560 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
meats and live cattle, except necessary ship supplies.
meats and live cattle, except necessary ship supplies.
Arthur Schlesinger - Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution
106.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 731; also Pa. Eve. Post, Sept. 23, 1775.
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? 556 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
lains. " * Abijah Brown was found guilty by the Waltham
selectmen of having belittled the general of the Massachu-
setts army and the committeemen as "a set of idiots and
lunaticks;" but he was restored to public favor by the pro-
vincial committee of safety on the ground that he had tem-
porarily fallen under the influence of "disaffected antag-
onists. " 2 The committee of Sheffield, Mass. , subjected Job
Westover to boycott for holding the sentiment that Parlia-
ment had a right to tax the Americans and that an Amer-
ican victory in the impending war would be prejudicial to
the best interests of the colonies. 8 The extra-legal "Gen-
eral Court" recommended to the Corporation and Over-
seers of Harvard College to dismiss from the faculty all
those who by their present or past conduct appeared to be
unfriendly to the liberties of the colonies. 4 On May 19 the
New Hampshire congress recommended to the committees
to have a watchful eye over all "persons who, through in-
advertence, wilful malice, or immoderate heat, have thrown
out many opprobrious expressions respecting the several
Congresses, and the methods of security they have thought
proper to adopt . . . " *
The committee at New Milford, Conn. , published the
names of seven for having declared their opposition to the
Continental Congress and announced the recantation of
forty others. 6 Amos Knapp was found guilty by the Green-
wich committee of "cursing the honourable Continental
1 Bos. Gas. , Sept. I1, 1775. For later proceedings with reference to
Wood, vide 4 Am. Arch. , vol. iii, pp. 151-156, 041.
11bid. , vol. ii, pp. 720-721.
'Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 545.
4 Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 1451.
6 Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 652. For examples of enforcement, ride ibid. , pp.
552, 701, 1652, 1659.
'Conn. Cour. , July 3, 1775.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 557
Congress, with all the leading men of the Country, and
threatening to join the enemy, in case the King's standard
was erected. " 1 On August 4, the New York committee held
one Archer up as an enemy because he had spread the report
that the Continental Congress had passed a resolution for
independence if American grievances were not redressed by
March 1. 2 In February, 1776, J. Thorn of Dutchess
County was proscribed for refusing to accept continental
paper money. 8 A boycott was declared against Ezekiel
Beach of Mendham, N. J. , for failing to appear before the
committee of observation to defend himself against the
charge of "unfriendly conversation and conduct towards
the Continental Association. " 4 The committee of Bucks
County, Pa. , accepted as satisfactory the contrition ex-
pressed by Thomas Smith " for having uttered expressions
derogatory to the Continental Congress, invidious to a par-
ticular denomination of Christians, and tending to impede
the opposition of my countrymen to ministerial oppres-
sion. " 5
The Dover committee in the Delaware Counties found
Daniel Varnum guilty of using such expressions as "he
had as lief be under a tyrannical King as a tyrannical Com-
monwealth, especially if the d d Presbyterians had the
rule of it," and then accepted his recantation. 3 George
Munro's unfriendliness was discovered by the committee of
Bladensburgh, Md. , through an intercepted letter, and his
protestations of contrition availed him nothing. 7 Thomas
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. iii, p. 941.
1Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 21.
? AT. Y. Gas. , Mch. 11,1776.
4 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 1610.
* Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 690.
* Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 1072.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 51-56.
