The 2020 Sons of the American Revolution Georgian Papers Programme Annual Lecture will be presented by Professor David Armitage (Harvard University).

The lecture will take place online on Wednesday 16 December at 1700 - 2000 GMT.

This lecture examines how George III, from his early years as Prince of Wales in the 1750s through to the twilight of his active rulership in the early nineteenth century, was educated in constitutionalism and the law of nations. The lecture further highlights how George III gathered and processed information about imperial and international affairs, and how this constitutional and juridical knowledge shaped his understanding of international relations, the American Revolution, and the abolition of slavery, among other pressing contemporary questions.

From an examination of the Georgian Papers at Windsor Castle and the King’s Library at the British Library, a new picture emerges of George III as an unusually thoughtful, engaged, and at times surprisingly radical student of Montesquieu and Blackstone. This portrayal sees George III as a modernising monarch uniquely well equipped to reflect on the changing nature of sovereignty in an age of revolutions.

Register for the free event here.

The lecture will be followed by a live Q&A session on Zoom.