taxation without representation

Examples of taxation without representation in the following topics:

• Social Classes in the Colonies

  • The American colonies were unique due to the representation of many different interest groups in political decision-making.
  • However the growing strength of republicanism created a political ethos that resisted imperial taxation without local consent.
  • Led by Virginia, the Southern Colonies resisted the British policy of taxation without representation, and they supported the American Revolution, sending wealthy planters like George Washington—to lead the armies—and Thomas Jefferson—to declare the principles of independence, as well as thousands of ordinary people to form armies.
  • Republicanism provided the framework for colonial resistance to British schemes of taxation after 1763, which escalated into the American Revolution.

• The Sugar and Stamp Acts

  • Calls for the Act's repeal began almost immediately, and protests against the Sugar Act at first focused more on the economic impact rather than the constitutional issue of taxation without representation.
  • The theoretical issue that would soon hold center stage was the matter of taxation without representation.
  • The counter to this argument, held by members of Parliament, was the theory of virtual representation.
  • Thomas Whately explained this theory in a pamphlet that readily acknowledged there could be no taxation without consent; however, he argued that at least 75% of British adult males were not represented in Parliament because of property qualifications or other factors.
  • The colonists enjoyed actual representation in their own legislative assemblies, and the issue was whether these legislatures, rather than Parliament, were in fact the sole recipients of the colonists' consent with regard to taxation.

• Liberty and Property

  • To protect the rights of colonists, delegates of the Stamp Act Congress drafted the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, declaring that taxes imposed on British colonists without their formal consent were unconstitutional.
  • only the colonial assemblies had a right to tax the colonies (no taxation without representation),
  • The resolves claimed that, in accordance with long established British law, Virginia was subject to taxation only by a parliamentary assembly to which Virginians themselves elected representatives.

• The Revolution and Churches

  • He is credited with coining the phrase, "No taxation without representation."

• The Stamp Act

  • Colonial uprising following the direct taxation on printed materials led to the first joint colonial response to British measures.
  • The theoretical issue that would soon hold center stage was the matter of taxation without representation.
  • The counter to this argument was the theory of virtual representation.
  • Thomas Whately enunciated this theory in a pamphlet that readily acknowledged that there could be no taxation without consent, but the facts were that at least 75% of British adult males were not represented in Parliament because of property qualifications or other factors.
  • The colonists enjoyed actual representation in their own legislative assemblies, and the issue was whether these legislatures, rather than Parliament, were in fact the sole recipients of the colonists' consent with regard to taxation.

• The Acts of Parliament

  • The colonies disputed the legality of this act since it seemed to violate the Bill of Rights of 1689, which forbade taxation without representation and the raising and/or keeping of a standing army without the consent of Parliament.
  • The Third Amendment to the United States Constitution places restrictions on the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner's consent, forbidding the practice in peacetime.

• The Townshend Acts

  • Enforcement of colonial taxation in the form of the Townshend Acts only increased colonial tension and resistance, especially in Boston.
  • Along with boycotts, two colonial movements, the Daughters of Liberty and the nonconsumption agreements, were created in response to British taxation.
  • Discoveries like boiled basil leaves to make a tea-like drink, referred to as Liberty Tea, helped lift spirits and also allowed colonists to keep traditions alive without the use of British taxed tea.
  • Sent by the Massachusetts House of Representatives to the other colonial legislatures, the letter laid out the unconstitutionality of taxation without representation and encouraged the other colonies to again protest the taxes by boycotting British goods.

• The Debate over Slavery

  • One of the most contentious slavery-related questions was whether slaves would be counted as part of the population in determining representation in Congress, or if they would be considered property and therefore exempt from representation.
  • Delegates from states with large populations of slaves argued that slaves should be considered as people in determining representation.
  • Delegates from states where slavery had become rare argued the opposite: that slaves should be included in taxation but not in determining representation.
  • While the original amendment to the Articles of Confederation had failed, the Three-Fifths Compromise was passed without extensive debate in the forming of the new Constitution.
  • In exchange for this concession, provisions that allowed for taxation of slave trades in the international market would strengthen the federal government's power to regulate foreign commerce.

• "A More Perfect Union"

  • However, this more perfect Union was not without wrinkles.
  • The first area of major dispute was how representation would be apportioned in the bicameral legislature.
  • Small states felt that all states were equal in stature and that if Congressional representation were based upon population, they would be outvoted on everything.
  • Another contentious slavery-related question was whether slaves would be counted as part of the population in determining representation of the states in the Congress, or would instead be considered property and as such not be considered for purposes of representation.
  • Delegates from states where slavery had become rare argued that slaves should be included in taxation, but not in determining representation.

• The Boston Tea Party

  • The mass meeting passed a resolution, introduced by Adams and based on a similar set of resolutions promulgated earlier in Philadelphia, urging the captain of the Dartmouth to send the ship back without paying the import duty.
  • Governor Hutchinson refused to grant permission for the Dartmouth to leave without paying the duty.
  • By "constitution," he was referring to the idea that all governments have a constitution, written or not, and that the constitution of Great Britain could be interpreted as banning the levying of taxes without representation.
  • The tax on tea was repealed with the Taxation of Colonies Act of 1778, part of another Parliamentary attempt at conciliation that eventually failed.