1. The document describes life in the American colonies in 1776 from the perspective of a family living in Philadelphia.
2. As the owner of a shop selling both local and British goods, the narrator's husband is irritated by the Stamp Act passed by the King of England, which taxes British supplies and goods.
3. Tensions are rising in the colonies as the King enacts laws and taxes without colonial representation, and the narrator worries about potential problems arising from opposition to British rule.