No More Learning

, a commercial correspondent declared in a London newspaper
that from January 1 to April 27, 1775, the following ships cleared from
Bristol carrying nothing but ballast: seven for New York, three for
Maryland, three for Philadelphia, three for Virginia, one for North
Carolina, and three for South Carolina. N. Y. Gasetteer, Aug. 24,
1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 921-922.
1 Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1086-1091, 1107-1110, 1513-1515, 1525-1526.
* Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1082-1083, 1147-1152, 1540.
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? IN THE PLANTATION PROVINCES 537
join in the agitation. 1 The latter responded with alacrity.
When Parliament reassembled on January 19, 1775, the
House of Commons was deluged with petitions in the en-
suing weeks. The merchants, traders and manufacturers
of Bristol, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool,
Leeds, Belfast, and many other places joined in the chorus
of lamentation, complaining that business conditions were
already poor and foretelling the suspension of debt collec-
tions, bankruptcy and widespread unemployment. 2
But the ministry were as adamant. They believed that
England was reaping the whirlwind that had been sown
when indulgent ministries had granted concessions to the
colonists on the occasion of the two earlier non-importation
leagues. As one man friendly to the ministry wrote:
"there will be no end of it, if the Americans may rebel at
their pleasure, and then slip behind their creditors for
security. " 8 Solicitor General Wedderburn presented the
issue with unmistakable clearness to the House of Com-
mons. "He gave every allowance for, and paid all defer-
ence to, the interests of Commerce and Manufactures; but
contended that in the present case interests were concerned
of yet greater consequence; that all the world must ac-
knowledge that when the clearest rights of the Legislative
power of a country are invaded and denied, and when in
consequence the people so denying are in actual and open
1 Mass. Gas. & News-Letter, Mch. 23, 1775.
1 Petitions also came from Norwich, Dudley, Wolverhampton, New-
castle, Burslem, Tunstall, Colridge, Shelton, Hanly, Stoke Lane, Delf
Lane End, Nottingham, Bridgport, Wakefield, Halifax, Bradford,
Huddersfield, Whitehaven, and Waterford, Ireland. 4 Am. Arch. , vol.
i, pp. 1513-154o- 1567, 1627-1638, 1698-1703; Franklin, Writings (Smyth),
vol. vi, pp. 303-308, 315-317. There were a few petitions praying the
government to stand firm--from Birmingham, Leeds, Wakefield. Hali-
fax, Bradford, Nottingham and Huddersfield, usually from the alder-
men, sheriffs, gentlemen and principal manufacturers.
1Maw. Gas. & Post-Boy, May 23. 1774.
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? 538 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
rebellion, that then there are points of greater importance
to be settled and decided than points of Commerce and
Manufacture. An enemy in the bowels of a Kingdom is
surely to be resisted, opposed and conquered; notwith-
standing the trade that may suffer, and the fabrics that
may be ruined. That descriptions of the immense conse-
quence of our American trade were arguments against the
opposing Members than for them; for the greater the con-
sequence of the Commerce, the greater the care ought to
be, and the firmer the policy that is to preserve it; that the
question is not now the importance of the American Colo-
nies, but the possession of the Colonies at all. " *
For a decade colonial governors had been urging that
Parliament should declare non-importation agreements
illegal as combinations in restraint of trade. Lord North's
plan was more penetrating: "as the Americans had refused
to trade with this Kingdom," he was reported to have said,
"it was but just that we should not suffer them to trade
with any other Nation. "2 His first bill was directed
against the New Englanders, whom he believed to be at the
bottom of the American troubles. This bill became a law
on March 30, 1775, and provided that, until peaceful condi-
tions of business had been restored, no New England
province should, after July 1, trade with any part of the
world, save the British Isles and the British West Indies,
nor after July 20 should be permitted to use the fisheries. 8
1 Pa. Gas. , Apr. 12, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1547. Vide
also ibid. , pp. 1526-1527, 1624-1625.
'Ibid. , vol. i, p. 1622; also N. Y. Journ. , Apr. 20, 1775. North had
this plan in mind as early as September 21, 1774--before the Continental
Association had been adopted. Hutchinson, Diary and Letters, vol. i,
P. 245-
'15 George III, c. 10. The inhabitants of Nantucket were exempted
from the provisions of the act so far as the whale fisheries were con-
cerned, and the inhabitants of Marshfield and Scituate so far as the
mackerel, shad and alewife fisheries were concerned.
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? IN THE PLANTATION PROVINCES 539
Meantime it had become evident that most of the other
colonies had ratified the Continental Association;1 and so,
by Lord North's second bill, enacted April 13, the terms of
the first act were extended to New Jersey and Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina after July 20. 2
The commerce of New York, the Delaware Counties,
North Carolina and Georgia was left unmolested for the
time being, upon the belief that with such encouragement
these colonies would hold off from union with the Asso-
ciated Colonies--an illusory hope.
