Question

european papermaking came to the american colonies in the late seventeenth century. although most paper made today is produced from wood pulp, paper in colonial days was made from cotton and linen fibers.
from paper
1
the history of paper offers insight into why the colonists wanted independence from britain. a coin, a paper mill, a newspaper—whatever it was that the colonists wanted, the crown often prohibited it. and then the british tried to earn revenue by taxing the goods the colonists were forced to import from england because local production was stifled.
2
in 1764, the british, looking for revenues in an economic recession that had hit both england and the colonies, proposed the stamp act. this required all american colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper, including shipping documents, legal documents, books, pamphlets, newspapers, broadsides, and even playing cards. the tax did not cost the average colonist a great deal, but they objected to the principle of the new legislation. the stamp act went beyond the normal practice of regulating commerce: it was a fund - raising measure, and one that was being done without the consent of local legislatures.
3
but for newspaper publishers, the stamp act was a true hardship. it assessed a halfpenny on each copy of a newspaper printed on what was termed \half a sheet.\ if a newspaper used a larger format, it was assessed a penny per copy. the act also charged two cents for an advertisement—and some of these ads only earned three cents—and a halfpenny for each copy of a pamphlet. an additional tax on publishing in foreign languages killed a thriving german - language press in pennsylvania. lawyers, whose documents were also taxed, were harmed by the stamp act as well, and together, newspaper
this question has two parts. answer part a, and then answer part b.
part a
in the passage, what is an important point the author makes about the role of colonial newspapers?

1. the newspapers caused a widespread shortage of paper.
2. the newspapers were responsible for the colonists’ revolt.
3. the newspapers had considerable power to create change.
4. the newspapers forced colonists to develop local industries.

part b
select two sentences from the passage that best help develop the authors point from part a.

1. \lawyers, whose documents were also taxed, were harmed by the stamp act as well, and together, newspaper publishers and lawyers led a successful campaign to repeal the act.\

Explanation:

Part A

• Option 1: The passage doesn't say newspapers caused a paper shortage. It talks about British restrictions on local production, not newspapers causing shortage. Eliminate.
• Option 2: The colonists' revolt was due to multiple British policies, not just newspapers. The passage focuses on the Stamp Act's impact on newspapers and others, not newspapers being the sole reason for revolt. Eliminate.
• Option 3: Newspaper publishers were harmed by the Stamp Act and, along with lawyers, led a successful campaign to repeal it (implied by the context of their harm and action). This shows newspapers had power to create change (repealing the act). Correct.
• Option 4: The passage says local production was stifled by the Crown, not forced by newspapers. Eliminate.

• Sentence 1: "Lawyers, whose documents were also taxed, were harmed by the Stamp Act as well, and together, newspaper publishers and lawyers led a successful campaign to repeal the act." This shows that newspaper publishers (related to colonial newspapers) and lawyers, harmed by the Stamp Act, worked together to repeal it, demonstrating the power of newspapers (and their publishers) to create change (repealing the act), which supports Part A's point.
• We need another sentence. Let's check the passage (assuming the other relevant sentence is from the passage, for example, the part about the Stamp Act's impact on newspaper publishers: "But for newspaper publishers, the Stamp Act was a true hardship. It assessed a halfpenny on each copy of a newspaper printed on what was termed 'half a sheet.' If a newspaper used a larger format, it was assessed a penny per copy. The act also charged two cents for an advertisement—and some of these ads only earned three cents—and a halfpenny for each copy of a pamphlet. An additional tax on publishing in foreign languages killed a thriving German - language press in Pennsylvania." This shows the hardship on newspaper publishers, leading to their action (with lawyers) to repeal the act, supporting the idea that newspapers had power to create change. But since we need to pick two from the given options (and the first is given, let's assume the other relevant one from the passage's sentences in the options. If the other option is, say, the one about the Stamp Act's impact on newspaper publishers, but in the given options, the first is as above. Let's proceed with the first and another. Wait, the user's Part B has only one option shown, but the question says select two. Assuming the other relevant sentence is from the passage, for example, "But for newspaper publishers, the Stamp Act was a true hardship. It assessed a halfpenny on each copy of a newspaper printed on what was termed 'half a sheet.' If a newspaper used a larger format, it was assessed a penny per copy. The act also charged two cents for an advertisement—and some of these ads only earned three cents—and a halfpenny for each copy of a pamphlet. An additional tax on publishing in foreign languages killed a thriving German - language press in Pennsylvania." But since in the given options, only one is shown, maybe there are more. But based on the given, the first option (1) is correct, and another sentence from the passage (like the one about the Stamp Act's impact on newspaper publishers) would be the second. But since the user's Part B has only one option shown, we'll go with the first and assume the other is from the passage.

Answer:

1. The newspapers had considerable power to create change.

Part B