No taxation without representation

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Taxation

An aspect of fiscal policy

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 • Tax, tariff and trade

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This article is part of a series about the

American Revolution
1765–1783

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"No taxation without representation" is a political slogan that originated in

the American Revolution, and which expressed one of the primary grievances of
the American colonists against Great Britain. 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.
The firm belief that the government should not tax a populace unless that populace is
somehow represented in the government developed in the English Civil War, following
the refusal of parliamentarian John Hampden to pay ship money tax.[1] In the context of
British taxation of its American colonies, the slogan "No taxation without representation"
appeared for the first time in a headline of a February 1768 London Magazine printing
of Lord Camden's "Speech on the Declaratory Bill of the Sovereignty of Great Britain
over the Colonies," which was given in the British Parliament.[2]

Contents

• 1Prior to the American Revolution

• 2American Revolution
o 2.1Representative proposals before 1776
 2.1.1The Knox-Burke debates
 2.1.2On the American Taxation
 2.1.3William Pitt the Elder
 2.1.4Colonial spokespersons
 2.1.5Republicanism
 2.1.6Heightening of tensions
 2.1.7Efforts at Conciliation
o 2.2Representative proposals after 1776
• 3Virtual representation

Internal
 o 3.1Colonial reactions
o 3.2Pitt and Camden
• 4Modern use in the United States
o 4.1District of Columbia
• 5Modern use in the United Kingdom
• 6Modern use in Canada
• 7Use in Australia
• 8See also
• 9References

Prior to the American Revolution[edit]

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Oldmixon

The English Parliament had controlled colonial trade and taxed imports and exports
since 1660.[3] By the 1760's, the Americans were being deprived of a historic right.[4] The
English Bill of Rights 1689 had forbidden the imposition of taxes without the consent of
Parliament. Since the colonists had no representation in Parliament, the taxes violated
the guaranteed Rights of Englishmen. Parliament initially contended that the colonists
had virtual representation, but the idea "found little support on either side of the
Atlantic".[5] The person who first suggested the idea of Parliamentary representation for
the colonies appears to have been Oldmixon, an American annalist of the era of Queen
Anne or George I. It was afterwards put forward with approbation by Adam Smith, and
advocated for a time, but afterwards rejected and strongly opposed, by Benjamin
Franklin."[6]
The 1768 Petition, Memorial, and Remonstrance, which was written by the Virginia
House of Burgesses was likewise sent to Parliament, only to be ignored.[7]

Internal