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? 558 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
Anderson of Hanover County, Va. , was exempted by the
committee from further prosecution when he expressed his
deep sorrow for "declaring that this Country was in a
state of rebellion, and aimed at a state of independence
more than opposition to parliamentary taxation. " * The
committee of Pitt County, N. C, advertised John Tison in
May for speaking disrespectfully of the committee and
Congress, and in October he confessed his offense and
promised under oath never to do the like again. 2
In the instances here cited, the boycott was the punish-
ment prescribed. But the boycott was essentially a weapon
to be resorted to by a minority in a community; as the gov-
ernment of one community after the other fell under con-
trol of the rebels, methods of punishment more immediately
efficacious were adopted. Thus, in May, 1775, the Massa-
chusetts provincial congress recommended to the commit-
tees of correspondence and selectmen of the various towns
to confiscate the arms of those persons who were unfriendly
to the American cause, and forbade any inhabitants to re-
move from the province with their effects, except by leave
of the local committee of correspondence or the provincial
congress. In June the provincial congress directed the
selectmen and committees of correspondence of the several
towns to take charge of the effects and estates of those per-
sons who had fled within the British lines at Boston or
elsewhere, to improve the same to the best advantage, and
to render a true account of the profits arising therefrom to
the congress. 8 The New Hampshire provincial congress on
June 30 sentenced Colonel John Fenton to an indefinite
confinement in jail for being " an enemy to the liberties of
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. iii, p. 644.
* A''. C. Col. Recs. , vol. ix. pp. 1240, 1266; vol. x, pp. 243, 261.
? 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 793, 1804, 1431 n.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
America. " * The Rhode Island General Assembly in No-
vember passed a law punishing, with death and forfeiture
of property, any persons assisting the British enemy with
information, provisions or munitions. 2 In September the
New York provincial congress established a series of penal-
ties for persons inimical to America; and these penalties in-
cluded imprisonment, disarming, fines, and banishment from
the province, according to the enormity of the offence. 8
Several persons were sent to jail in October by the Penn-
sylvania committee of safety for unfriendly correspond-
ence with the enemy, and one of them was later released
under bond of ? 500 for good behavior. 4 The committee of
Newbern, N. C. ,. ordered the disarming of all those who
had not signed the defense association. 8 In June, 1775, the
secret committee of the General Committee at Charleston
sentenced two men, who had declined the defense associa-
tion, to tar and feathers. "
The radical committees and organizations in many of the
provinces also found it necessary to limit or prohibit expor-
tations, although the non-exportation regulation of the Con-
tinental Association was not to become effective until Sep-
tember 10. The prime purpose of such regulations was to
distress the British troops; a subsidiary object was to facili-
tate the provisioning of the American forces. The Connec-
ticut Assembly was the first to act, in April, 1775, by plac-
ing an embargo upon the exportation by water of cereals,
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 698. 1180, 1181.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 1376-1377.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 573-574-
4Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 1815, 1822-1823.
6 Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 100.
? Ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 922-923.
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?
560 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
meats and live cattle, except necessary ship supplies. 1 In
May the Rhode Island Assembly passed a similar act. " The
Massachusetts provincial congress in June resolved that no
fish or other provision should be shipped from the province
unless the committee having jurisdiction should decide that
the victuals were intended for the use of the inhabitants of
some New England province. 8
Even before the fateful day at Lexington, the populace
at New York had become alarmed at the exportation of
nails, spades and other implements to the British troops at
Boston, and at a mass meeting on April 6 they adopted
resolutions demanding that the practice stop. Two mer-
chants, William and Henry Ustick, who were active in this
traffic, were held up as " inveterate foes to American free-
dom," although, as these gentlemen maintained, they had
not violated any part of the Continental Association. 4 In
May the One Hundred forbade the exportation of provis-
ions from New York city, and in August the provincial
congress applied the same principle to shipments from the
entire province. 5 The Virginia convention resolved, on July
24, to withhold the exportation of cereals and other pro-
visions after August 5 and to prevent even the collection of
them in large quantities in towns or near navigable streams.
The merchants and inhabitants of Norfolk and Northamp-
ton entered vigorous protests; and when word arrived, on
August 8, that the Maryland convention would not join in
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 410, 562; vol. iii, pp. 269, 1018.
1 Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 1151.
1 Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 1404. For subsequent modifications of this resolution,
vide ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 1435, 1440, 1462; vol. iii, pp. 320, 362, 1440-1441.
4 Ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 242-243, 282-283; A'. Y. Gas. , Apr. 17, 24, 1775.
