No More Learning

xxvi, pp. 411, 413; Am. Hist. Rev. , vol. viii, pp.
313-314.
* Mss. 1745-1770 (in M. H. S. ), p. 15, contain the letter of the Com-
mittee of Merchants to Dcnnys d<< Berdt, explaining the inception of
the pamphlet. The committee, which was appointed to draft the
pamphlet, was composed of Arnold Welles, Henderson Inches, William
Dennie, William Molineux and Isaac Smith. Mass. Gas. , July 31, 1769. .
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? THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
a well-reasoned argument, buttressed with evidence, was pre-
sented for a restoration of American trade to the footing it
had enjoyed before the passage of the old Molasses Act of
1733. This step, it was asserted, would unite Great Britain
and the colonies on a lasting foundation and eliminate all
clandestine trade. The repeal of the recent Townshend
duties would not suffice; for the colonies must again enjoy
the free importation of molasses, sugars and Madeira wine,
and must obtain the right of a free and direct importation
of fruit, wine and oil from Spain and Portugal. The acts
of Parliament prior to 1764 had been intended merely as
regulations of trade and, in one instance, a duty had been
placed on foreign molasses in order to encourage the British
West Indies; but the present statute could not be so con-
strued, for it imposed duties on all molasses and expressly
for the purpose of raising a revenue. According to the
figures cited in the pamphlet, the various restraints on
trade with the foreign West Indies, Africa, Madeira and
Southern Europe had rendered unprofitable the employment
of four hundred vessels in the fisheries, and of one hun-
dred and eighty vessels in the lumber and provisions trade
to the West Indies, not to mention the decrease in the
coasting-trade and other channels of commerce. The ship-
building industry had also been seriously affected, only one
hundred vessels being built annually instead of three hun-
dred as before the late restrictions on trade. In closing,
a representation was made of the embarrassments to com-
merce, due to the unlimited amount of red tape required
for trading voyages, and to the excessive power, officious-
ness and unlawful conduct of the customs officers and the
Customs Board.
The non-importation movement ran a different course in
the plantation provinces from that in the commercial prov-
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? COMMERCIAL REFORM
135
inces, due to the characteristic methods of doing business
in each section. The marketing of the staples of the South
was largely in the hands of English and Scotch merchants
and factors, whose business had been very little affected by
the parliamentary duties of 1766 and 1767. The planters
constituted the chief discontented class, because of their
losing struggle to pay the debts they owed to their mercan-
tile creditors. Animated by a desire to curtail living ex-
penses and to strike at their creditors, the planters assumed
the initiative in promoting non-importation associations,
while the southern trading class shMl aluuf ui were ac-
tively hostile. These circumstances caused the non-1mpor-
tation movement to assume many of the characteristics of
the non-consumption movement that had been promoted by-
New England town meetings in late 1767 and early 1768.
As one contemporary said, the associations of the planta-
tion provinces, besides being less restrictive than the north-
ern agreements, " excluded a great number of articles which
are mere luxuries, confin'd their importations from Britain
to the necessaries of life, and thereby answered the purpose
of a sumptuary law. " l
George Washington, of Virginia, spoke of the peculiari-
ties of the local trading situation when he transmitted a copy
of the Philadelphia non-importation agreement, in a letter
of April 5, 1769, to his neighbor, George Mason. He ex-
pressed approval of a non-importation plan for Virginia;
