Why did the colonists feel the British were oppressing them?

In some ways,
the American colonists felt that the British were oppressing them because the British actually
were doing so.  One example of this would be the Massachusetts Government Act, in which the
British essentially took away any right of self-government from the people of the various towns
in that colony and gave the governor (appointed by the British) the right to take complete
control.  It is not hard to see this as an act of oppression.

In another way,
the American colonists felt that the British were oppressing them because the British were
acting differently than they had been in previous times.  Before the French and Indian War, the
British had more or less left the colonists alone.  They had not really taxed the colonists much
and they had not strictly enforced their laws about things like trade.  The Americans had gotten
used to being left to rule themselves.  When the British took more control, the Americans felt
oppressed even though what the British were doing (taxing, enforcing laws) was not really all
that oppressive.

These were the main reasons for which the American colonists
felt oppressed in the years leading up to the Revolution.