<P> The officers and leaders of the Sons of Liberty "were drawn almost entirely from the middle and upper ranks of colonial society," but they recognized the need to expand their power base to include "the whole of political society, involving all of its social or economic subdivisions ." To do this, the Sons of Liberty relied on large public demonstrations to expand their base . They learned early on that controlling such crowds was problematical, although they strived to control "the possible violence of extra-legal gatherings ." The organization professed its loyalty to both local and British established government, but possible military action as a defensive measure was always part of their considerations . Throughout the Stamp Act Crisis, the Sons of Liberty professed continued loyalty to the King because they maintained a "fundamental confidence" that Parliament would do the right thing and repeal the tax . </P> <P> John Adams complained that the London ministry was intentionally trying "to strip us in a great measure of the means of knowledge, by loading the Press, the colleges, and even an Almanack and a News - Paper, with restraints and duties ." The press fought back . By 1760 the fledgling American newspaper industry comprised 24 weekly papers in major cities . Benjamin Franklin had created an informal network so that each one routinely reprinted news, editorials, letters and essays from the others, thus helping form a common American voice . All the editors were annoyed at the new stamp tax they would have to pay on each copy . By informing colonists what the other colonies were saying the press became a powerful opposition force to the Stamp Act . Many circumvented the and most equated taxation without representation with despotism and tyranny, thus providing a common vocabulary of protest for the Thirteen Colonies . </P> <P> The newspapers reported effigy hangings and stamp master resignation speeches . Some newspapers were on the royal payroll and supported the Act, but most of the press was free and vocal . Thus William Bradford, the foremost printer in Philadelphia, became a leader of the Sons of Liberty . He added a skull and crossbones with the words, "the fatal Stamp," to the masthead of his Pennsylvania Journal and weekly Advertiser . </P> <P> Some of the earliest forms of American propaganda appeared in these printings in response to the law . The articles written in colonial newspapers were particularly critical of the act because of the Stamp Act's disproportionate effect on printers . David Ramsay, a patriot and historian from South Carolina, wrote of this phenomenon shortly after the American Revolution: </P>

Colonial protest against the stamp act took the form of all of the following except