who was the despot that the colonies were complaining about

The “despot” the American colonies were complaining about was King George III of Great Britain.

Who the colonies meant

In the language of the Declaration of Independence and related colonial writings, the complaints and grievances are aimed directly at the British monarch, referred to as “the present King of Great Britain.”

By calling him a despot or tyrant, colonial leaders were arguing that King George III had abused his power so badly that he no longer deserved the loyalty of a free people.

Why they called him a despot

Colonial writers listed a series of “injuries and usurpations,” including interference with colonial legislatures, maintaining standing armies in peacetime, and approving laws the colonists saw as oppressive.

These actions were used as evidence that King George III was behaving like a ruler who governed without regard for the rights or consent of his subjects, which is what they meant by a despot.

In simple terms

When a worksheet or textbook asks, “Who was the ‘despot’ that the colonies were complaining about?”, the expected one-line answer is: King George III.

That single name captures the figure the colonists held most responsible for British rule they saw as unfair and tyrannical.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.