In December of 1773, American colonists famously boarded British ships and threw 340 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor. The colonists committed civil disobedience to protest the increased tax on tea and other essentials. The British Parliament had been increasing taxes on the colonists without the colonists having any representation in Parliament. This act of defiance by ordinary people in the face of tyranny became known as the Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party marked a critical moment in the history of the American Revolution. The political slogan, “No Taxation without Representation,” represented America’s struggle for independence.
Ending taxation without representation was the heart of the American Revolution, yet examples of taxation without representation still exist in 2026.
The people in inhabited U.S. territories are U.S. citizens; they pay certain federal taxes like Social Security and Medicare (but not federal income tax) and can freely travel within the U.S. The inhabited U.S. territories are Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Despite paying federal taxes, territorial residents cannot vote in presidential elections.
Unlike states, the territories have no representation in the U.S. Senate, and are limited in the House to a single delegate per territory who cannot cast floor votes. While citizens in the territories are allowed to vote in presidential primaries, they do not have representation in the Electoral College.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits voter discrimination based on race, color or being in a language minority group. The Act was created in response to voter suppression in the 1960s. Throughout much of American history, state and local governments used tactics to disenfranchise people of color. Gerrymandering and unequally applied voter qualifications have been systemically used to make things difficult for voters from marginalized communities. In U.S. territories, 98 percent of citizens are racial or ethnic minorities.
It is the right of every citizen to be given an equal opportunity to participate in American democracy. In the 2020 presidential election, 3.5 million tax-paying American citizens were denied their constitutional right to vote for their nation’s president. This scenario has been playing out for over 100 years and will continue until the territories either become states or declare their independence from the U.S.
