I've not studied the American Revolution much beyond what they taught in English schooling, but one thing that's always stuck out is how fierce the Americans were about self-representation. Up until India the Continental Congress was probably the biggest "fuk u lol" we faced as an empire.
Behind the warcrying though, I don't know what their aims were. Did the colonials want a seat in parliament? Did they want a mutual alliance of nations? Did they want the king's ear on tariff issues?
Before the question of open revolt came up, what form did American desires take and who were they directed at?
They wanted to be represented in parliament. They viewed themselves as Englishmen, so they were arguing that if parliament was going to tax then, so be it, but they should have a say in government as well just like the rest of their fellow Englishmen. It wasn't really the taxes itself that were the problem, it's just they wanted to have a say in government if they were going to be subject to English taxes. You have to understand what life was like before the taxes came about, the colonies were pretty much self-governing and the kind of interference from the crown they got was appalling and unusual to them.