Couple of questions John:
I have read in other sources that the literacy rate of colonials was unusually high. I believe De Toqueville estimated illiteracy rate of one half of one percent. He was astonished at the literacy of the common man in America in 1810. Mothers taught their children to read from the bible. It was one their most sacred obligations as mothers. What is your source for one third literacy?
Another comment, not a question. The tax on paper always seemed to me to be less a tax on communication than a tax on ammunition. One loads a musket (particulary when used as a shotgun, its most common use) thusly:
1. Powder
2. Paper wad
3. Shot or ball
4. If shot, another wad of paper. Cloth was rarely used, particularly with shot as it was too expensive. Nests of paper wasps were highly regarded for loading in rifles or muskets because of their compressive nature.
Since many of our ancestors supplemented their gardens with wild game, usually rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and the rare deer, the paper tax could also be typified as a tax on protein. This would also explain the revulsion for that tax.
Comments?
John / Billybob