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Grievance #22 of the Declaration of Independence
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Founding Principles
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What happens when a government gives itself total power?
In Grievance 22 of the Declaration of Independence, Sasha Rickard, Assistant Director at MIT Concourse, explains how Parliament suspended colonial legislatures and claimed the right to make laws for the colonies in all cases whatsoever.
For colonists, this crossed a line. Laws were supposed to come from representatives chosen by the people, not imposed by a distant government with no input.
Drawing on the ideas of John Locke, this wasn’t just unfair, it was dangerous. Claiming absolute power over the colonies was seen as an act of aggression and a violation of the social contract.
By dissolving local governments and taking full control, Britain wasn’t just changing policy. Colonists believed it was destroying their right to self-government and putting them under unchecked authority.
This is Part 22 of our 27-part series breaking down every grievance that led to the American Revolution, building toward Independence Day.
0:00 for suspending our own legislatures and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. It’s the second half of this grievance that is most obviously offensive to us today. That Parliament would declare themselves empowered to govern the Americas in all matters without input from the colonists is almost literally the definition of
0:20 tyranny. Indeed, it is the definition of a state of war according to John Locke. Locke argues that, "He who attempts to get another man into his absolute power does thereby put himself into a state of war with him." Anyone who attempts to gain excessive power over someone else must be understood to be acting aggressively.
0:41 And you are always justified in defending yourself even if they have not otherwise harmed you. According to Locke, just by claiming the right to legislate over the colonies without colonial input, Parliament was committing an act of aggression. The first part of the grievance, complaining of the suspension of the legislature, is just as essential. Lock argues in this that same treatise
1:03 that political society has a right to organize itself into a government for its own protection and prosperity. That organization takes the form of a legislative body based on the consent of the people. By dissolving the legislative body, England deprived the colonists of their natural right for to self-government and at the same time attempted to make
1:24 themselves absolutely powerful over the colonists. This constituted not only a breach of the social contract, but an act of rebellion of the government against the colonists and thus justified the people in responding.
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Related Resources
What if you could be arrested and sent away without even seeing a judge? In Grievance 19 of the Declaration of Independence, Garrett Jones, Postdoc Fellow at the Thomas Jefferson Center at University of Texas at Austin, explains how colonists were detained and transported far from home without due process. This violated a key legal protection known as habeas corpus, the right to appear before a judge and hear the charges against you. Rooted in traditions going back to the Magna Carta, this right was meant to protect individuals from arbitrary imprisonment. For colonists, losing that protection was a serious warning sign. If the government could detain people without explanation and move them far away, it meant basic legal rights were no longer secure. This grievance highlights a tension that still exists today: how to balance liberty and security, especially during times of conflict. This is Part 19 of our 27-part series breaking down every grievance that led to the American Revolution, building toward Independence Day.
Why were colonists so alarmed by a law passed in Canada? In Grievance #20 of the Declaration of Independence, Dallas Terry from the Kinder Institute at the University of Missouri explains why the Quebec Act of 1774 deeply worried many Americans. The act expanded Quebec’s territory, replaced English common law with French civil law, and created a government that colonists believed lacked meaningful representation. For many Americans, the biggest issue was proximity. Arbitrary government felt far more dangerous when it existed right next door. Colonial leaders feared that if Parliament could establish this kind of system in Quebec, similar policies could eventually spread into the American colonies themselves. The grievance also reflected anxieties over westward expansion, political power, and the future direction of liberty in North America. This is Part 20 of our 27-part series breaking down every grievance that led to the American Revolution, building toward Independence Day.
What happens when a government rewrites the rules without your consent? In Grievance #21 of the Declaration of Independence, Kelsa Pelletiere, PhD Candidate at the University of Mississippi, explains why colonists were furious when Britain altered colonial governments and revoked key charter rights. Colonial charters acted like agreements between the colonies and the British Crown, helping define how colonial governments operated and what rights colonists expected to have. But in 1774, Parliament passed the Massachusetts Government Act and changed those rules unilaterally, without colonial approval. For colonists, this violated a core principle of self-government: the consent of the governed. If Britain could change colonial governments whenever it wanted, then colonial rights and representation were never truly secure. This grievance reflected a growing fear that Britain was no longer governing with consent, but through direct control. This is Part 21 of our 27-part series breaking down every grievance that led to the American Revolution, building toward Independence Day.
Primary sources, videos, essays, lessons, and more about what led to the Declaration of Independence
What were the grievances laid out in the Declaration of Independence? Help students define each grievance through modern song lyrics in our interactive quiz leading up to Constitution Day. This Constitution Day, BRI is highlighting the years between the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787.