The Declaration of Rights and Grievances was a document created during the Committees of Correspondence declaring that tax

Tax

To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...

es imposed on British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 colonists without their formal consent were unconstitutional. This was especially directed at the Stamp Act

Stamp Act

A stamp act is any legislation that requires a tax to be paid on the transfer of certain documents. Those that pay the tax receive an official stamp on their documents, making them legal documents. The taxes raised under a stamp act are called stamp duty. This system of taxation was first devised...

, which required that documents, newspapers, and playing cards to be printed on special stamped and taxed paper.

The Declaration of Rights raised fourteen points of colonial protest. In addition to the specific protests of the Stamp Act taxes, it asserted that

• Only the colonial assemblies had a right to tax the colonies. (no taxation without representation
  No taxation without representation
  "No taxation without representation" is a slogan originating during the 1750s and 1760s that summarized a primary grievance of the British colonists in the Thirteen Colonies, which was one of the major causes of the American Revolution...
  
  ).
• Trial by jury
  Trial by Jury
  Trial by Jury is a comic opera in one act, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was first produced on 25 March 1875, at London's Royalty Theatre, where it initially ran for 131 performances and was considered a hit, receiving critical praise and outrunning its...
  
   was a right, and the use of Admiralty Courts
  Admiralty court
  Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries and offences.- Admiralty Courts in England and Wales :...
  
   was abusive.
• Colonists possessed all the Rights of Englishmen
  Rights of Englishmen
  The rights of Englishmen are the perceived traditional rights of British subjects. The notion refers to various constitutional documents that were created throughout various stages of English history, such as Magna Carta, the Declaration of Right , and others...
  
  .
• Without voting rights
  Virtual representation
  In the early stages of the American Revolution, colonists in the Thirteen Colonies rejected legislation imposed upon them by the British Parliament because the colonies were not represented in Parliament. According to the British constitution, colonists argued, taxes could only be levied on British...
  
  , Parliament could not represent the colonists.

See also

• Continental Association
• Petition to the King (1774)
  Petition to the King (1774)
  The Petition to the King was a petition sent to George III of Great Britain by the First Continental Congress. The petition expressed loyalty to the king and hoped for redress of grievances relating to the Intolerable Acts and other issues that helped foment the American Revolution.-Further...
  
  
• Conciliatory Resolution
  Conciliatory Resolution
  The Conciliatory Resolution was a resolution passed by the British Parliament in an attempt to reach a peaceful settlement with the Thirteen Colonies immediately prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War....
  
  
• Olive Branch Petition
  Olive Branch Petition
  The Olive Branch Petition was adopted by the Continental Congress in July 1775 in an attempt to avoid a full-blown war with Great Britain. The petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated the king to prevent further conflict...
  
  
• Hutchinson Letters Affair
  Hutchinson Letters Affair
  The Hutchinson Letters Affair was an incident that increased tensions between the American colonies and the British government prior to the American Revolution...
  
  

External links

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