Why didn't the colonists send delegates to England to argue their case?

Answer 1

They did. Benjamin Franklin was one of them.

Answer 2

Each colony had agents that represented their interests and communicated with the King and Prime Minister as necessary. Franklin represented Massachusetts and Pennsylvania and one other colony that escapes me at the moment. Franklin presented the colonists' on several occasions, and also communicated back to the colonies. Franklin was publicly shamed and left England following an incident where he came into possession of letters between one of the colonial governors, Hutchinson of Mass. (a loyalist) and the private secretary of the Prime Minister in London and had them anonymously published in the colonies. The event changed Franklin's political position from a moderate loyalist to fervored patriot.

The British "constitution" was interpreted that each colony was self determining in most respects, but subject to the king. Generally, Parliament didn't have authority to enact laws for the colonies; this was the responsibility of the local assemblies, so representitives to Parliament were not seen as necessary.

Following the French & Indian War, Parliament needed to raise cash to pay the costs of the war. Normally this would have been done in a manner similar to sending a bill to the colonies, which the colonies would then pay from their own tax measures. Parliament however, decided that they would directly tax the colonies instead. This is the source of the "Taxation without representation" claim of the colonists.

Prior to declaring independance, the First and Second Contintental Congress tried several diplomatic avenues, and attempted to negotiate with both Parliament and the King on several occasions. The last attempt was the "Olive Branch Petition" which was a petition sent directly to George III in 1775. The king refused to even read it.

Answer 3

They send lots of people many times but there were no video conferencing back then so proper measures were not met. UK placed tax measures but repealed them. We have to remember that they have to cross the Atlantic by wind driven ships to have those info studied and verified.

The Hanoverian king wants the best for the colonists without sacrificing the UK's economy. Please look at the two sides of the coin.

There were issues that the colonists raised such as westward expansion, taxation without representation, tea were much more cheaper from West Indies than from India, the Stamp Act, and they felt betrayed after they pay for the garrisoned Brittish soldiers at the colonies and started shooting at them.

Answer 4

Each colony had representatives in London as what we today would call lobbyists. Franklin was one and actually represented several others as well as Pennsylvania. What all of them encountered was the notion, running through every stratum of British society, was that colonists were not really proper Englishmen and it rankled.
I suppose an interesting "what might have been" to think about is what if they agreed that taxation without representation is tyranny, gave us 13 seats in Parliament then voted 500-13 to tax the hell out of us. Anyone for tea?

Answer 5

They did! I can't give you names or dates but you could look them up. They weren't taken seriously because the English govt. considered the colonies as properties, not worthy of self-determination.

At first the colonists only wanted equality with British in the New World, i.e. representation. It was only later that they decided they'd rather revolt for their independence. Tom Paine's pamphlet 'Common Sense' had a lot to do with it.

Answer 6

They did send delegates, that being said, what part of the "No taxation WITHOUT REPRESENTATION" thing did you miss? The King basically wouldn't acknowledge them....

Answer 7

Umm, Ben Franklin did. Books are wonderful things:)

Answer 8

They sent Frankliin and the British were not impressed. They didn't want to deal with colonials as equals.

Answer 9

they did but they were rejected by the english goverment