 Reformers pressured the government and it repeatedly cut the high taxes on knowledge, including the excise duty on paper and the 5-penny stamp tax on each copy printed of a newspapers, pamphlet, advertisements and almanacs.In 1800 there were 52 London papers and over 100 other titles.The war with France was under way and the government wanted to suppress negative rumours and damaging information, so it tightened censorship and raised taxes so that few people could afford to buy a copy.