The British empire grew substantially, American military officers gained valuable experience, and the British began to tax the colonies.
ultimately this created the perfect storm as tensions ran high on both sides eventually culminating in the revolutionary war.
They achieved unification in the 19th century!
Their government was mostly consisting of corrupt bureaucrats and ineffective economic policies that mostly helped the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. In between them was a king who tried to implement some more liberal policies for the people, but Alexander III mostly reversed them all because he didn't want his autocracy to be challenged.<span />
They would not pay taxes on their tea, plain and simple. The Boston Tea Party is also important because of both the British and American responses to the actions that followed the tea party.
