It has been two hundred and thirty two years since the beginning of the Revolution and it seems that its goals still have not been reached. In two centuries it seems that America has forgotten about what the fighting at places like Lexington and Concord was about, as the situation some two centuries later is back to the status quo antebellum. Why has this been allowed to happen? And what was the Revolution about anyway? There is a very simple reason why the author calls himself an American instead of an Englishman, and that is because two hundred and thirty two years before he wrote this document, the people of the thirteen colonies of Great Britain along the coast of what later would become the United States of America were frustrated with the taxes that London levied upon them and determined that they could do better under self rule without such repressive taxes.

It cannot that there was any other catalyst then taxation for the Revolution. The Bill of Rights Act of 1689 declared that Englishman possessed certain immutable civil and political rights, among them included the protection against taxation by the monarch without the consent of parliament, which thus implied that taxation could not be levied upon the people without the consent of their elected representatives. Their were no seats in the House of Commons, that is to say the parliament, the elected representation of the people of the United Kingdom and its territories abroad, on which their sat anyone who legally represented America specifically. It was this fact that under the Bill of Rights of 1689, parliament only possessed the right to tax persons on the British isles only. This there about nullified any bills for taxation of the Americas which either House of Parliament, the king or any fixture of British government imposed. It is for this reason, the lack of legal of authority used to enact the Stamp Act, Sugar Act, and all other taxes served to ignite the fires of Revolution.

The United Kingdom and its territories made up the freest nation that mankind had ever known up until 1776. The British were freer then all human beings on Earth, so why and how could the Britons living in America summon any venom against their king, for any acts of tyranny? Upon close examination of the text of the Declaration of Independence, any acts of tyranny can be traced to one thing: the illegal taxes, and responses to them. Not one of the actions which the grievances describe perpetrated by the King, parliament or their agents can be traced to anything other then reactions to resistance to the illegal taxes.

So it was the illegal taxes and reactions to resistance to them which caused the 'shot heard round the world' to be fired. It was resistance to illegal taxes which almost a hundred thousand of what would later become Americans died for. It was taxes which cleaved the greatest empire the world has ever known in two. Taxes represented all of the kings 'tyranny' in its entirety. It was taxes that drove brothers to take up arms against brothers, and sons against fathers. It was taxes and taxes alone which nearly one hundred fifty thousand people died in conflict over. The blood of these men should send a clear message.

The Continental Congress decided that the only way to free their people from the yoke of taxes was to form a new nation from the thirteen colonies they represented. It was to fight against taxes that the legions they summoned answered the call to fight. Taxes were the only reason that one hundred fifty thousand men on both sides died fighting for or against. This sends a clear message. The current government of the United States has forgotten what they and this nation were founded on. They have forgotten that taxes are the reason that the head of state in America is not styled 'Governor-General.' They have forgotten the reason that our legislature is called Congress and not Parliament. Though our government has allegedly given itself legitimate legal authority to impose taxes, it seems that what ignited the fires of revolution in America has been forgotten. The United States government has made the same mistake that the British Parliament did two and a quarter centuries ago, to suck the lifeblood out of the economy of America, to flip the people of America the bird and claim that they know how to spend their wealth better then the people themselves do. It is unclear why so few Americans understand why they call themselves an American instead of an Englishman, is based solely upon the fact that the people of the thirteen colonies of Great Britain along the coast of what later would become the United States of America were frustrated with the taxes that London levied upon them and determined that they could do better and establish a government which recognized the fact that the people know how to spend their hard earned money thence the government does. It is shameful that America has forgotten this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_taxation_without_representation
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_heard_round_the_world
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689

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