The thirteen colonies were ruled by Britain and its king, King George III. For a long time, most colonists were happy to be British. Then things changed.
Key idea
Britain's lawmakers, called Parliament, put new taxes on the colonists. The colonists had no vote in Parliament. They said: "No taxation without representation!"
Why it works
A tax is money people pay to the government. In 1765 Parliament taxed paper, and later it taxed tea. Many colonists said only leaders they had chosen should tax them. In 1773 some colonists in Boston dumped chests of tea from three ships into the harbor: the Boston Tea Party. Britain sent more soldiers, and in 1775 fighting began. The war for independence, the American Revolution, had started.
Common mistake
Some children think the colonists did not want to pay any taxes. Their complaint was about who decided the taxes. They wanted taxes voted on by leaders they had chosen, not by a Parliament far away where they had no say.
For the grown-up: "Representation" means having someone you chose speak and vote for you. Not every colonist wanted to break away; many, called Loyalists, stayed loyal to the king.