As I understand it, the American colonists were being taxed without being represented in the British Parliament. The heavy taxes were mainly because of the French and Indian War which was meant to protect them, and to continue protecting them with soldiers. Sure being taxed without representation kind of sucks, but it was meant to be in their best interest, so is that really enough justification to start a war that killed thousands of people? With all the talk of liberty among the founding fathers you would think it was a much more crucial liberty being infringed upon (freedom of speech/religion/thought or something) rather than freedom to not be taxed without representation.
Sorry if this is the wrong place to post this. If so please redirect me.
Thanks.
Well, there was more to it than "No Taxation without representation", even though this was one of the boiling points of the british-colonial relations. When reading the declaration of independence, which was designed to show the intentions of the seceeding colonies, you can find a long list of reasons for independence. Some notable:
(1) "He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people." -->Denial of just representation in colonial assemblies.
(2)"He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries" --> lack of separation of powers
(3)"For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent" -->Taxation without representation.
The introduction of the DoI also shows the heavy influence of thinkers like Hobbes ("That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it") and the Enlightenment on the founding fathers.
You see, it is a number of reasons, politically, economically as well as ideologically, that lead to the declaration of independence. Taxation as in the Stamp Act was only the matter where the disagreement between the crown and the colonial elites surfaced.