What are some ways that, from a traditional Catholic perspective, one could defend the rebellion of the American colonists against the Crown of the United Kingdom and the reign of King George III?
I'm a monarchist. I would have all countries ruled either by benevolent Catholic monarchs, or failing that, as Catholic commonwealths governed by wise and holy men under the Social Reign of Christ the King. Obviously our country is neither.
The only justification I can think of, is that George III was at least a material heretic, and that allegiance is never owed to any monarch unless he is a Catholic monarch. Has the Church ever taught this? I know that Pope St Pius V absolved Englishmen of their allegiance to Elizabeth I in his bull Regnans in excelsis (1570), but according to Charles Coulombe --- who told me this personally in an email --- this only applied to Elizabeth, and not to her successors. (Charles, if you read CathInfo, PM me, us monarchists have to stick together, by American standards, we're all crazy! Our neighbors to the north would see matters differently.)
Did the Church ever tell the nascent United States, "hey, you did the right thing, it was okay, other colonists in similar straits would be justified in doing likewise", or anything like that?
Just speaking from the gut, I have to think that repudiating one's monarch is a sin against the Fourth Commandment. So what made America different?