18th Century Tax Code

Because nothing says "page-turner" like 18th Century Tax Code, right?

But, believe it or not, every word has a purpose. We know it doesn't look like it—it looks like the entire goal of the Stamp Act was to confuse the public so hopelessly, they'd just kind of shrug and go, "We need stamps now, we guess?"

The goal is to eliminate loopholes, because loopholes are how taxes don't get collected. So the Stamp Act is trying to account for everything it possibly can. If they forget something, it's not like anyone is going to rush forward to correct them. No one volunteers to pay a tax.

So what you're left with is an exacting description of what costs what, and what happens to those who don't pay.

We're sorry we made you read it, but it's a pretty important document in the history of the world. It just happens to be a tax law.