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After the French and Indian War ended in 1763, the British government began a concerted effort to gain more control over the colonies and to collect additional revenues to reduce the debt incurred during the war. The Stamp Act, passed by Parliament and signed by the king in March 1765, was one such measure. It created an excise tax on newspapers, customs documents, licenses, college diplomas, and most legal documents. Violators were to be tried in vice-admiralty …

…December of that year. Thomas Payne's Common Sense, which influenced many a fence-sitter, was published in 1776, and the Declaration of Independence followed a few months later. Thus, in July of 1775, the course of events was not yet clear. Although twenty-twenty hindsight may give us some indication of the choices individuals should make, if we place ourselves in the shoes of the character interpreters, we will experience the problems as they did--with no clear-cut answers. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------