereby, that the name of the U.K.’s Royal House changed because the surname of his father was Edward VII's surname. ^[4]

Virtual representation

Virtual Representation was a concept in Hanoverian Britain, based on the belief that men without the vote (For example: persons in some cities in England such as Manchester, in the colonies, or simply those in Great Britain who did not have the franchise) were "virtually represented" by Members of Parliament who had been elected by "similar" voters. There were some shopkeepers who voted for MPs, the theory went; therefore all shopkeepers were virtually represented. Men who owned property in North America voted for MPs--some, indeed, sat in Parliament. This, the advocates of virtual representation held, meant that American interests were virtually represented. The colonial response to this was the famous declaration of "No taxation without representation."

Famous defenders of "virtual representation" included William Paley.

Declaration of Rights and Grievances

The Declaration of Rights and Grievences was a document created during the Stamp Act Congress declaring that taxes imposed on British colonists without their formal consent were unconstitutional. This was especially directed at the Stamp Act, which required that documents, newspapers, and playing cards to be printed on special stamped and taxed paper.

The Declaration of Rights raised fourteen points of colonial protest. In addition to the specific protests of the Stamp Act taxes, it asserted that

• Only the colonial assemblies had a right to tax the colonies. (no taxation without representation).
• Trial by jury was a right, and the use of Admiralty Courts was abusive.
• Colonists possessed all the Rights of Englishmen.
• Without voting rights, Parliament could not represent the colonists.