No Taxation Without Representation

Many colonists were angered because of high taxes England chose to enforce on them. These taxes were a result of the British participation and victory in the French and Indian war. However, what made the colonists even more angry was the fact that they were being taxed without representation in England’s Parliament. The colonists thought that, in order to be taxed by the British, they should have representation in it. They saw it as unfair to be taxed by a government they had no say in. As Patrick Henry said in his speech made to the Virginia House of Burgesses, “We can under law be taxed only by our own representatives...The Stamp Act is against the law. We must not obey it…” (Doc. 1). Since many colonists thought this taxation broke the law, some of them chose to protest by going to the House of Burgesses, boycotting imports, or simply not paying it in response. This response is justified; if

Exasperated Americans saw that they had no sort of representation in England. No person of leadership was asked to sit in Parliament and voice any colonial concerns. The colonies did not have any sort of representation within the British Parliament. Without representation, the colonies were being taxed without any sort of consideration for the people. The Patriotic slogan for this particular upset was “No Taxation Without Representation”. Samual Adams used this phrase to gain more followers and to build a force against Britain. Adams was ready for a war, he wanted separation from England before others even thought

The colonists believed they had a right to be represented in Parliament before being taxed or at least vote for the taxing officials. The phrase “no taxation without representation” began to become popular within the colonies.

James Otis mentions “No part of His Majesty’s dominions can be taxed without their consent… this would seem to [contradict] the theory of the constitution” which explains that the governed must have a say in what they will be taxed on and if not, the British Parliament is par taking in illegal actions. With no representation in Parliament, American colonists who felt the taxes to be a little excessive had no other option other than civil disobedience to rebel. It is safe to to say that the colonists had every right to rebel against the British.

James Otis also denied Parliament the right to tax the colonies in his work “Rights of the British Colonies Asserted and Proved”. His claims are based on his understanding of the English rights, the English constitutional law protected all people whether they are at home or abroad from tyranny. One of the most important English liberties was the protection from internal taxation without representation. Otis is stating that any acts of Parliament that violate the English law shouldn’t be allowed in the colonies.

Consequently, the British Parliament imposed taxation on the colonists in the 1760’s. The colonists resented this intrusion, for they felt they were not truly represented in the British government. Taxation without representation became the rallying cry of the colonists.

When Parliament realized they could not pay this by the government's yearly expenditures, they started imposing levies on the colonists. At this time, the American colonists had no representatives and they did not have any recognition to the taxes being laid before

During the time before the War of Independence there was a rift over the British rule in the Thirteen Colonies. After the Seven Years War the British were attempting to save money. The British wanted to do this by having the troops stationed in the Thirteen Colonies instead of Britain. The British then decided that instead of keeping the troops stationed in the Thirteen Colonies, they would have the colonists pay for them. The British attempted this by raising the taxes, but the colonists refused to pay. The colonists wanted to be able to elect representatives into British parliament, but the colonists were not able to elect representatives. The colonists then came up with the slogan, "No taxation

Parliamentary taxation was paramount to the start of the American Revolution in 1776. The British came out of the Seven Year war with heavy debts which led the British to raise taxes to colonists on necessary goods such as sugar and molasses, passage of the Currency and Stamp Act and other unfair taxes to the colonists. Colonists referred to these laws as Intolerable Acts and the colonies called out for a locally enforced boycott against the British. Armed conflict became inevitable as the local militias and populous became more hostile. This unfair taxation was the primary reason colonists rebelled against the British. Taxation without direct representation was more important than the other three because the British taxed the colonists when the colonists didn’t even have any actual legislators voting in London.

We, the Colonists, refuse taxation without representation. We have no voice in parliament as it’s too far away. Decisions should not be made without these colonies when the people who make these decisions have not experienced living there. They do not know our lifestyle so they should not be able to make decisions regarding it. We could never have a voice in parliament either, as an entire ocean separates us.

Why weren’t the thirteen colonies willing to abide by England’s laws? While some people were horrified with the Stamp Act, others were completely accepting of this new act. Janis Herbert stated in her book, The American Revolution for Kids, that after the French and Indian War, England had many debts, which obviously needed to be paid (3). England’s Parliament decided the American colonists needed to pay their debts for them. England went about this matter by raising taxes and requiring a stamp for fifty different documents (Gale Encyclopedia Par. 2). Since America was not yet a country, and had no representation, they were trapped with the laws Parliament passed. Even though England was trying to pay off their debts from the French & Indian War, they went about it the wrong way, because they expected the American colonists to pay by increased tax dollars. This is an example of taxation without representation, because the American colonists didn't have representatives, or the opportunity to vote.

The phrase, "No taxation without representation," epitomizes an early example of disobedience in American history. English colonists endured England's mercantilist policies, such as the Stamp Act, which exploited the colonies' resources and revenues. Eventually, indignation against the Crown and the call for independence escalated into the American Revolution. While the colonists faced harsh punishments, such as the Intolerable Acts, their efforts to seek reparations by boldly challenging authority ultimately led to British withdrawal.

The Americans in the colonies decided to break away from Great Britain for many reasons. One reason was the taxes being put on items. This made the colonists come up with the phrase "no taxation without representation". (Doc #1)

The first problem Britain had was an extreme national debt from fighting the war. The national debt had grown to 133 million pounds by 1763 and the interest on the debt required 60 percent of the nation’s budget (Henretta, Edwards, & Self, 2012). The answer to this problem seemed to be easy for British Parliament, tax the colonists more. They believed that since they were providing security to the colonists they needed to pay their fair share. This created the slogan no taxation without representation. Many colonists rebelled against the taxes due to the fact that they had no say in how or where these funds were utilized.

“No Taxation Without Representation was the cry of James Otis…”This saying occurred because of the stamp act as well as other laws.these laws made the colonist very angry. So on October 1765 colonist met in new york city to talk about the taxing issue.This conversation lead to a group called the “stamp act congress” this group included Patrick Henry and Samuel Adams.They wrote angry letters to the King wanting tax to repeal. In 1766 the stamp act was repealed colonists were thrilled they thought this meant freedom. In 1767 the king decided that the kingdom needed revenue so the king made different items have