When government-run schools teach that the American Revolution was mostly about “taxation without representation,” the underlying message is clear: today, you have representatives, so if you don't like what they do, just get new ones.
But this ignores a deeper cause - a centuries-old system called mercantilism.
Murray Rothbard described it as “a system of statism using economic fallacy to build up imperial power through monopolies and special privileges.” This was a significant part of the real foundation of colonial grievances, long before the Stamp Act and tea taxes ever sparked broader resistance and calls for independence.