The 27 grievances in the Declaration of Independence list specific acts by King George III and his officials that colonists believed proved tyranny. They include attempts to make judges dependent on the king, the removal of trial by jury, the stripping of Massachusetts's charter in 1774 and the use of the military above civil authority. Several grievances refer to people beyond the king: British officials such as General Thomas Gage and royal governors who suppressed protests. Other grievances hide Indigenous and enslaved people's actions, including the Proclamation Line of 1763 and Lord Dunmore's offer of freedom to enslaved people who joined the British. Historian Robert Parkinson argues that the list reflects the anger of ordinary colonists as much as the ideas in the famous opening lines.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.