The indignation of the merchants and manufacturers in
Britain, who had thus been ignored and chastised by the
government, was at first unbounded. But several events
soon transpired which reconciled them to the situation.
Undoubtedly the affair at Lexington and Concord in April
sharpened the understanding of many of them as to the
nature of the issues at stake. Equally important was the
amelioration of business conditions in Great Britair) which
h<>Eg" tU he ff>1t ahnnt thP middle of the vear 177=;. This
was in no sense due to any relaxation of the enforcement
of the Association in America, but to increased orders for
manufactures, whirh h^g^n tr> pnnr in from various. parts
of Europe -- particularly from the Baltic countries and
f^prmifflv. owing to the establishment of _peac&-between
Russia and the Porte and the pacification of Poland, and
from Spain in consequence of warlike preparations against
Algiers. At the same time great wheat exportations from
America and the advanced prices paid for American tobacco
and oil enabled the colonial merchants to discharge their
debts better than usual, and thus increased the amount of
capital which the British merchants and manufacturers
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1701.
* Exclusion from the fisheries was not included, however. 15
George III, c. 18.
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? 540
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
might use in developing this new business. 1 This analysis
of the revival of business confidence, made by a gentleman
of American sympathies in England, was borne out by
abundant and indubitable testimony of a varied character/
{Fortuitous occurrences thus robbed the Continental Asso-
ciation of its coercive consequences and enabled the British
administration to develop its policy without uncomfortable
pressure from the commercial and manufacturing interests.
When Parliament assembled in the fall of 1775, scores of
votes of confidence were presented from towns all over
Great Britain, and the few mercantile petitions that were
sent in behalf of the Americans did not plead the cause of
the colonists on the ground of commercial distress. 8 Under
these auspicious circumstances Parliament, on December 23,
enacted as a war measure the law that provided for en-
tirely closing up the thirteen colonies to trade with any part
of the world after March 1, 1776. 4]
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. iii, p. 818.
1 Macpherson, op. cit. , vol. iii, pp. 589-591; Izard, Corresp. , vol. i,
pp. 116-117; Pub. Rec. Off. , C. 0. 5, no. 154 (L. C. Transcripts), pp.
281-283; letter in AT. Y. Gas. , Nov. 6, 1775; 4 Am. Arch. , vol. iii, pp.
lo1o-1o11, IIII-IH2, 1115-1116, 1261-1262, 1381-1382, 1520, 1641.
1Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 802-1704 passim.
'16 George III, c. 5.
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? CHAPTER XIV
TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION (APRIL, 1775-
JULY, 1776)
THE tocsin of war, sounded on the historic Apr^l day at
and Concord, wrought a radical change in the
nature of the opposition directed by the Americans against
the British measures. This did not mean that a struggle
for independence had begun, but it did mean that armed
rebellion had superseded commercial coercion as the de-
pendence of the radicals in their struggle for larger liber-
ties. Thereafter the Continental Association lost its dis-
tinctive character as a method of peaceful coercion; it be-
came subordinated to the military necessities of the times.
The transformation which the Association was under-
going revealed itself in five ways: in the widespread . adop-
tion of defense associations; in the determination_QjLthe
Georgia moderates to adopt the Continental Association as
a deterrent to the more violent methods advocated by the
radicals there; in the spontaneous action of rV <vftra-l<>gral
bodies_in. the several provinces in taking on disciplinary and
military functions; in the adoption, by provinces _expos_eji_to
th. e_perils_Qf- war, of. non-exportation regulations prior to the
tirjp fi^ed in thft Assnc. ia. tkm: and in the important _altera-
tions made in the_text of the originalAssociation . by the
Second Continental Congress.
News of the gallant stand made by the Massachusetts
minutemen was carried down the coast and through the
country by swift couriers. The radical organizations of the
S41
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? 542
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
Associated Colonies were faced with the decision whether
they should follow the Massachusetts extremists into armed
resistance just as they had followed them a little earlier
into commercial opposition. The air was electric with ex-
citement. As individuals, some radicals hesitated or de-
serted the cause; as organizations, they were too deeply
committed to do anything but give loyal support to their
brethren of Massachusetts. The New England group of
provinces, quickened by the hazardous proximity of the
British forces, responded in April and May by reorganizing
their militia and putting it on a war footing. 1 Their action
hardly more than consolidated the military companies that
had been drilled and equipped in the towns and counties
during the several preceding months.
