 Towards the end of Hopkins' term one of the most contentious issues of the age arose, uniting the divided elements into a common cause. In early 1765 the Stamp Act was passed by both houses of Parliament in England. This act was a scheme for taxing the colonies, directing that all commercial and legal documents, to be valid in a court of law, must be written on stamped paper sold at fixed prices by governmental officers, and also directing that a duty be applied to newspapers. Parliament, assuming the right to tax the colonies, put additional duties on sugar, coffee and other articles, and required that lumber and iron from the colonies only be exported to England.