but he pointed out that it could be made successful only by
going over the heads of the factors and inducing the people
throughout the province to buy no imported articles, except
certain enumerated ones. He proposed the meeting of the
Assembly in May as the best time for launching the project
with any prospect of uniform action by the several counties. 2
1 Bos. Gas. , Jan. 29, 1770; also Pa. Journ. , Feb. 15.
1 Writings (Ford), vol. ii, pp. 263-267.
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? 136 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
Mason agreed cordially with Washington's views, and yet
made it clear that no plan could be enforced in the tobacco
provinces unless it should be considerably more liberal in the
number of importations permitted. Mason seemed to be
aware of the lack of support for the measure in a well-
fertilized public opinion, as in the North; and, like a good
propagandist, he urged the necessity of publishing " some-
thing preparatory to it in our gazettes, to warn the people
of the impending danger and to induce them the more
readily and cheerfully to concur in the proper measures to
avert it. " He proposed also that the association should
provide for the non-exportation of tobacco. 1
The House of Burgesses convened at Williamsburg in
May. Washington found ready backing for a non-importa-
tion measure among such men as Peyton Randolph, Richard
Bland, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee and Thomas
Jefferson. But the house proceeded first to declare, in a set
of resolutions, its official opinion that the sole right of
taxing Virginians lay with that body and to state its ob-
jections to certain recent acts of the British administration;
whereupon Governor Botetourt peremptorily dissolved the
body. The members, though now divested of their legal
character, met at a private house in town and, electing
Peyton Randolph their chairman, promulgated a plan of
non-importation. 2
The, association hprf tho Ho>>o Miy T? , -J^ In the pre-
1 Washington, Writings (Ford), pp. 267-268 n.
'Pa. Journ. , June 1, 1769; also 5. C. Gas. , July 20. This plan of
association was presented by Washington; and in its essentials fol-
lowed a draft, made several weeks before, by George Mason. One pro-
posal of Mason's was rejected, however, vis. , if the other measures
proved ineffectual, a non-exportation of tobacco and naval supplies
should go into effect. Washington, Writings (Ford), vol. ii, pp. 268-
269 n. ; Rowland, K. M. , Life of George Mason (New York, 1892), voL
>, PP- 392-393.
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? COMMERCIAL REFORM
137
amble, it was declared that the debt for British merchandise
was very great and that the means of paying were becoming
more and more precarious because of the restrictive legis-
lation of Parliament, particularly the Townshend Acts.
The subscribers pledged themselves never thereafter to im-
port any goods, which were then or should thereafter be
subject to a revenue duty, save paper not exceeding eight
shillings per ream. They agreed, further, not to import
thereafter a long list of luxuries and fineries from Great
Britain or any part of Europe, this abstention to continue
while the duties continued or until a general meeting of
subscribers decided otherwise. 1 In all cases, orders already
sent for goods might be received; and the subscribers were
not restricted from buying such goods in local trade until
September 1. They further agreed to buy no slaves im-
ported after November 1. There were also resolutions to
encourage frugality and to prevent the killing of lambs.
Copies of the association were carried back to the coun-
ties by the gentlemen who attended the Williamsburg meet-
ing. One month later Washington was able to report from
1 Certain Irish wares imported from Ireland were excluded. This
blacklist was typical of similar lists in other of the plantation provinces
and is here given in full: "Spirits, Wines, Cyder, Perry, Beer, Ale,
Malt, Barley, Pease, Beef, Pork, Fish, Butter, Cheese, Tallow, Candles,
Oil, Fruit, Sugar, Pickles, Confectionary, Pewter, Hoes, Axes, Watches,
Clocks, Tables, Chairs, Looking Glasses, Carriages, Joiners and Cab-
inet Work of all Sorts, Upholstery of all Sorts, Trinkets and Jewellery,
Plate and Gold, and Silversmith's Work of all Sorts, Ribbons and
Millinery of all Sorts, Lace of all Sorts; India Goods of all Sorts, ex-
cept Spices; Silks of all Sorts except Sewing Silk; Cambrick, Lawn,
Muslin; Gauze except Boulting Goths; Callico or Cotton Stuffs of
more then 2s. per Yard; Linens of more than 2s. per Yard; Woollens,
Worsted Stuffs of all Sorts of more than 1s. 6d. per Yard; Broad
Cloths of all Kinds at more than 8s. per Yard; Narrow Cloths of all
Kinds at more than 3s. per Yard; Hats; Stockings (Plaid and Irish
Hose excepted); Shoes and Boots, Saddles and all Manufactures of
Leather and Skins of all Kinds. "
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? THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
Fairfax county that " the association in this and in the two
neighboring counties of Prince William and Loudoun is
compleat, or near it. " * In Dinwiddie county nearly one
thousand people signed. Its reception generally was favor-
able, the merchants being the only class to hold aloof. 2 As
we shall see, after a year's experience under the association
it was found necessary to adopt a new plan, which the mer-
chants evinced a willingness to support.
