USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Great Britain had a constitutional monarchy, in which Parliament checked the power of the king. The colonists put miniature versions of this system of government in place; for example, in Virginia, the House of Burgesses and the governor mirrored the roles of Parliament and the king.

Detailed explanation-2: -The English Bill of Rights, Petition of Right, and the Magna Carta served as examples for the American Bill of Rights. The most powerful example they set were how to protect rights by limiting government.

Detailed explanation-3: -To the colonists these assemblies were the equivalent of Parliament, where they were represented and whose taxes they paid.

Detailed explanation-4: -Like the states today, each colony was run by a government headed by a governor and a legislature. The thirteen colonies were under a legislature, the British Parliament, [similar to the present Congress] and a King whose powers were not that different from those granted the American President.

Detailed explanation-5: -And even though some colonies had official agents to Parliament, like Benjamin Franklin, no colonies had sitting representatives in the British Parliament. In May 1765, Virginia’s Patrick Henry wrote the Virginia Resolves, which clearly laid out the “taxation without representation” argument.