2
Unfortunately no record has been found in the news-
papers or elsewhere of the performance of the committee in
the first two months of the non-importation; but that the
committee was faithful to its trust there can be no doubt.
Unfortunately no record has been found in the news-
papers or elsewhere of the performance of the committee in
the first two months of the non-importation; but that the
committee was faithful to its trust there can be no doubt.
Arthur Schlesinger - Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution
It should be noted, however, that the energy and
intelligence of the Sixty at the metropolis reduced the im-
portance of such enforcement, inasmuch as foreign wares
seldom, if ever, penetrated that far. Probably the worst
infractions occurred in the matter of tea drinking after
March 1, when no tea either dutied or smuggled was to be
consumed. On April 7, Jacobus Low of Kingston in Ulster
County was proscribed by the Kingston committee as the
only dealer in town who would not refuse to sell tea. A
long and somewhat abusive controversy ensued; but at the
end of two months Low appeared before the committee and
made all the concessions they required. 1
Since the mercantile houses of New York city were the
feeders for the country stores of Connecticut and New Jer-
sey, the inviolability of the non-importation in the metrop-
olis was trebly important. That it was well kept the fore-
going incidents testify. A group of conservatives in
Dutchess and Westchester Counties sought to promote a
loyalist association for personal liberty, modeled on Briga-
dier Ruggles's association in Massachusetts; but it made no
headway. 2 Lieutenant Governor Colden, who had orig-
inally been skeptical of the success of the Continental Asso-
ciation, uttered a dependable judgment when he wrote on
March I: "the non importation association of the Con-
gress is ever rigidly maintained in this Place. " *
The spirit of the New Jersey associators has already been
suggested by the conduct of the Elizabethtown committee
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 298, 448, 548, 917.
1Ibid. , vol. i, p. 1164; N. Y. Gas. , Mch. 20, 1775.
1 Letter Books, vol. ii, p. 389. Vide also ibid. , pp. 369-370, 373.
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? 494
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
in the Murray affair. On December 6, 1774, Governor
Franklin informed the home government that: "Altho' the
Proceedings of the Congress are not altogether satisfactory
to many of the Inhabitants of the Colonies, yet there seems
at present little Reason to doubt but that the Terms of
Association will be generally carried into Execution, even
by those who dislike Parts of it. But few have the Courage
to declare their Disapprobation publickly, as they all know,
if they do not conform, they are in Danger of becoming
Objects of popular Resentment, from which it is not in
the Power of Government here to protect them. " l The
public meetings of Gloucester County and of Woodbridge
Township in Middlesex County expressly instructed their
committees of observation that they should "as carefully
attend to and pursue the rules and directions for their gov-
ernment . . . set forth in the said association, as they
would if the same had been enacted into a law by the legis-
lature of this province. " 2
The committees had to devote very little time to the pre-
vention of importation because of the absence of any good
ports. However, a consignment of merchandise, which
had come by way of New York in the Lady Gage, was sold
at auction at New Brunswick; and another importation
from Bristol in the Fair Lady via the same port was sold
at Elizabeth town. 8 An effort was made to land secretly a
quantity of dutied tea at Greenwich in Cumberland County.
The consignment was seized by some inhabitants; and while
the committee of observation was gravely deliberating as to
its disposition, Indians a la Boston made a bonfire of it. 4
1 / N. J. Arch. , vol. x, p. 503.
1 Pa. Gas. , Dec. 21, 1774; 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1102-1103.
1 N. Y. Journ. , Jan. 19, 26, 1775.
4 Pa. Packet, Jan. 19, 1775; Andrews, F. D. , Tea-Burners of Cumber-
land County (Vineland, N. J. , 1908).