Meantime, a similar movement had been going forward
in Maryland. In the middle of March, 1769, the Mer-
chants' Committee of Philadelphia had transmitted their
agreement to the merchants of Baltimore and Chester with
the admonition that, "though the Merchants and traders
here have entered into this agreement without any condition,
yet many will be very uneasy under it if you do not come
into the Like. " * The result was that, on March 30, the
merchants of Baltimore adopted an agreement.
Outside of this chief commercial center, there was total
apathy among the traders and factors. "Atticus" came
forward in the Maryland Gasette, May 11, 1769, with a plea
to the inhabitants of the province not to wait on the factors
to act--for they were powerless because of their English
connections--but to take measures for themselves against
the use of British fineries. The principal inhabitants of
Annapolis and Anne Arundel county led the way on May
23 with an association for a limited importation. Soon
similar associations had been entered into by most of the
1 Washington, Writings (Ford), vol. ii, p. 269 n.
? AT. Y. Journ. , Aug. 10, 1769; 5. C. Gas. , Sept. 12.
1 Papers of Phila. Merchants, pp. 5-6. A letter of April 17 from
Bristol, England, to Philadelphia affirmed: "Some People here are
evading the Resolution of your Merchants. Large Quantities of Goods
now are shipping for Maryland which are intended for your Place and
New York. " N. Y. Journ. , June 29, 1769.
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? COMMERCIAL REFORM
139
counties of the province. 1 The promoters of the original
Annapolis association now invited representatives from each
county to meet at Annapolis and draw up a uniform associa-
tion for the whole province. "Merchants, Traders, Free-
holders, Mechanics and other Inhabitants " were represented
at the meeting on June 22.
The association adopted closely resembled the Virginia
agreement in its preamble of justification, its pledges against
lamb consumption, and its resolutions against the importa-
tion of dutied articles and of foreign luxuries, save that in
the latter case the Maryland list was more than twice as
long. In providing machinery of enforcement, the Mary-
land association went beyond any plan yet formulated in any
province. The subscribers, whether merchants, tradesmen
or manufacturers, agreed not to take advantage of the pros-
pective scarcity of goods but to maintain the prices usual
during the last three years. Business relations were to be
severed with any persons acting contrary to the spirit of
the association; they were to be considered "Enemies to
the Liberties of America" and treated "on all Occasions
with the Contempt they deserve. " The subscribers further
pledged themselves not to purchase from any other province
the articles that were debarred by the agreement. The
association was to continue in force until the Townshend
revenue act was repealed or until a general meeting of county
representatives should decide otherwise. Twelve copies of
the paper were sent to each county to be signed by the
people. 2
1 Md. Hist. Mag. , vol. iii, p. 144.
1 Ibid. , pp. 144-149; also Md. Gas. , June 29, 1769. Again on December
21, a numerous meeting assembled at Annapolis, including many mem-
bers of the county committees, and resolved unanimously that the asso-
ciation be "most strictly adhered to and preserved inviolate. " Ibid. ,
Dec. 21, 1769; also Pa. Gaz. , Jan. 4, 1770.
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?
I4o THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
The mercantile influence in South Carolina politics was
stronger than in any of the other plantation provinces, al-
though, of course, it was very different in character from
that in the commercial provinces. Charleston was the most
important trading town of the South; and its citizens domin-
ated the politics of the province. The movement for non-
importation was supported by the workingmen of Charles-
ton, who, for some years, had been developing a degree of
group consciousness, and by the planters of the province.
In the election of the new lower house of the Assembly in
October, 1768, the mechanics of the two town parishes ven-
tured to make up a slate and succeeded in securing the
election of three of their men, or one-half of their ticket. 1
In the same election, the planting representation in the
legislature was vastly increased, because of the admission
of four thousand freeholders to the electorate through the
establishment of parish boundaries in the interior. 2
The chief leader of the forces for non-importation was
Christopher Gadsden, a native-born merchant who had
learned business methods in the commercial provinces and
who possessed large planting interests, also. His indomit-
able spirit was illustrated by his conduct upon the death of
his wife in January, 1769, when he appeared in a suit of
blue homespun at the funeral rather than wear imported
black cloth. 8 His chief lieutenant among the mechanic
class was Peter Timothy, printer of the South Carolina
Gasette and correspondent of the Massachusetts Adamses.
The members of the new Assembly lent moral support to
the cause. The standing order for the wearing of wigs
1 ? C. Gas. , Oct. 3, 10, 1768.
