circulation. The most grievous law of all, the Stamp Act of 1765, imposed a tax on every printed document in the colonies: pamphlets, deeds, wills, licenses, newspapers, and almanacs. This new imperial program was an attempt to reapply to the colonies the old principles of mercantilism. In many ways, it was very effective. British officials were now collecting more than ten times as much annual tax in America has before 1763. But the cost on the lives of the people was much worse.
             The response of the colonists to wall of the new laws wasn't quiet submission, rather it was open protest. In 1763, a band of Pennsylvania frontiersmen known as the Paxton Boys went to Philadelphia to demand relief from taxation. There was no bloodshed due to the response of the colonial government. This conflict ended in peace, but others were not as fortunate. In 1771, a small "Civil War" broke out as
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