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES 495
In February the committees of observation of Elizabeth-
town and Woodbridge suspended commercial intercourse
with the obdurate inhabitants of nearby Staten Island, who
had neglected to join the Association. 1
Of the various committees that passed resolutions in be-
half of economy and home production, the Hanover com-
mittee in Morris County established the most comprehen-
sive regulations. They promised to take note of all horse-
racing, cock-fighting and gambling and to prosecute the
offenders in accordance with the law. To Article vii of the
Association they added the requirements that no sheep
should be taken from the county without the committee's
permission and that no sheep should be killed until it was
four years old. They recommended the wide cultivation of
flax and hemp, and inveighed against any dealers who
should advance prices. 2
An illustration of the effectiveness of the boycott was
accorded by the action of Silas Newcomb, a member of the
Cumberland County committee, in announcing voluntarily
on March 6 that he had been drinking tea in his family
since March 1 and that he proposed to continue the prac-
tice. All dealings were thereupon broken off with him;
and on May 11 he appeared before the committee and made
an abject apology for his offense: that body accepted his
"recantation. " *
In Pennsylvania the chief obstacle to a perfect execution
of the Association was the hostility of the Quaker merchant
aristocracy at Philadelphia, the only port of entry. These
men were too shrewd to expose themselves to the rigors of
1 N. Y. Journ. , Feb. 16, Mch. 9, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp.
1234-1235, 1249.
1 Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1240-1241; also Ar. Y. lourn. , Feb. 23, 1775.
14 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 34-35.
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? 496 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
the boycott through personal infractions of the Association;
but, being wealthy and influential members of the Society
of Friends, they were able to conduct a campaign against
the Association by controlling the official utterances of that
organization.
As early as May 30, 1774, the day before the Boston
Port Act became effective, the several meetings of the soci-
ety in Philadelphia joined in declaring that, if any Quakers
had countenanced the plan of suspending all business on
June 1, " they have manifested great inattention to our re-
ligious principles and profession, and acted contrary to the
rules of Christian discipline established for the preservation
of order and good government among us. " * In the follow-
ing months the constant effort of the Quaker leaders, in
striking contrast with earlier years, was to keep the members
of the society clear of radical activities. "This has occa-
sioned no small care and labor," wrote James Pemberton
on November 6, " but has been so far of service that I hope
it may be said we are generally clear; tho' there have been
instances of some few who claim a right of membership
with us that have not kept within such limits and bounds
as we could wish. " 2 Joseph Reed, fixed in his singleness
of purpose, seriously impugned their sincerity. They " act
their usual part," he wrote on the same day as Pemberton's
letter. "They have directed their members not to serve on
the Committee, and mean to continue the same undecisive,
neutral conduct until they see how the scale is like to pre-
ponderate. . . . But American Liberty in the mean time
must take her chance with them. " *
Finally, on December 15, a meeting for sufferings at
Philadelphia appointed a committee to wait on the Quaker
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 365-366.
* Sharpless, Quakers in Revolution, p. 108.
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 963-964.
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
497
members of the provincial assembly and reprimand them
for having given their votes to a resolution ratifying the
doings of the Continental Congress five days earlier. 1 This
was preliminary to the action taken by the meeting for
sufferings for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, held at Phila-
delphia on January 5, 1775. At this meeting disapproval
was expressed of the measures which were being prosecuted
against Great Britain, and all members of the society were
earnestly requested to avoid joining in such measures as
inconsistent with their religious principles. 2 A gathering
of Quaker representatives from the two provinces later in
the month was even more explicit in their "testimony"
against "every usurpation of power and authority in op-
position to the Laws and Government, and against all Com-
binations, Insurrections, Conspiracies and Illegal Assem-
blages. " ?
Many members differed with the official utterances of the
society, some perhaps because they had increased their
stocks in anticipation of the non-importation, many others
because they could not see why they should abstain from
extra-legal activities at this juncture inasmuch as Quakers
had been leaders in commercial combinations against Great
Britain during Stamp Act times. A contemporary noted
that the Quakers were divided; that many of them disap-
proved of the Testimony, just alluded to, and indeed that
the Testimony had been adopted by a gathering of only
twenty-six people. 4 "B. L. ," writing in the Pennsylvania
Journal of February 1, 1775, reasoned blandly that the
Testimony could not have been directed against extra-legal
1 Sharpless, op. cit. , p. 107.
*N. Y. Gas. , Jan. 30, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1093-1094.
1Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1176-1177; also Pa. Jottrn. , Feb. 8, 1775.
44 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1270.
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? THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
measures, since that supposition would condemn the very
meeting which had issued the paper, and since James Pem-
berton, the secretary of the meeting, was well known as an
active participant in the selection of the committee last
summer. The upshot was that the Society of Friends was
not able to fasten an official stigma on the radical measures
nor to control the actions of all of its members, although it
continued to seek to do so.
