The Declaration of Independence is actually full of specific criticisms against King George. Indeed the bulk of the document is made up of 18 sets of grievances, each beginning with the words "He (meaning, of course, the king) has" For example, the first of these grievances claims that the king has failed to approve legislation passed by the colonial assemblies:He has refused his Assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.Placing the blame at the feet of the king, instead of his ministers or Parliament, was a rhetorical strategy that highlighted the tyrannical (according to the revolutionaries) behavior of the British government. In reality, for example, the colonial laws, mostly dealing with the issuance of paper currency, that failed to gain royal assent had, strictly speaking, been overturned by either the Board of Trade or the Privy Council, not the king himself.
