One of the most famous and recognizable eighteenth-century newspapers is the October 31, 1765 issue of the Pennsylvania Journal, also known as the “tombstone edition.” With the hated Stamp Act set to take effect in the British North American colonies on November 1, 1765, Philadelphia printer William Bradford designed this issue to resemble a tombstone, […]
Within a decade of the passage of the Stamp Act, England and her colonies would go to war. The Act would have a profound effect on both Parliament and the American colonists. Both sides would be tested and each was unwilling to yield from their position. In the end, both would claim victory. Only George […]
An armed conflict between British Regulars and armed Colonials prior to 1775? Oh yes, yes indeed. In fact this conflict raged for several months between 1765 and 1766, all along the Western Pennsylvania frontier (what is now Franklin County). It resulted in the wounding of one civilian, dozens of horses slain, wagons destroyed, money lost, […]
The front page of April 18, 1765, Pennsylvania Gazette featured one of the earliest American printings of the Stamp Act. “Printed by B. Franklin, Post-Master, and “D. Hall,” the newspaper offered no critical comment on the new law as threatening people’s liberties. Benjamin Franklin became publisher of the Gazette in 1729. He took on Scottish […]
Do you think there was a greater strategy behind most of the pre-war violence, or was it primarily raw emotion and vengeance? There was a greater strategy but, unfortunately, that strategy routinely used raw emotion and vengeance against its opponents. As early as the Stamp Act Crisis, the Sons of Liberty learned to target […]
In 1765 Parliament instituted a Stamp Act for the North American colonies, which proved wildly unpopular from Savannah to Halifax, and ultimately unworkable. The following year, there was a change of government in London. The new ministers repealed the Stamp Act, and across the ocean there was great rejoicing. However, those ministers also proposed a […]
During my recent book tour, the Stamp Act riot part of my talk generated the loudest audience reactions so I thought I’d re-purpose what I call the “Stamp Act riot to-do list” for readers of the Journal of the American Revolution. In late 1765 and early 1766, protests against the stamp duty took place throughout […]
“John Ashmead, Philadelphia mariner, had the unique distinction of performing one hundred voyages in a long, exciting, useful life. The accomplishment was never exceeded, and, perhaps, never equaled in the era of sailing ships,” according to “The John Ashmead Story, 1738-1818,” by William Bell Clark (Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Jan 1958). This advertisement […]
In the 29 Aug 1765 Pennsylvania Gazette, three area printers leveraged the cursed Stamp Act as incentive to buy their almanacs.
