Grievance #27 of the Declaration of Independence
What finally pushed the colonies to declare independence?
In the 27th and final grievance of the Declaration of Independence, Dr. C.C. Borzilleri examines the colonists’ belief that Britain had failed to protect them and had instead deepened instability across the colonies.
This grievance references two major fears in the Revolutionary era: the threat of frontier violence and fears of insurrections among enslaved populations. It also contains language about Native Americans that is offensive today and reflects the prejudices and attitudes of the 18th century.
The video places these issues in historical context, including Lord Dunmore’s 1775 proclamation offering freedom to enslaved people who joined the British side during the war.
At the heart of the grievance was a larger question: what is government supposed to do? Colonists believed governments existed to provide protection and security. By 1776, many Americans believed Britain had failed to uphold its side of that relationship.
For the colonies, this grievance represented the final breakdown of the imperial relationship and the final step toward declaring independence.
This is the final part of our 27-part series breaking down every grievance that led to the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence.
0:00 If you ask the average person to
0:01 identify the motto of the American
0:03 Revolution, they might be able to recite
0:05 that old classic, no taxation without
0:08 representation. We spend a lot of time
0:09 on that second word, taxation, and sure,
0:12 who likes taxes? But the fourth word of
0:14 the motto helps us understand why they
0:16 were so upset.
0:17 When they endorsed grievance 17, the
0:19 Continental Congress was expressing how
0:21 they were really upset over the issue of
0:23 representation. In the British Empire,
0:25 most people understood that Parliament
0:27 did not actually represent every one of
0:29 its subjects. In 1765, the English
0:32 politician Thomas Whately had explained
0:33 that all British subjects, in fact, were
0:35 virtually represented in Parliament
0:37 because every member of Parliament acted
0:39 in the best interest of the entire
0:41 empire, not on behalf of any individual
0:43 group of constituents. But this
0:45 explanation of virtual representation
0:47 just wasn’t good enough for Americans.
0:48 They were fine with taxes related to
0:50 trade because that was the accepted
0:52 responsibility of the Imperial
0:53 government, and they were fine with
0:55 paying taxes to their colonial
0:56 legislatures that had offered some form
0:58 of representation since the 17th
1:00 century. But when Parliament started
1:01 taxing them directly, they believed it
1:03 had gone too far.
1:05 Patriots like John Adams put it in stark
1:07 terms. Let it be known that British
1:09 liberties, like the right to
1:10 representation, were not the grants of
1:13 princes or parliaments, but original
1:15 rights to which all British subjects
1:17 were entitled. When Parliament imposed
1:19 taxes on colonists without their
1:20 approval, they went against a basic
1:22 enlightenment principle
1:24 that governed the English constitution.
1:27 As John Locke had put it, no one could
1:29 be subjected to the political power of
1:31 another without his own consent. No
1:33 taxation had been enough of a rallying
1:35 cry to get some people protesting in the
1:37 streets, but no representation in a
1:40 government supposedly built on English
1:41 liberty, that was enough of a
1:43 declaration to launch a revolution.