The Committee of Sixty-Six at Philadelphia made care-
ful arrangements for the enforcement of the non-importa-
tion regulation. The membership of the committee was
divided into six districts, and one person from each district
was required to attend every morning at the London Coffee
House to inspect the arrival of vessels. 1 All importers after
December 1 were warned to consult with this sub-committee
as to whether new merchandise should be stored, auctioned
off, or re-shipped. Detailed regulations were laid down for
public sales, such as, for instance, that in ordinary cases no
lots worth more than ? 15 sterling nor less than ? 3 sterling
should be offered for sale.
2
Unfortunately no record has been found in the news-
papers or elsewhere of the performance of the committee in
the first two months of the non-importation; but that the
committee was faithful to its trust there can be no doubt.
"There seems to be too general a disposition every where
to adhere strictly to the Resolutions of the Congress," wrote
Deputy Governor Penn on December 31. 8 The Sixty-Six
declared on February 16, 1775, that they had "not met
with the least impediment or obstruction in carrying into
execution any one Resolution of the Continental Congress,"
lPa. Gas. , Dec. 7, 1774; also N. Y. Journ. , Dec. 15.
* Pa. Gas. , Dec. 14, 1774; also Essex Joitrn. , Dec. 28.
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1081.
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
499
although, like in every community, there were persons who,
placing private interest against public good, had a malig-
nant pleasure in stirring up dissension. 1 "The Non Im-
portation is Strictly adheard to . . . ," wrote Eliza Far-
mar on February 17; "all ships that came in after the
first of Deer, the goods were deliverd to the Commities to
be sold by Auction agreeable to the order of the Congress. " 2
After February 1 the newspapers from time to time
published instances of the return of cargoes without break-
ing bulk. So, with some pipes of Madeira wine that arrived
early in February; and so, also, with a large consignment
of Irish beef which arrived in April. 8 "All Ships with
goods after the 1st of this month are not Sufferd to un-
load," reported Eliza Farmar in the letter noted above;
"several have been obliged to go to the West Indies. "
It would appear likely that the Sixty-Six showed some
laxity in the regulation of prices; and this may have been
done to appease the merchants in order to accomplish the
larger purposes of the non-importation. While the First
Continental Congress was still sitting, it was charged that
pins had advanced to 15s. a pack, pepper to 33. 6d. a pound,
etc. , in anticipation of a suspension of trade. 4 On Novem-
ber 30, the Sixty-Six took official notice of advances made
by "a few persons" and recommended to the public that
the boycott, prescribed by Article ix in such cases, should
be promptly carried out. 5 The provincial convention in
January added the weight of its influence to this timely
1 N. Y. Gas. , Mch. 31, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1243. An
abusive reply to the committee's assertion did not deny that the non-
importation had been faithfully observed. Ibid. , voL ii, pp. 238-242.
* Pa. Mag. , vol. xl, pp. 202-203.
1 Pa. Packet, Feb. 13, 1775; Pa. Eve. Post, Apr. 20.
4 Letter in N. Y. Gasetteer, Oct. 6, 1774.
* Pa. Gas. , Nov. 30, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1010.
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? THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
advice. 1 However, in March, 1775, it was freely charged
that the drygoods merchants were, without the least oppo-
sition, asking prices for goods representing an increase of
twenty-five to one hundred per cent over former prices;2
and as late as September of the same year Chase declared
publicly in the Second Congress that prices had been ad-
vanced fifty per cent in Philadelphia. 8
The spirit of the enforcement outside of the city was in-
dicated by the resolution of the provincial convention that,
if opposition should be offered to any committee of obser-
vation, the committees of the other counties should render
all the assistance in their power to keep the Association
inviolate. 4
The distinctive feature of the working of the Association
in Pennsylvania was the importance that was given to the
development of home production and to the introduction
of simpler modes of living. Community sentiment was well
fertilized for such an undertaking by the religious teachings
of the Friends as well as by the homely maxims of " Poor
Richard" through a long period of years. The funeral
regulations, recommended by Congress, were well observed,
even such a prominent man as Thomas Lawrence, ex-mayor
of Philadelphia, being buried in accordance with these
directions. 5 The Sixty-Six on November 30 recommended
that no ewe-mutton be purchased or eaten in the country
until May 1, 1775, and none after that day until October 1,
and that thereafter none at all should be used. Notices in
English and German were published throughout the prov-
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1172; also Pa. Journ. , Feb. 1, 1775.
