Existing comment:
Grievances
“The only Representatives of the People of these Colonies, are Persons chosen therein by themselves, and . . . no Taxes ever have been, or can be Constitutionally imposed on them, but by their respective Legislature.”
-- The Stamp Act Congress, 1765
When Parliament directly taxed the colonists, it bypassed the legislative assemblies elected by voters in each colony. Americans objected that Parliament lacked legislative authority over them. They insisted that those who enacted colonial laws and taxes needed to be chosen by colonial voters and to share basic interests with their constituents and neighbors. Government was legitimate only when it actually represented the people being governed. |