Question

european papermaking came to the american colonies in the late seventeenth century. although most paper made today is produced from wood pulp, paper in colonial days was made from cotton and linen fibers.

from paper

1
the history of paper offers insights into why the colonists wanted independence from britain. a coin, a paper mill, a newspaper—whatever it was that the colonists wanted, the crown often prohibited it. and then the british tried to earn revenue by taxing the goods the colonists were forced to import from england because local production was stifled.

2
in 1764, the british, looking for revenues in an economic recession that had hit both england and the colonies, proposed the stamp act. this required all american colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper, including shipping documents, legal documents, books, pamphlets, newspapers, broadsides, and even playing cards. the tax did not cost the average colonist a great deal, but they objected to the principle of the new legislation. the stamp act went beyond the normal practice of regulating commerce: it was a fund - raising measure, and one that was being done without the consent of local legislatures.

3
but for newspaper publishers, the stamp act was a true hardship. it assessed a halfpenny on each copy of a newspaper printed on what was termed \half a sheet.\ if a newspaper used a larger format, it was assessed a penny per copy. the act also charged two cents for an advertisement—and some of these ads only earned three cents—and a halfpenny for each copy of...

part b
select two excerpts from the passage that best help develop the correct central idea from part a.

1. \this required all american colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper, including shipping documents, legal documents, books, pamphlets, newspapers, broadsides, and even playing cards.\ (paragraph 2)

2.
ewspapers themselves became committed for the first time, to printing on american - made paper\ (paragraph 3)

1. \americans needed to content themselves with inferior american paper, even if, due to the competition created by the townshend act boycott, it cost more.\ (paragraph 7)

1. \the thirty - four paper mills operating in the thirteen colonies in the 1780s did not have the capacity to meet america’s paper needs\ (paragraph 7)

1. \once the revolution began, and british...

Explanation:

To solve this, we first need to determine the central idea of Part A (though not fully shown, from the left text, it's about how paper history relates to colonial independence, British restrictions/taxes). Now analyze each Part B excerpt:

1. Excerpt 1: Describes the Stamp Act (tax on printed paper), which shows British taxation without consent—relates to colonial desire for independence (central idea).
2. Excerpt 2: About newspapers using American - made paper—focuses on paper production, not the central idea of colonial independence from British restrictions/taxes.
3. Excerpt 3: About Americans’ content with inferior paper due to boycott—focuses on paper quality/boycott, not the central idea.
4. Excerpt 4: About paper mills not meeting needs—focuses on paper production capacity, not the central idea.
5. Excerpt 5: (Incomplete, but from context, likely less relevant to the central idea compared to 1).

So the excerpt that best develops the central idea is the first one.

The central idea likely relates to colonial independence from British restrictions/taxes. Excerpt 1 describes the Stamp Act (British tax on printed paper without colonial consent), which connects to why colonists wanted independence. Other excerpts focus on paper production/quality, not the core idea of British control/taxation leading to colonial independence.

Answer:

1. "This required all American colonists to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper, including shipping documents, legal documents, books, pamphlets, newspapers, broadsides, and even playing cards." (Paragraph 2)