The British believed they had the right to tax the colonies for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

A) the British army incurred enormous expenses protecting the colonists from the French and the Indians.
B) English taxpayers could not shoulder the entire burden of financially supporting the army.
C) the colonists paid comparatively low taxes and duties, causing the colonial customs service to operate at a net loss.
D) the colonists were represented in Parliament by their own duly elected officials.