Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
What happens when a government rewrites the rules without your consent?
In Grievance #21 of the Declaration of Independence, Kelsa Pelletiere, PhD Candidate at the University of Mississippi, explains why colonists were furious when Britain altered colonial governments and revoked key charter rights.
Colonial charters acted like agreements between the colonies and the British Crown, helping define how colonial governments operated and what rights colonists expected to have.
But in 1774, Parliament passed the Massachusetts Government Act and changed those rules unilaterally, without colonial approval.
For colonists, this violated a core principle of self-government: the consent of the governed. If Britain could change colonial governments whenever it wanted, then colonial rights and representation were never truly secure.
This grievance reflected a growing fear that Britain was no longer governing with consent, but through direct control.
This is Part 21 of our 27-part series breaking down every grievance that led to the American Revolution, building toward Independence Day.
Explore more:
billofrightsinstitute.org/constitution-day
#DeclarationOfIndependence #Grievance21 #AmericanRevolution #USHistory #Civics #ConsentOfTheGoverned #MassachusettsGovernmentAct
What happens when a government rewrites the rules without your consent?
In Grievance #21 of the Declaration of Independence, Kelsa Pelletiere, PhD Candidate at the University of Mississippi, explains why colonists were furious when Britain altered colonial governments and revoked key charter rights.
Colonial charters acted like agreements between the colonies and the British Crown, helping define how colonial governments operated and what rights colonists expected to have.
But in 1774, Parliament passed the Massachusetts Government Act and changed those rules unilaterally, without colonial approval.
For colonists, this violated a core principle of self-government: the consent of the governed. If Britain could change colonial governments whenever it wanted, then colonial rights and representation were never truly secure.
This grievance reflected a growing fear that Britain was no longer governing with consent, but through direct control.
This is Part 21 of our 27-part series breaking down every grievance that led to the American Revolution, building toward Independence Day.
Explore more:
billofrightsinstitute.org/constitution-day
#DeclarationOfIndependence #Grievance21 #AmericanRevolution #USHistory #Civics #ConsentOfTheGoverned #MassachusettsGovernmentAct
