George III became king on 25 October 1760, on the death of his grandfather, George II, and was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 22 September 1761. The rapid changes of government created indecision, blunders and weaknesses especially towards America . There was no consistent governmental policy for the colonies, which eventually helped cause the War of Independence. In this decade, public opinion began to criticise governments, particularly the new newspapers. The most famous attacks were written by a man calling himself Junius, writing in the Public Advertiser.
Instability is built in to the parliamentary system in Britain to some extent.
The government always had a 'loyal opposition' with which to contend and septennial elections meant that there could be a change of government every seven years. The Whig view of the decade of instability was written in 1770 by Edmund Burke , MP, writer, philosopher and secretary to Charles Watson-Wentworth, second Marquis of Rockingham . Burke was the mouthpiece of the Rockingham Whigs. In 1770, Burke published a book called Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontent , offering reasons for the instability and insecurity. This was accepted as the truth until Sir Lewis Namier and Herbert Butterfield investigated Eighteenth Century political life in the 1940s.