History of the United States I / Unit 5 USH1 0610 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Actual and Virtual Representation
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The idea
Colonists held to actual representation, that they could be taxed only through representatives for whom they voted, a principle of the unwritten constitution.
In practice
Parliament answering with virtual representation, that colonists were represented already.
Where people slip
Parliament's claim was that the architects of the British Empire knew best how to maximise returns from its overseas possessions.
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