The armed conflict broke out in America in 1775. Some delegates from the Second Continental Congress drafted a peace offer known as the Olive Branch Petition, but the clashes had already arisen when the document arrived in England. On July 4, 1776 (Independence Day of the United States), the colonies declared their independence from the Crown. The Declaration of Independence of the United States made several political charges against the king, the legislature and the people. Among other offenses directed at George III, the Declaration blames him: "He has abandoned our Government ... He has devastated our seas, devastated our coasts, burned our cities and destroyed our lives."
George III was outraged when he heard the opinions of the settlers. Although the war against the colonists was favorable to Great Britain in the beginning, the situation changed completely after the surrender of British lieutenant-general John Burgoyne in the battle of Saratoga (September 19 and October 17, 1777). In 1778, France signed a Treaty of Friendship with the new United States. Lord North asked to resign in favor of William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, whom he considered most capable of facing the situation. George III, however, turned a deaf ear to such suggestions; suggesting that Lord Chatham was a minister subordinate to the administration of Lord North. Lord Chatham refused to cooperate, and died that same year. George III was then at war with France, and in 1779 he was also at war with Spain.
George III stubbornly tried to keep Britain at war against the rebels in America, despite the opinions of his own ministers. Granville Leveson-Gower, II Earl of Gower and Thomas Thynne, III Viscount Weymouth resigned before suffering the indignity of having to do with the war. Lord North informed George III that his opinion coincided with that of his resigning colleagues, but he remained in office.
In 1781, news of the capitulation of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquis Cornwallis, arrived in London; Tory Lord North resigned the following year (1782). George III finally admitted the defeat in North America and agreed to enter into peace negotiations. The Treaty of Paris and the associated Treaty of Versailles were ratified in 1783. The first treaty secured the recognition of the new United States by Great Britain. The second treaty stipulated that Britain would cede Florida to Spain and grant access to the waters of Newfoundland to France.