1 Brit. Papers ("Sparks MM. "), vol. ii, pp. 193-195.
1" The whole expense of her funeral, of the manufacture of England,
did not amount to more than 3! . ros. our currency. " Boz. News-Letter,
Mch. 9, 1769.
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? COMMERCIAL REFORM
141
and stockings was altered so as to permit members to
transact committee business in caps and long trousers. If
the Assembly had occasion to send a committee to greet a
newly-arrived governor, wrote a shocked contemporary,
"he would probably from their dress take them for so
many unhappy persons ready for execution who had come
to petition him for a pardon. " 1
In September, 1768, a letter arrived from the Boston
Committee of Merchants, urging the Charleston merchants
to adopt regulations of non-importation. The letter was
handed about among several of the principal merchants but
received no favor; and the body of merchants were not even
called together to confer upon it. 2 Governor Bull wrote
home approvingly of this "silent neglect;" but a great
many people began to feel differently, especially when re-
ports of the widespread adoption of agreements in the
North continued to pour in and hope of relief from Parlia-
ment grew smaller. The South Carolina Gazette of Febru-
ary 2, 1769 published a form of agreement for the non-
consumption of hnports, which all people were advised to
adopt unless news of the repeal of the Townshend duties
should come speedily. A few days later, "A Planter"
wrote in favor of an association to buy no newly-imported
slaves until American rights should be restored. * In the
latter part of May, another " Planter" urged his brethren
to foster local manufacturing and to patronize non-importers
only. "You cannot expect the merchants will begin this
matter themselves," he wrote. ". . . Oblige them to it, by
declaring you will deal with none that do import extra
articles," and, by this method, you will bring about "a
1 S. C. Gas. , Nov. 2, 1769.
1 5. C. 6r Am. Gen. Gas. , July 10, 1769; B. if. Papers ("Sparks MM. "),
vol. ii, p. 195.
'5'. C. Gas. Gf Country Journ. , Feb. 7, 1769.
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? 142
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
happy Coalition of our Interest and that of Merchants into
one immediate self-interest. " l These various pleas brought
no satisfactory results. 2
Evidently the time had arrived to force the issue on the
merchants. Gadsden opened the hostilities on June 22 by
writing an article, under the pseudonym, "Pro Grege et
Rege," addressed to the " Planters, Mechanicks and Free-
holders . . . no ways concerned in the importation of
British manufactures. " a The importers of European goods
were stigmatized as strangers in the province, many of
them of a very few years' residence. To listen to any
more assurances that the revenue acts would be repealed if
the people remained quiet, was declared to be folly. Had
the people had enough real friends among the merchants to
obtain even one meeting to consult what they could do to
aid the general good, though every newspaper informed
them of the generous actions of the merchants to the north-
ward? On the contrary, had not the people been "af-
fronted with numberless weak and groundless reasons . . .
in order to frighten and deter" them from acting as they
ought? Could it be prudent to entrust the public good to a
body "whose private interest is glaringly against us? "
Let the freeholders and fixed settlers resolve upon non-
consumption, and the merchants would immediately decide
not to import. A suggested form of agreement was ap-
pended to the article.
1 S. C. Gas. , June 1, 1769.
1 It was claimed that a number of people in different parts of the
province did come into the association, proposed on February 2, by a
show of hands; but the evidence of this is not very satisfactory. Ibid. ,
June 8, 1769.
1 S. C. Co*. , June 22, 1769. Replies were made by "The Merchants
of Charles-Town," S. C. & Am. Gen. Gas. , July 10, and by "Pro
Libertate et Leffe," S. C. Gas. , July 13; but Gadsden's views were not
effectively refuted.
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? COMMERCIAL REFORM
The following week, the South Carolina Gasette pub-
lished a non-importation agreement, which was being pushed
by Gadsden and Peter Timothy and which had already been
subscribed by a number of people, including twenty-five
members of the Assembly. This form was recommended
as one suitable for workingmen and planters; and it was
announced that the present measure would supersede any
earlier forms that might have been accepted. Necessity for
this measure was attributed to the heavy and unconstitu-
tional burden of the Townshend revenue acts and the failure
of petitions to secure relief. The agreement was to be oper-
ative until the acts were repealed. By its provisions, the
subscribers agreed to stop all importation from Great
Britain thereafter, and to countermand all orders, wherever
possible, except for negro cloth, osnaburgs and duffel
blankets, workmen's tools, nails, woolcards, cardwire, can-
vas, ammunition, books, salt and coal. They agreed that
prices should not advance; and that they would promote
American manufactures and discard the use of mourning.
