The notion of liberty was directly related with the rights of Englishmen gained as a result of political struggle of the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution. In 18th century Britain, the liberty meant that no man not even the king was above the law. The mechanism preventing political tyranny was based on representation of the majority of the population. For instance, the power of the king was checked by the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Englishmen were proud of their liberty but it was assumed that only economically independent citizens are capable of freedom. Liberal ideas were also influenced by the philosopher John Locke who promoted individual rights, consent to be guarded, and the right of rebellion against unjust or oppressive government. According to Locke, the main purpose of any government was the protection of property of its citizens. At the same time, the philosopher condemned slavery and defended the property rights of women. All the above ideas were widely spread among American colonists who were well-represented in local administration. (between 50 and 70 % of adult white men participated in election of it) Colonial assemblies detained considerable power on the American soil but the highest authority belonged to the governor appointed by London. 3/4 of the free adult male colonists and 1/3 of the women were literate and hence well informed about all measures of colonial administration. American enlightenment typical representative -Benjamin Franklin, self-educated erudite who started as a printer’s apprentice and became one of the founding fathers of the USA. American enlightenment also considerably contributed to the development of public activity of the colonists. When heavy indebted by the Seven Years’ War British government decided to tax its American colonies, the Americans opposed this measure arguing that they were not represented in the parliament (no taxation without representation). In other words, they believed that population had the right to consent to taxation- a cornerstone of British freedom. The protests against the first attempt of direct taxation(the Stamp act) were so vivid that it was repealed by the parliament. American colonists were ready to obey local assemblies (authorities) elected by themselves and had nothing against paying taxes agreed upon by these local authorities but all economic measures taken by British government and having negative impact on their well-being were unacceptable for them. The notion of liberty included only adult white English-speaking protestant population. Struggle against the Stamp act consolidated the efforts of different provincial assemblies and generated the idea of united opposition to British politics. Considerable part of male population of the colonies participated in the Seven Years’ War and was capable of armed self-defense. Developing local industry also permitted to boycott goods imported from England. Moreover, many of them could be supplied from nearby French and Spanish colonies at a lower price. In such a way, American colonists considered liberty as a freedom of trade freely agreed taxation and adequate representation of the majority of the population by legislating authorities.