What is the difference between virtual representation and actual representation?
According to those who supported the concept of virtual representation, the colonists’ interests were present in Parliament as they were residents of the British Empire. Those supporting actual representation contended that only those who had chosen members of Parliament were truly represented.
What was virtual representation and why were the colonists opposed to it?
The concept of virtual representation means that every lawmaker represents not only the people from his or her area but also all the people throughout the country or empire. The colonists were upset because they didn’t have representatives that they elected to Parliament.
What does representation mean in no taxation without representation?
tyranny
The phrase taxation without representation describes a populace that is required to pay taxes to a government authority without having any say in that government’s policies. The term has its origin in a slogan of the American colonials against their British rulers: “Taxation without representation is tyranny.”1
Was virtual representation a justified reason to directly tax the colonists?
At the time of the American Revolution, only England and Wales and Scotland were directly represented in the Parliament of Great Britain among the many parts of the British Empire. Moreover, the poor state of representation in Britain “was no excuse for taxing the colonists without their consent.”
How did the colonists react to taxation without representation?
Colonial assemblies denounced the law, claiming the tax was illegal on the grounds that they had no representation in Parliament. Colonists were likewise furious at being denied the right to a trial by jury.
Why was the idea of no taxation without representation so important to the colonists?
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.