? 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 636-637; vol. iii, pp. 445-447, 536-537. More
stringent regulations were adopted later in the month. Ibid. , vol. iii,
pp. SS8-559, 560, 561, 565.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 56r
similar resolutions, the convention rescinded its action. 1
However, the various county committees endeavored to
keep supplies away from British warships in Virginia
waters. 2 The General Committee at Charleston resolved
on May 26, that no rice or Indian corn should thereafter be
exported from the province; and on June 9 the provincial
congress declared that this embargo should continue for
three months. 8
The conduct of the fishermen of Nantucket furnished a
knotty problem for the radicals to solve and involved again
the use of non-exportation prior to the time set by the Con-
tinental Association. The islanders had no scruples about
profiting by their exemption from the New England Re-
straining Act in respect to the whale fisheries. Further-
more, they were suspected of furnishing the British ships
and troops in Massachusetts with food, and of carrying pro-
visions to Newfoundland and the fishing settlements. In
order to check this traffic, the Second Continental Congress
voted on May 29, 1775, that no provisions or necessities of
life should be exported to Nantucket, except from Massa-
chusetts, and then only in sufficient quantities for domestic
consumption. 4 This proved to be an impracticable arrange-
ment because of the difficulty of providing an adequate
supervision. The Massachusetts provincial congress placed
the regulation of exportation under charge of the provincial
committee of safety; but it soon became evident that, not-
withstanding their precautions, the islanders were prepar-
ing a large quantity of provisions with the intention of
availing themselves of their exclusive privilege to engage in
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. iii, pp. 102, 103. 122, 369, 372, 373. 376.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 218, 655-656.
. 1 Ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 710, 938.
* Journals, vol. ii, pp. 70-71.
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? THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
the whale fisheries. On July 7, therefore, the provincial
congress decided to withhold all provisions and necessities
from the island until the inhabitants showed proof that the
food they had on hand would be used in domestic con-
sumption. 1
The islanders apparently gave little heed to this resolu-
tion. They managed to get a little food from other prov-
inces; 2 but by September they found themselves in severe
straits. The Massachusetts "House of Representatives,"
successor of the provincial congress, being made cognizant
of this situation, took steps on September 28 to re-open ex-
portation, and they instructed the committee of correspond-
ence of the town of Falmouth to supply the island with
enough food for sustenance of the inhabitants. 8 This
method of regulation likewise failed;4 and on December 11,
1775, the Continental Congress took the matter in hand.
The selectmen of the town of Sherburne in Nantucket were
instructed to prepare an estimate of the provisions and fuel
necessary for the use of the island and to lay it, under their
oath or affirmation, before three or more justices of the
peace of Barnstable County, Mass. The justices were then
empowered to grant licenses to any master or owner of
vessels in the island to import supplies up to the amount
specified. 5 This resolution of Congress appears to have
afforded a reasonably satisfactory solution for the difficulty
while the British troops remained at Boston.
The Second Continental Congress convened on May 10,
1775, three weeks after the beginning of war at Lexington.
1 Journals, vol. iii, pp. 420-422.
? E. g. , ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 15, 21-22, 60.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 1444.
* Ibid. , vol. iv, p. 1331.
0 Journals, vol. iii, pp. 420-422.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 563
Similar to the First Continental Congress in the irregularity
of its election, the problem that it had to face was a more
complicated one. The Congress had to solve on a national
scale the problem that the provincial and local organizations
had been trying to solve within their smaller jurisdictions.
As Robert R. Livingston told his fellow-members in a
speech on the floor of Congress, "We are between hawk
and buzzard; we puzzle ourselves between the commercial
and warlike opposition. " * This was indeed the most seri-
ous dilemma; but, in addition, it was necessary to settle cer-
tain questions of interpretation and omission arising from
the Continental Association and to adapt the document
frankly to the new war conditions.
