The relationship between Great Britain and the colonies began to fray and eventually fall apart because of the taxes that Great Britain placed on the colonies and other policies that angered the colonists. There were a number of major tax policies that the British imposed on the colonies that the colonists felt were unfair and violated their rights to representation. They believed they were being treated unfairly because there was a situation of "taxation without representation." This came to a head when they sought to separate entirely from Great Britain.