3.3 Taxation Without Representation

Britain's New Colonial Policy

After the costly French and Indian War (1754–1763), Britain sought revenue from the colonies and tightened control. Parliament ended salutary neglect, passing acts like the Sugar Act (1764) and Stamp Act (1765) to tax colonists directly. Colonists protested using the slogan "no taxation without representation," arguing only their own assemblies could tax them, not a distant Parliament.

Escalating Resistance

Colonists organized boycotts, formed groups like the Sons of Liberty, and held the Stamp Act Congress (1765). Britain repealed the Stamp Act but passed the Declaratory Act, asserting full authority over colonies. The Townshend Acts (1767) and events like the Boston Massacre (1770) and Boston Tea Party (1773) deepened tensions, prompting harsh British responses like the Coercive/Intolerable Acts (1774).

Ideas Driving Resistance

Colonists drew on Enlightenment ideas of natural rights and government by consent, plus English constitutional traditions like the rights outlined in the English Bill of Rights. Pamphlets and committees of correspondence spread revolutionary ideas, uniting colonies in shared grievances and setting the stage for the First Continental Congress (1774) and eventual armed conflict.

Key terms

Stamp Act (1765)

A British tax requiring colonists to pay for stamps on legal documents and printed materials; sparked widespread protest.

Sons of Liberty

Colonial organization that led resistance against British taxation through protests, boycotts, and sometimes violence.

Declaratory Act (1766)

Law passed alongside the Stamp Act's repeal, asserting Parliament's full authority to legislate for the colonies.

"No taxation without representation"

Colonial slogan expressing the belief that Parliament had no right to tax colonists who lacked representation in it.

Boston Tea Party (1773)

Protest where colonists dumped British tea into Boston Harbor in defiance of the Tea Act, leading to the Intolerable Acts.

Try an AP-style question

The Stamp Act (1765) was the first…

1. trade regulation on sugar
2. ban on colonial assemblies
3. tax on tea imports
4. direct tax on the colonies