Accepting the Lexington affray as a declaration of war,
the Congress began to assume direction of the rebellion and
to exercise the powers of a de facto government. In June
Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the army
of the United Colonies, and rules for regulating the army
and navy were promulgated. Many other plans for military
operations were adopted in the subsequent months. On
July 6 a declaration was issued, which said, in effect, that
the attempt of the British government to accomplish by
force of arms what by law or right they could never effect
had made it necessary for the colonists to change the ground
of opposition and to close with the British appeal from
reason to arms. 2
As the interprovincial organization of the radicals, the
Congress undertook to standardize and supplement some of
the new functions which the committees of observation in
the several provinces had assumed of their own accord. In
June it was resolved that no provisions should be furnished
the British army and navy in America and that no bills of
1 Adams, J. , Works (Adams), vol. ii, p. 461.
1 Journals, vol. ii, pp. 140-153.
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? 564 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
exchange of army or navy officers should be honored. 1 In
December vessels employed in transporting British troops
or carrying supplies for them were declared liable to con-
fiscation. 2 In October it was recommended to the provin-
cial organizations to arrest every person whose going at
large might endanger the liberties of America; * and on
January 2, 1776, these bodies were authorized to invoke the
aid of the continental troops in order to disarm all who
spoke or acted against America, and to arrest or place under
bond the more dangerous among them. 4 Later in January
it was resolved that any person who refused continental
currency should be published by the local committee or pro-
vincial body as "an enemy of his country" and be sub-
jected to boycott. 5 In March the radical organizations
were instructed to disarm all who had refused to sign de-
fense associations or who were notoriously disaffected. *
Congress also sought to encourage widespread activity in
manufacturing, particularly the production of saltpetre, sul-
phur and gunpowder. 7 Further than this, it was recom-
mended, in March, 1776, that the manufacturing of duck
and sail-cloth and of steel should be introduced into those
provinces where the processes were understood, and that a
society for the improvement of agriculture, arts, manufac-
tures and commerce should be established in every prov-
1 Journals, vol. ii, p. 78. * Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 437.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 280.
*Ibid. , vol. iv, pp. 18-20. On January 3, Congress itself enforced this
resolution against the loyalist inhabitants of Queen's County, N. Y.
Ibid. , pp. 25-27, 34, 114.
? Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 367-368; vol. iv, p. 49. Vide also ibid. , vol. iv, p.
. 183; voL v, pp. 47S-476.
? Ibid. , vol. iv, p. 205.
11bid.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 731; also Pa. Eve. Post, Sept. 23, 1775.
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? 556 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
lains. " * Abijah Brown was found guilty by the Waltham
selectmen of having belittled the general of the Massachu-
setts army and the committeemen as "a set of idiots and
lunaticks;" but he was restored to public favor by the pro-
vincial committee of safety on the ground that he had tem-
porarily fallen under the influence of "disaffected antag-
onists. " 2 The committee of Sheffield, Mass. , subjected Job
Westover to boycott for holding the sentiment that Parlia-
ment had a right to tax the Americans and that an Amer-
ican victory in the impending war would be prejudicial to
the best interests of the colonies. 8 The extra-legal "Gen-
eral Court" recommended to the Corporation and Over-
seers of Harvard College to dismiss from the faculty all
those who by their present or past conduct appeared to be
unfriendly to the liberties of the colonies. 4 On May 19 the
New Hampshire congress recommended to the committees
to have a watchful eye over all "persons who, through in-
advertence, wilful malice, or immoderate heat, have thrown
out many opprobrious expressions respecting the several
Congresses, and the methods of security they have thought
proper to adopt . . . " *
The committee at New Milford, Conn. , published the
names of seven for having declared their opposition to the
Continental Congress and announced the recantation of
forty others. 6 Amos Knapp was found guilty by the Green-
wich committee of "cursing the honourable Continental
1 Bos. Gas. , Sept. I1, 1775. For later proceedings with reference to
Wood, vide 4 Am. Arch. , vol. iii, pp. 151-156, 041.
11bid. , vol. ii, pp. 720-721.
'Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 545.
4 Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 1451.
6 Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 652. For examples of enforcement, ride ibid. , pp.
552, 701, 1652, 1659.
