Definition
Colonists argued that the rights of Englishmen included paying only taxes approved by representatives they chose, and they elected no members of the House of Commons. Virginia's House of Burgesses made the case in the Virginia Resolves of May 1765, and in October the Stamp Act Congress declared that the colonists could not be represented in Parliament from so far away, so only their own assemblies could tax them. Few colonists wanted seats in Parliament; they wanted taxing left to their assemblies. Many also accepted Parliament's right to regulate trade and objected to taxes meant to raise revenue.
Why it matters on the AP exam
The principle rested mainly on the rights of Englishmen and on the colonial assemblies' long habit of controlling taxes. It ran through every protest from the Sugar Act to the Tea Act, and it explains why colonists resisted even the Tea Act, which made tea cheaper: buying the taxed tea meant accepting Parliament's right to tax. By 1774 some leaders, such as Thomas Jefferson in A Summary View of the Rights of British America, went further and denied that Parliament had any authority over the colonies, a common example of change in colonial attitudes between 1763 and 1776. Questions ask students to identify the principle in a source such as the Virginia Resolves and to set it against Britain's answer, virtual representation.
In the sources
“The taxation of the people by themselves, or by persons chosen by themselves to represent them … is the distinguishing characteristick of British freedom.”
Connections
- Virtual representation: the British doctrine that the slogan rejected
- Stamp Act: the 1765 tax that brought the slogan into wide use
- House of Burgesses: it passed the Virginia Resolves stating the principle in May 1765
- Declaration of Independence: its grievances charged the king with imposing taxes without colonial consent