Quote:
Originally Posted by DaleDe
It is not the taxes but the lack of representation that was at issue. Don't you vote?
Dale
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As I understand it was the taxation, and not lack of representation that was the issue. American colonists did not want representation in Britain, they felt it was too far away, and they felt it was absurd that an island would control a continent. Although actual representation was not on the table, British policy at the time stated they were "virtually represented", claiming they were represented by similar voters. So "No taxation without representation" didn't mean "We won't pay until we're represented" it meant "We're not represented, and we can't be properly represented, so we shouldn't pay tax".
I'd also argue it wasn't inevitable, American colonists were proud to be part of the British Empire, it was treatment like stamp duty that disenfranchised them. The critical thing was that American Colonists were only part of the Empire because they wanted to be, Britain was not in a position to oblige it by force. Even if we had won the war of Independence, by that point I think it would have gone beyond the point and we'd have to effectively occupy the colonies in America to keep them loyal to the Crown.
As I understand there were loyalists in America during the Revolution, around 1/4 of the colonists opposed independence, although they switched when we were far too heavy handed. In other words we disenfranchised enough with taxation and legislation for a rebellion to occur, and may have disenfranchised enough of the rest with continued poor treatment and maltreatment in the war.
But it need not have led to American Independence. If instead us Brits had handled things correctly, and recognised a higher level of self governance in the American colonies, and had the colonists happy to pay extra taxes rather than forced then perhaps we'd end up with a stronger Commonwealth of Nations which contained America. Perhaps the Empire may not have crumbled in the way which it did. Perhaps America would have been more inclined to help Europeans in the war against Fascism. Indeed it could be argued that the only reason America was finally convinced to help in the Second World War was because they realised that Britain was the last barrier in Europe, and a united Fascist Europe may look to the Americas next.