“No taxation without representation” (often shortened to “taxation without representation”) is a political slogan that originated in its present form during the American Revolution and which expressed one of the primary grievances of the American colonists for Great Britain. Many colonists believed that as they were not represented in the distant British parliament, any taxes it imposed on the colonists (such as the Stamp Act and the Townshend Acts) were unconstitutional and were a denial of the colonists’ rights as Englishmen.