How did Americans see their natural rights as being infringed upon in the time before the Revolutionary War?

Actually, the
major complaint of the colonists was that they were denied their "rights as
Englishmen" as guaranteed under Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights of 1688. They
DID NOT want representation in Parliament, as the above post implies; such representation would
be infeasible considering the distances involved. What they did want--and demand--was that any
taxes levied on them be levied by their duly elected representatives, in this case the colonial
legislatures. They had paid taxes levied by the legislatures in the past; and had not raised
major objections to the Navigation Acts which had been instituted for regulatory purposes only.
They did resent--bitterly--Parliament's attempts to tax them for revenue
purposes only. This they believed was the sole province of their
assemblies.

Also, they believed their rights to trial by juries of their
peers was violated when customs cases were transferred to England. Colonial juries uniformly
found in favor of defendants charged with customs violations, and the British transferred
jurisdiction to British courts to increase the chances of conviction. This to the colonists
violated their rights under Magna Carta.

In the Declaration of Independence,
Jefferson lists a number of offenses by George III in great detail. The true sense of violation
of their rights--as Englishmen as well as their natural rights--is as set forth above. It is
well worth noting that even after the war commenced, the colonists sent George III an Olive
Branch Petition offering to return to his governance if they were only granted their rights as
Englishmen.

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