Hi Josh, thanks for stopping in. Some great thoughts indeed. I really enjoy questions like this as they are pretty fundamental to a myriad of other events, yet as key as they are in history there can still be so many asnwers to them.
I hadn’t thought about the impact from the 7 years war, that’s certainly a big one
I also didn’t know that the British were paying higher taxes at home. Knowing that, it’s easier to understand the perception difference between why Parliament would be about more taxing and the Americans less inclined to agree
Also key, is the distance and being out of touch, as you mention. I think that played such a huge role both in Britain not understanding what it was dealing with, and hence some inapproprate solutions to problems they didn’t truly understand. And also the Americans not having a clear voice that was listened to, through which to really get the message across
Above all I think the concept of a colony being a utility/tool played a big role. If colonies were treated more like the home country there might have been some room for discussions and less tensions all around. Though, when being such a world power and growing, it would be tough for Britain to be everywhere all the time.
Hope these help some, Eric. Definitely interesting to discuss
-Dan