The years leading up to America's fight for independence weren't just marked by familiar taxes and protests. They represented a fundamental shift in how colonial Americans viewed themselves and their place in the world. After Britain emerged victorious but financially drained from the Seven Years' War, their solution seemed simple: tax the colonies. The Sugar Act, Stamp Act, and Townshend Acts followed in rapid succession, creating not just financial burden but a deep philosophical problem for Americans who had no representation in Parliament
"No taxation without representation" emerged not just as a catchy slogan but as a profound democratic principle. As colonial resistance organized through boycotts, pamphlets, and groups like the Sons of Liberty, everyday conversations in taverns and town halls began to change. Were these people still British subjects, or had they become something entirely new? The revolutionary spirit took hold not on battlefields but in the minds of ordinary people imagining an extraordinary future—one without kings, without rule by force, and with the freedom to chart their own course. Before America could fight for independence, Americans had to believe they deserved it.
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