What were the main philosophical underpinnings of the colonists' revolt against great britain?

The colonists based the legitimacy of their revolution on the concept of "natural law." This differed with British monarchial thinking, which said the colonists needed to obey their king because the king was appointed by God to rule the people. The colonists believed in "no taxation without representation," meaning everyone had to be taxed with their own consent. They were opposed to heavy taxation from Britain where there was no representative from the colonies in parliament. Every community would have a representative for them that they would elect. They also diverged in the nature of sovereignty.

- encouraging nationalism

- returning to conservative political policies