'Conn. Cour. , July 3, 1775.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 557
Congress, with all the leading men of the Country, and
threatening to join the enemy, in case the King's standard
was erected. " 1 On August 4, the New York committee held
one Archer up as an enemy because he had spread the report
that the Continental Congress had passed a resolution for
independence if American grievances were not redressed by
March 1. 2 In February, 1776, J. Thorn of Dutchess
County was proscribed for refusing to accept continental
paper money. 8 A boycott was declared against Ezekiel
Beach of Mendham, N. J. , for failing to appear before the
committee of observation to defend himself against the
charge of "unfriendly conversation and conduct towards
the Continental Association. " 4 The committee of Bucks
County, Pa. , accepted as satisfactory the contrition ex-
pressed by Thomas Smith " for having uttered expressions
derogatory to the Continental Congress, invidious to a par-
ticular denomination of Christians, and tending to impede
the opposition of my countrymen to ministerial oppres-
sion. " 5
The Dover committee in the Delaware Counties found
Daniel Varnum guilty of using such expressions as "he
had as lief be under a tyrannical King as a tyrannical Com-
monwealth, especially if the d d Presbyterians had the
rule of it," and then accepted his recantation. 3 George
Munro's unfriendliness was discovered by the committee of
Bladensburgh, Md. , through an intercepted letter, and his
protestations of contrition availed him nothing. 7 Thomas
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. iii, p. 941.
1Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 21.
? AT. Y. Gas. , Mch. 11,1776.
4 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 1610.
* Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 690.
* Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 1072.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 51-56.
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? 558 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
Anderson of Hanover County, Va. , was exempted by the
committee from further prosecution when he expressed his
deep sorrow for "declaring that this Country was in a
state of rebellion, and aimed at a state of independence
more than opposition to parliamentary taxation. " * The
committee of Pitt County, N. C, advertised John Tison in
May for speaking disrespectfully of the committee and
Congress, and in October he confessed his offense and
promised under oath never to do the like again. 2
In the instances here cited, the boycott was the punish-
ment prescribed. But the boycott was essentially a weapon
to be resorted to by a minority in a community; as the gov-
ernment of one community after the other fell under con-
trol of the rebels, methods of punishment more immediately
efficacious were adopted. Thus, in May, 1775, the Massa-
chusetts provincial congress recommended to the commit-
tees of correspondence and selectmen of the various towns
to confiscate the arms of those persons who were unfriendly
to the American cause, and forbade any inhabitants to re-
move from the province with their effects, except by leave
of the local committee of correspondence or the provincial
congress. In June the provincial congress directed the
selectmen and committees of correspondence of the several
towns to take charge of the effects and estates of those per-
sons who had fled within the British lines at Boston or
elsewhere, to improve the same to the best advantage, and
to render a true account of the profits arising therefrom to
the congress. 8 The New Hampshire provincial congress on
June 30 sentenced Colonel John Fenton to an indefinite
confinement in jail for being " an enemy to the liberties of
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. iii, p. 644.
* A''. C. Col. Recs. , vol. ix. pp. 1240, 1266; vol. x, pp. 243, 261.
? 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 793, 1804, 1431 n.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
America. " * The Rhode Island General Assembly in No-
vember passed a law punishing, with death and forfeiture
of property, any persons assisting the British enemy with
information, provisions or munitions. 2 In September the
New York provincial congress established a series of penal-
ties for persons inimical to America; and these penalties in-
cluded imprisonment, disarming, fines, and banishment from
the province, according to the enormity of the offence. 8
Several persons were sent to jail in October by the Penn-
sylvania committee of safety for unfriendly correspond-
ence with the enemy, and one of them was later released
under bond of ? 500 for good behavior. 4 The committee of
Newbern, N. C. ,. ordered the disarming of all those who
had not signed the defense association. 8 In June, 1775, the
secret committee of the General Committee at Charleston
sentenced two men, who had declined the defense associa-
tion, to tar and feathers. "
The radical committees and organizations in many of the
provinces also found it necessary to limit or prohibit expor-
tations, although the non-exportation regulation of the Con-
tinental Association was not to become effective until Sep-
tember 10. The prime purpose of such regulations was to
distress the British troops; a subsidiary object was to facili-
tate the provisioning of the American forces. The Connec-
ticut Assembly was the first to act, in April, 1775, by plac-
ing an embargo upon the exportation by water of cereals,
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 698. 1180, 1181.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 1376-1377.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 573-574-
4Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 1815, 1822-1823.