The inhabitants were given notice to sign the subscription
within one month, on pain of being boycotted. 1
Thp mechanjffr of Charleston met under Liberty Tree on
Tulv j and A to act nnon theL agreement: and after inserting
two new articles, the amended agreement was quickly signed
by two hundred and thirty people. The added parts pro-
vided that no goods, usually imported from Britain, should
be purchased from transient traders; and that no negroes
should be bought who were brought into the province after
January 1, 1770. A few days later, some of the mechanics
began to make a list of the merchants who signed the agree-
ment with the avowed purpose of trading only with such. 8
The great body of the merchants would have nothing
1 5. C. Gas. . June 29. 1769. * Ibid. , July 6, 13, 1769.
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? I44 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
to do with these proceedings, objecting bitterly to the
non-representative character of the meetings which had
formed the agreement, and denouncing the measure as
"an unjust attempt of one part of the community . . . to
throw a burthen on the rest, more grievous than ever was
conceived by the most arbitrary minister of the most des-
potic King. " They charged that the agreement was so
framed as to enable the planters and mechanics to import
the articles that they deemed indispensable, while the mer-
chants received no special favors; and they considered that
their interests were assailed by the mourning agreement,
since their stores were well stocked with mourning ma-
terials. 1 The merchants held their first meeting to con-
sider the situation on Friday afternoon, June 30, and, after
appointing a committee to draw up a report, adjourned to
July 7, when final action was taken. Nearly eighty mer-
chants were present at the adjourned meeting. The non-
importation retaliations, wh|ch themeeting- adopted, were
much less r1gorous than thrw ot tfr> ~t*-r inhabitant!
The agreement was limited to January 1, 1771, unless the
revenue acts should be repealed sooner; and a larger and
different list of articles was permitted to be imported. All
the other terms of the rival agreement were taken over by
the merchants, except the pledges for promoting local
manufacturing and for casting aside mourning apparel. In
addition, it was specified that, because of the heavy duty,
no wine should be imported or marketed during the year
1770. 8
Affairs were now in a bad state of confusion. Two
forms of agreement were being actively circulated for signa-
tures; and the feeling of animosity between the classes was
1 " The Merchants of Charles-Town," 5". C. & Am. Gen. Ga*. , July
13, 1769-
1 5. C. Gas. , July 6, 13, 1769.
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? COMMERCIAL REFORM
growing each day more acute. "A Mechanic" demanded
of the public how the planters and mechanics could be ex-
pected to subscribe to an agreement which did not contain
one syllable in favor of American manufactures or any
provision against the use of mourning. 1 The intolerable
situation was brought to an end by overtures from the
merchants for a joint committee to draft a uniform agree-
ment containing the p^ontialg nf thp twrv formg The
joint committee completed its work on Wednesday, July 19.
On the following day, the merchants unanimously accepted
the plan that had been agreed upon, and appointed a com-
mittee of thirteen to act as an executive body for doing
"whatever might be farther necessary to give Force to the
new Association. " 2 On Saturday, the twenty-second, a
great meeting was held, under Liberty Tree, of the me-
chanics and such planters as happened to be in town.
Christopher Gadsden read the new form, paragraph by
paragraph, so that objections might be offered, but the whole
was immediately voted satisfactory. * The association
was quickly signed by two hundred and sixty-eight people,
headed by the members of the House of Representatives
who were in town. A committee of thirteen planters and
of as many mechanics was appointed to serve with the
merchants' committee as one General Committee of thirty-
nine, for the purpose of supervising the enforcement of
the association. 4 By the following Thursday, one hundred
and forty-two merchants had signed the new resolutions.
1 5. C. Gaz. , July 13, 1769.
1 Ibid. , July 27, 1769; also Bos. News-Letter, Aug. 17.
1 5. C. Gas. , July 27, 1769; Bos. Gas. , Aug. 14. The names of the
members of the General Committee may be found in MoCrady, S.