"He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly..." — Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
The grievances catalogued in this excerpt most directly framed the colonial argument that:
- A
The colonies should be granted dominion status equivalent to Ireland within the Empire
- B
All royal officials should be replaced with elected colonial governors before reconciliation
- C
Parliament should be reorganized to grant colonies direct seats in the House of Commons
- Dcheck_circle
British constitutional protections required local consent for legislation affecting the colonies
Explanation
The grievance section grounded the case for independence in the British constitutional tradition that legitimate government rests on local consent through representative assemblies. The other options describe alternative reform proposals (virtual or actual parliamentary representation, dominion schemes) that were debated in the 1770s but not advanced in the Declaration itself.