In the remaining provinces the almost invariable form of
action was the adoption of defense associations; and in-
deed the same device was also utilized by Connecticut where
the loyalists were thick in Fairfield County. This plan of
procedure was fashioned frankly on the principle of the old
associations for commercial coercion; and acting through
the same machinery, it gained prestige by reason of the
fact. In phraseology the associations appeared to vary
according to the character of the population.
In the more
moderate provinces, like New York and New Jersey, the
subscribers agreed solemnly to " carry into execution what-
ever measures may be recommended by the Continental
Congress or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention;" *
1 The Massachusetts provincial congress had taken its measures earlier,
Vide particularly the votes of Oct. 26, 1774 and April 5, 1775. 4 Am.
Arch. , vol. i, pp. 843-845, 1350-1355. For the acts of the other provinces,
vide New Hampshire provincial congress, May 20, in ibid. , voL ii, pp.
652-653; Rhode Island Assembly, Apr. 25, in ibid. , vol. ii, p. 390; Con-
necticut Assembly, Apr. 26, in ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 411-418.
1 The italics are Governor Franklin's. / N. J. Arch. , vol. x, p. 592.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 543
in ultra-radical communities, like Maryland, South Caro-
lina and certain North Carolina counties, the subscribers
pledged their " lives and fortunes " in defense of the Amer-
ican cause. But whatever the form, the underlying mean-
ing of all associations was the same. The defense associa-
tions appeared spontaneously in the various provinces, and
were afterwards usually adopted formally by the provincial
congress or convention with the provision that the male
adult inhabitants be given an opportunity to sign, and the
further provision frequently that the names of dissentients
be listed. The act of signing the defense association was a
more rigid test of loyalty to the radical cause than acceptance
of the Continental Association and largely superseded it in
public attention and importance. 1 These associations spread
southward through the Associated Provinces in the spring
and early summer of 1775'
The course of New York exemplified, in its main out-
lines, the progress of the defense association in every prov-
1 Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and South Carolina
provided that lists of non-signers should be drawn up.
* The central radical organizations of the several provinces adopted
defense associations as follows: the New York provincial congress on
May 26, 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i,, p. 1256; the New Jersey provincial congress
on May 31, ibid. , vol. ii, p. 690; the Pennsylvania Assembly on June 30,
ibid. , vol. ii, p. 1172; the Maryland provincial convention on Aug. 12,
ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 107-108; the North Carolina provincial congress on
Aug. 23, ibid. , vol. iii, p. 187; the South Carolina provincial congress on
June 3, ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 896-807; the Connecticut Assembly in October,
ibid. , vol. iii, p. 1026. In the Delaware Counties, no record of action
has been found; however, an out-and-out military association was signed
in Kent County on May 25; ibid. , vol. ii, p. 704. In Virginia, it would
appear that this method was not tried; but the militia was reorganized
by resolution of the provincial convention of Mch. 25, 1775; ibid. , vol.
ii, pp. 169-170. Some of the county associations in North Carolina were
more plainspoken than the association adopted by the provincial con-
gress, being modeled on the South Carolina association; e. g. , ibid. , vol.
ii, p. 1030.
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? 544 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
ince. 1 We have Lieutenant Governor Colden's word that
"the first accounts of the action between the King's Troops
and People near Boston was spread with horrid and aggra-
vating circumstances. The Moment of Consternation and
anxiety was seized, the People were assembled, and that
Scene of Violence and Disorder was begun which has en-
tirely prostrated the Powers of Government and produced
an Association by which this Province has solemnly united
with the others in resisting the Acts of Parliament. " * For
nearly a week after the receipt of the fateful news the city
was ruled by the mob. Under the leadership of ultra-
radicals like Sears and Lamb, the arsenal was raided and
the muskets distributed; the custom house was shut up;
business was at a standstill; and armed citizens paraded
about the streets.
Out of this " State of anarchy" issued three things: of
great import. An association was set on foot in New York
city on April 29 by which the subscribers, professing alarm
at the revenue plans of the ministry and at "the bloody
scene now acting in the Massachusetts-Bay," resolved never
to become slaves, and associated, under all the ties of re-
ligion, honor and love of country, to carry into execution
whatever measures were determined upon by the Conti-
nental Congress or the provincial congress for the purpose
of preserving the constitution and opposing the arbitrary'
and oppressive acts of Parliament. 1 A new committee of
one hundred, of more radical complexion even than the
Sixty, was chosen on May 1 with power to act in "the
present unhappy exigency of affairs as well as to observe
1 In the following account, Professor Becker's discussion, with his
references, has been relied upon where no other authority is cited.
tf. Y. Parties, 1760-1776, pp. 193-227.
* Letter Books, vol. ii, p. 402. Vide also ibid. , p. 404.
