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> the American colonies were part of Britain

This doesn't sound right because Britain is the name of the island. The American colonies were part of the British Empire I guess.

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To be pedantic the country was called the Kingdom of Great Britain from 1707 to 1801. And the American colonies were part of it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Great_Britain

Were they? I thought they were separate entities under the same crown. The way that the Channel Islands and Isle of Man are not part of the UK today. They had their own legislatures, and their own bodies of law, separate from that made by Westminster.

Wasn't there some big hooha about "no taxation without representation"?

Channel Islands and Isle of Man are just about completely independent from the UK apart from their external relations/defence - own laws/taxes etc. and no tax is paid to/from the UK.

The name of the island is, in fact, "Great Britain". "Britain" is a very widely understood name for the country more formally known as "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

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