If Parliament knew what they were unleashing, they probably never would have created the Stamp Act.

From their perspective, this was a little piece of common sense legislation that would get them over the hump, financially speaking. Now we know that this was the first major issue the Patriots could collectively get behind. It's sort of like trying to fix a hole in your drywall and accidentally blowing up your house.

Today, the Stamp Act is remembered as a crucial part of the formation in a country that's been one of the most important single players in world history for the past hundred odd years. It's a good object lesson in a seemingly minor event having massive, far-reaching, and unexpected consequences.

The Stamp Act itself is mostly thought of in generalities, and that's more or less fine. The pertinent information is that it was a pretty mundane—and even reasonable—tax on printed paper, that had totally insane penalties for breaking the law. Kind of a weird combo, but there you go.

The Patriots seized on this, both the resentment of any kind of taxes as well as the draconian sentences, and made a country out of it. Well, not entirely. There was tons of other stuff going on too, but the Stamp Act was a seriously important part.

History would be very, very different without the Stamp Act. It's probable there would have been a Revolution anyway, but it would likely have been later. And who knows? It could have turned out differently…and we could all be celebrating Guy Fawkes Day instead of July 4th, and eating Yorkshire Pudding instead of grilling burgers.