? N. Y. Journ. , May 4, I775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 471.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
545
the conduct of all persons touching the Association. " A
call was sent out for a provincial congress " at the present
alarming juncture " to meet on May 22. The defense asso-
ciation was taken up by the two latter bodies, when they
met, and applied to the inhabitants of the province as a
touchstone of their allegiance to the radical organization.
At the first meeting of the One Hundred on May 1, it
was resolved to offer the association of April 29 to every
inhabitant in the county, save Colden only, the names of
those refusing to subscribe to be recorded. In the high
excitement of the hour the association was quickly signed
by more than a thousand persons; and within a month
eighteen hundred had subscribed in the city alone. 1 On
May 26 a resolution was passed by the provincial congress
that all members be desired to sign the association of April
29; and arrangements were made for county committees to
tender the association to every inhabitant of the province
and return to the congress a list of signers and non-signers
not later than July 15. No penalty for dissentients was
imposed. By the time fixed, the defense association had
been subscribed by one hundred members of the provincial
congress, fourteen failing to do so. "The official returns
show in five districts of Orange County approximately
1,550 signers and 250 non-signers; in seven districts of
Ulster County, approximately 1,770 and 80 non-signers;
in seven or eight districts of Suffolk County, 2,060 signers
and 200 non-signers; in six precincts of Dutchess County,
1 ,680 signers and 882 non-signers; in one district of Char-
lotte County, 110 signers; in three districts of Cumberland
County, 123 signers and 10 non-signers; in Queens County,
17 signers and 209 non-signers. "
1 Colden, Letter Books, vol. ii, p. 424. Colden added, however:
"there must be at least three Times that number who have an equal
Right to Sign. "
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? 546 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
By September the policy of the provincial congress toward
non-signers began to be defined. "Although this Congress
have a tender regard for freedom of speech, the rights of
conscience, and personal liberty," declared the resolution of
September 1, yet, for the public safety, any person denying
the authority of the provincial or continental congress or
any county or district committee should be disarmed, and,
for a second offense, should be confined at his own expense.
This vote did not apply in terms to non-signers; and two
weeks later the provincial committee of safety voted to
disarm all of the latter by force if necessary. This was
disapproved by the provincial congress in October; and
there the matter rested until March, 1776, when the com-
mittee of safety again ordered the disarming of non-
associators. This time the provincial congress gave its
support.
The net outcome of the circulation of the defense asso-
ciation was that the Continental Association was elbowed
into the background; for the new association by its spirit
not only exacted obedience to the old regulations of commer-
cial opposition, but in explicit terms demanded allegiance
to unnamed radical measures yet to be formulated. Inci-
dentally the propaganda attendant upon the promotion of
the defense association had served the purpose of extend-
ing radical organization into rural parts of New York that
had been untouched on the several earlier occasions.
Of the old British provinces, Georgia had succeeded
thus far in holding off from any union in measures against
Great Britain. The widespread resolutions of censure and
boycott had not been without a chastening influence on her;
but it was the news of the beginning of hostilities that, by
a curious indirection, now brought Georgia over to the side
of the Continental Association. 1 In June, 1775, a defense
1 Wright to Gage, June 27, 1775; Gibbes, Doc"y History, vol. ii, pp. o8-99-
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 547
association, copied verbatim from the New York associa-
tion of April 29, was circulated in various parts of the
province. 1 The Georgia moderates perceived that, in spite
of the success of their obstructive tactics hitherto, the flood-
tide of insurrection surging high in other provinces threat-
ened to sweep the malcontents of Georgia into extreme
measures unless discreet concessions were made. Whereas
the moderates had opposed the adoption of the Continental
Association when the alternative was peaceful opposition to
Great Britain or no opposition, many of them were now
willing to join in pacific measures of opposition when the
choice seemed to lie between that alternative and the immi-
nence of violent resistance. 2 This at once made possible a
coalition of the more progressive moderates with the more
conservative radicals of the Savannah stamp. * It was this
union of factions that sought to control the movement for
a provincial congress, called for July 4, 1775.
At a caucus held at Savannah on June 13 and attended by
thirty-four citizens, many of whom later joined the British
side, the program of the coalition was formulated as fol-
lows: (1) "we will use our utmost endeavours to preserve
the peace and good order of this Province; . . . no person
behaving himself peaceably and inoffensively shall be
molested in his person or property" notwithstanding his
14 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1136-1137; vol. ii, pp. 1551-1552. Vide also
ibid. , vol. ii, p. 471.
1 Vide Wright's letter to Dartmouth; Ga. Hist. Soc. Colls. , vol. iii.
p. 183. Read Dr. Zubly's sermon at the opening of the provincial con-
gress in the light of this interpretation. 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 1557-
1567. Zubly became a loyalist eventually.
1" From Georgia we learn that a Coalition of Parries is likely to take
place," said the S. C. & Am. Gen. Gag.