The biggest influence came from their British heritage. (Remember the colonists WERE British until the American Revolution!) Events in British history and things that were happening during their own time affected the way the Founders thought government should work.

In royal colonies, the governor and the council were appointed by the British government. In proprietary colonies, these officials were appointed by proprietors, and they were elected in charter colonies. In every colony, the assembly was elected by property owners.

In the British colonies in the 1700s, ownership of property was required for voting. a higher percentage of the people could vote than in any other part of the world. blacks, Indians, and women could not vote.

Britain also needed money to pay for its war debts. The King and Parliament believed they had the right to tax the colonies. They protested, saying that these taxes violated their rights as British citizens. The colonists started to resist by boycotting, or not buying, British goods.

Definition of the Stamp Act The Stamp Act took effect on November 1, 1765. It was designed to raise revenue from the American Colonies by a duty (tax) in the form of a stamp required on all newspapers and legal or commercial documents. The Stamp Act was first direct tax to be levied on the American colonies.

Which excerpt from the Declaration of Independence best explains why colonists were unhappy about their lack of representation in the British parliament? “He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people.” “For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.”

The saying that was brought up by the colonists was “No taxation without representation!”, meaning “You can’t tax us unless we have direct representation in parliament!”. The colonists had no way to vote for how they got taxed.

The King and Parliament believed they had the right to tax the colonies. Many colonists felt that they should not pay these taxes, because they were passed in England by Parliament, not by their own colonial governments. They protested, saying that these taxes violated their rights as British citizens.

In short, many colonists believed that as they were not represented in the distant British parliament, any taxes it imposed on the colonists (such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts) were unconstitutional, and were a denial of the colonists’ rights as Englishmen.

a phrase, generally attributed to James Otis about 1761, that reflected the resentment of American colonists at being taxed by a British Parliament to which they elected no representatives and became an anti-British slogan before the American Revolution; in full, “Taxation without representation is tyranny.”

Development. During the winter of 1764-5, British MP George Grenville and his lieutenant, Thomas Whately, attempted to explicitly articulate a theory that could justify the lack of representation in colonial taxation.