''No taxation without representation'' became the American colonists'' primary grievance against Britain after Parliament passed the Stamp Act in 1765, taxing newspapers, pamphlets, and legal documents without giving colonists any vote in Parliament. Colonists argued these taxes violated their rights as Englishmen dating back to Magna Carta since they had no elected representatives in the distant British legislature. The Stamp Act Congress met in New York in October 1765 with delegates from nine colonies who passed a Declaration of Rights and Grievances asserting ''it is inseparably essential to the freedom of a people, and the undoubted rights of Englishmen, that no taxes should be imposed on them, but with their own consent, given personally, or by their representatives.'' Colonists responded with violence against tax collectors, formed the Sons of Liberty, and erected ''Liberty Trees'' for demonstrations against British overreach. This principle remains relevant today: Washington, DC residents pay full federal taxes but lack voting representation in Congress, leading to ongoing statehood debates. DC license plates display ''Taxation Without Representation'' to protest this colonial-era grievance persisting into the 21st century.