6 Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 100.
? Ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 922-923.
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?
560 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
meats and live cattle, except necessary ship supplies. 1 In
May the Rhode Island Assembly passed a similar act. " The
Massachusetts provincial congress in June resolved that no
fish or other provision should be shipped from the province
unless the committee having jurisdiction should decide that
the victuals were intended for the use of the inhabitants of
some New England province. 8
Even before the fateful day at Lexington, the populace
at New York had become alarmed at the exportation of
nails, spades and other implements to the British troops at
Boston, and at a mass meeting on April 6 they adopted
resolutions demanding that the practice stop. Two mer-
chants, William and Henry Ustick, who were active in this
traffic, were held up as " inveterate foes to American free-
dom," although, as these gentlemen maintained, they had
not violated any part of the Continental Association. 4 In
May the One Hundred forbade the exportation of provis-
ions from New York city, and in August the provincial
congress applied the same principle to shipments from the
entire province. 5 The Virginia convention resolved, on July
24, to withhold the exportation of cereals and other pro-
visions after August 5 and to prevent even the collection of
them in large quantities in towns or near navigable streams.
The merchants and inhabitants of Norfolk and Northamp-
ton entered vigorous protests; and when word arrived, on
August 8, that the Maryland convention would not join in
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 410, 562; vol. iii, pp. 269, 1018.
1 Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 1151.
1 Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 1404. For subsequent modifications of this resolution,
vide ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 1435, 1440, 1462; vol. iii, pp. 320, 362, 1440-1441.
4 Ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 242-243, 282-283; A'. Y. Gas. , Apr. 17, 24, 1775.
? 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 636-637; vol. iii, pp. 445-447, 536-537. More
stringent regulations were adopted later in the month. Ibid. , vol. iii,
pp. SS8-559, 560, 561, 565.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 56r
similar resolutions, the convention rescinded its action. 1
However, the various county committees endeavored to
keep supplies away from British warships in Virginia
waters. 2 The General Committee at Charleston resolved
on May 26, that no rice or Indian corn should thereafter be
exported from the province; and on June 9 the provincial
congress declared that this embargo should continue for
three months. 8
The conduct of the fishermen of Nantucket furnished a
knotty problem for the radicals to solve and involved again
the use of non-exportation prior to the time set by the Con-
tinental Association. The islanders had no scruples about
profiting by their exemption from the New England Re-
straining Act in respect to the whale fisheries. Further-
more, they were suspected of furnishing the British ships
and troops in Massachusetts with food, and of carrying pro-
visions to Newfoundland and the fishing settlements. In
order to check this traffic, the Second Continental Congress
voted on May 29, 1775, that no provisions or necessities of
life should be exported to Nantucket, except from Massa-
chusetts, and then only in sufficient quantities for domestic
consumption. 4 This proved to be an impracticable arrange-
ment because of the difficulty of providing an adequate
supervision. The Massachusetts provincial congress placed
the regulation of exportation under charge of the provincial
committee of safety; but it soon became evident that, not-
withstanding their precautions, the islanders were prepar-
ing a large quantity of provisions with the intention of
availing themselves of their exclusive privilege to engage in
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. iii, pp. 102, 103. 122, 369, 372, 373. 376.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 218, 655-656.
. 1 Ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 710, 938.
* Journals, vol. ii, pp. 70-71.
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? THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
the whale fisheries. On July 7, therefore, the provincial
congress decided to withhold all provisions and necessities
from the island until the inhabitants showed proof that the
food they had on hand would be used in domestic con-
sumption. 1
The islanders apparently gave little heed to this resolu-
tion. They managed to get a little food from other prov-
inces; 2 but by September they found themselves in severe
straits. The Massachusetts "House of Representatives,"
successor of the provincial congress, being made cognizant
of this situation, took steps on September 28 to re-open ex-
portation, and they instructed the committee of correspond-
ence of the town of Falmouth to supply the island with
enough food for sustenance of the inhabitants. 8 This
method of regulation likewise failed;4 and on December 11,
1775, the Continental Congress took the matter in hand.
