Oertel, Johannes Adam Simon. “Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, NYC.” c. 1859. Wikimedia. September 30, 2018.”No taxation without representation” became a common, ironic cry, as it (inaccurately) claimed a different basis of historic representation in England. This eventually led to bloodshed, beginning at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts in 1775 and (more or less) ending at Yorktown in 1781 with the victory of the colonists. Although the new United States of America won fewer battles than it lost, the British were tired and close to broke. After the defeat at Yorktown, public opinion turned against King George III whose attention was needed in England and not in the far-off colonies of North America.