Bradford, William, III (1722-1791), was an American publisher and a leading patriot during the Revolutionary War in America. He published a newspaper called the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser in Philadelphia from 1742 to 1778. The Journal helped lead opposition to the Stamp Act, which Britain had imposed on its American Colonies in 1765 (see Stamp Act ). Beginning in 1776, Bradford published a series of pamphlets by Thomas Paine called The American Crisis. These pamphlets encouraged the American colonists to continue fighting for independence from Britain during the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Bradford was born on Jan. 19, 1722, in New York City. He died on Sept. 25, 1791. His grandfather William Bradford was a leading colonial printer.