The selectmen of the town of Sherburne in Nantucket were
instructed to prepare an estimate of the provisions and fuel
necessary for the use of the island and to lay it, under their
oath or affirmation, before three or more justices of the
peace of Barnstable County, Mass. The justices were then
empowered to grant licenses to any master or owner of
vessels in the island to import supplies up to the amount
specified. 5 This resolution of Congress appears to have
afforded a reasonably satisfactory solution for the difficulty
while the British troops remained at Boston.
The Second Continental Congress convened on May 10,
1775, three weeks after the beginning of war at Lexington.
1 Journals, vol. iii, pp. 420-422.
? E. g. , ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 15, 21-22, 60.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 1444.
* Ibid. , vol. iv, p. 1331.
0 Journals, vol. iii, pp. 420-422.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 563
Similar to the First Continental Congress in the irregularity
of its election, the problem that it had to face was a more
complicated one. The Congress had to solve on a national
scale the problem that the provincial and local organizations
had been trying to solve within their smaller jurisdictions.
As Robert R. Livingston told his fellow-members in a
speech on the floor of Congress, "We are between hawk
and buzzard; we puzzle ourselves between the commercial
and warlike opposition. " * This was indeed the most seri-
ous dilemma; but, in addition, it was necessary to settle cer-
tain questions of interpretation and omission arising from
the Continental Association and to adapt the document
frankly to the new war conditions.
Accepting the Lexington affray as a declaration of war,
the Congress began to assume direction of the rebellion and
to exercise the powers of a de facto government. In June
Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the army
of the United Colonies, and rules for regulating the army
and navy were promulgated. Many other plans for military
operations were adopted in the subsequent months. On
July 6 a declaration was issued, which said, in effect, that
the attempt of the British government to accomplish by
force of arms what by law or right they could never effect
had made it necessary for the colonists to change the ground
of opposition and to close with the British appeal from
reason to arms. 2
As the interprovincial organization of the radicals, the
Congress undertook to standardize and supplement some of
the new functions which the committees of observation in
the several provinces had assumed of their own accord. In
June it was resolved that no provisions should be furnished
the British army and navy in America and that no bills of
1 Adams, J. , Works (Adams), vol. ii, p. 461.
1 Journals, vol. ii, pp. 140-153.
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? 564 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
exchange of army or navy officers should be honored. 1 In
December vessels employed in transporting British troops
or carrying supplies for them were declared liable to con-
fiscation. 2 In October it was recommended to the provin-
cial organizations to arrest every person whose going at
large might endanger the liberties of America; * and on
January 2, 1776, these bodies were authorized to invoke the
aid of the continental troops in order to disarm all who
spoke or acted against America, and to arrest or place under
bond the more dangerous among them. 4 Later in January
it was resolved that any person who refused continental
currency should be published by the local committee or pro-
vincial body as "an enemy of his country" and be sub-
jected to boycott. 5 In March the radical organizations
were instructed to disarm all who had refused to sign de-
fense associations or who were notoriously disaffected. *
Congress also sought to encourage widespread activity in
manufacturing, particularly the production of saltpetre, sul-
phur and gunpowder. 7 Further than this, it was recom-
mended, in March, 1776, that the manufacturing of duck
and sail-cloth and of steel should be introduced into those
provinces where the processes were understood, and that a
society for the improvement of agriculture, arts, manufac-
tures and commerce should be established in every prov-
1 Journals, vol. ii, p. 78. * Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 437.
1 Ibid. , vol. iii, p. 280.
*Ibid. , vol. iv, pp. 18-20. On January 3, Congress itself enforced this
resolution against the loyalist inhabitants of Queen's County, N. Y.
Ibid. , pp. 25-27, 34, 114.
? Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 367-368; vol. iv, p. 49. Vide also ibid. , vol. iv, p.
. 183; voL v, pp. 47S-476.
? Ibid. , vol. iv, p. 205.
11bid.
