Why was the colonists taking part in a protest?

The protests were based on legal principles, that only the colonial legislatures had the power to tax residents who had representatives in those legislatures. Some colonies had official agents to Parliament, like Pennsylvania's Benjamin Franklin, but no colonies had sitting representatives in the British Parliament.

Explanation:

nothing certain is known about what happened, but it seems that the country declined gradually, perhaps due to bad government, or, more likely, due to a series of bad harvests, which resulted in widespread and recurrent famine.

25. twelve tables

26. having important positions chosen by lot