The relationship between the American colonies and their British parent state in the 17th and 18th centuries was not particularly well-defined. The colonies were governed by Royal Charters issued by the King of England (later Great Britain), who was usually represented in each colony by an appointed governor. The King was head of state and handled all foreign affairs. Apart from this, there was relatively little interference from Britain (apart from trade regulations like the Navigation Acts) and locally elected colonial assemblies generally made policy as they saw fit.
There was already a distinct feeling of separateness. America had been settled largely by people from the British Isles, but overall immigration from Britain to America was relatively modest and Britons and Americans tended to see each other as foreigners. Communications between Britain and America in the 18th century were very slow, usually taking months, contributing to a sense of isolation. Also, many Americans were descended from groups that had been viewed as political radicals in Britain. This was particularly true of the Puritans of New England, colonies they settled (Massachusetts in particular) were widely seen as the ringleaders of the rebellion.
During the course of the 17th century the power of the British monarchy had been greatly diminished, and the power of the Parliament consequently strengthened, by the English Civil War and Glorious Revolution. This culminated into the 1689 English Bill of Rights which effectively established the legislative supremacy of parliament by declaring that the monarch could not, among other things, raise taxes without the consent of the legislature. This would become the basis for the American argument that their "Rights as Englishmen" meant that taxes could not be imposed on them without their consent. The issue was framed by the popular American slogan of "No taxation without representation". At the same time the colonists rejected out of hand being...