Crisis.

The Stamp Act in 1765 not only provoked an imperial crisis but also illustrated the power of the colonial press. More than any other group in eighteenthcentury America, printers were capable of having their opinions heard near and far. They controlled the volume and intensity of news coverage, and by working in conjunction with the Sons of Liberty, newspaper editors and pamphleteers instigated opposition to the parliamentary statute and contributed to its repeal in 1766.

Bone of Contention.

Lord George Grenville introduced the Stamp Act resolution in Parliament on 6 February 1765. A revenue-raising measure, it imposed taxes on a whole range of official and unofficial documents such as court papers, licenses, college diplomas, commissions to public office, ship manifests, land titles, mortgages, bills of sale, contracts, indentures, articles of apprenticeship, playing cards, dice, pamphlets, almanacs, and newspapers (including the advertisements contained therein). The stamps cost...