1 "An Englishman," 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 239.
1Adams, J. , Works (Adams), vol. ii, p. 447.
4 Pa. Journ. , Feb. 1, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1170.
lPa. Journ. , Jan. 25, 1775.
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
ince to warn the country people against selling sheep to
butchers contrary to the regulation. 1 Sixty-six butchers of
Philadelphia agreed to be bound by the recommendation of
the committee, and the butchers of Reading signed a similar
agreement. 2 In January the provincial convention resolved
unanimously that after the first of March no sheep under
four years of age should be killed or sold, except in cases
of extreme necessity. 8
The provincial convention made many recommendations
respecting the commodities and wares which the province
seemed best fitted to produce. Raw wool should be utilized
in the making of coatings, flannels, blankets, hosiery and
coarse cloths; and dyes should be obtained from the culti-
vation of madder, woad and other dye stuffs. Of the
farther-reaching proposals were the recommendations that
fulling-mills should be erected, and mills should be estab-
lished for the manufacture of woolcombs and cards, of steel,
nails and wire, of paper, of gunpowder, of copper kettles
and tinplates. As the demand for Pennsylvania-made glass
exceeded the supply, it was recommended that more glass
factories be established. To carry these proposals more
speedily into effect, local societies should be established,
and premiums awarded in the various counties. 4 The Bed-
ford County Committee, among others, acted on these rec-
ommendations a few weeks later, and offered five pounds
to the person who erected the first fulling-mill in the county,
1 Because several city butchers had a stock of sheep on hand, the-
regulation was not to become operative until January I in Philadelphia.
Pa. Gas. , Nov. 30, Dec. 21, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1010.
1Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1050-1051, 1144; also Pa. Gas. , Dec. 21, 1774, and
Pa. Journ. , Jan. 25, 1775.
1 Ibid. , Feb. 1, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1171.
* Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1171-1172; also Pa. Journ. , Feb. 1, 1775.
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? 502 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
and four smaller money prizes to the persons making the
best pieces of linen cloth within a given period. 1
The most ambitious venture of this character was the
United Company of Philadelphia for Promoting American
Manufactures, established in March, 1775. The company
was financed through the sale of stock at ten pounds a
share; and the efforts of the company were devoted to the
manufacture of woolen, cotton and linen textiles. Daniel
Roberdeau was chosen first president. At the start, some
mistakes were made, owing to the inexperience of the man-
agers; but soon nearly four hundred spinners were em-
ployed, and at the end of six months the board of managers
announced that the enterprise was not only practicable but
promised to be profitable for the stockholders. More stock
was then sold to enlarge the scope of the company's opera-
tions. 2
In the light of this array of facts, the announcement,
made on February 27, 1775, by the Sixty-Six testifying to
"the uniform spirit and conduct of the people in the faith-
ful execution " of the Association, and a private statement,
made on the same day, that the " City Committee have sub-
dued all opposition to their Measures," bear the stamp of
truth. 8 As President Roberdeau of the United Company of
Philadelphia put it, "The Resolves of the Congress have
been executed with a fidelity hardly known to laws in any
Country . . . " *
Possessing no important commercial connections, it
1 Pa. lourn. , Mch. 8, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1226-1227.
intelligence of the Sixty at the metropolis reduced the im-
portance of such enforcement, inasmuch as foreign wares
seldom, if ever, penetrated that far. Probably the worst
infractions occurred in the matter of tea drinking after
March 1, when no tea either dutied or smuggled was to be
consumed. On April 7, Jacobus Low of Kingston in Ulster
County was proscribed by the Kingston committee as the
only dealer in town who would not refuse to sell tea. A
long and somewhat abusive controversy ensued; but at the
end of two months Low appeared before the committee and
made all the concessions they required. 1
Since the mercantile houses of New York city were the
feeders for the country stores of Connecticut and New Jer-
sey, the inviolability of the non-importation in the metrop-
olis was trebly important. That it was well kept the fore-
going incidents testify. A group of conservatives in
Dutchess and Westchester Counties sought to promote a
loyalist association for personal liberty, modeled on Briga-
dier Ruggles's association in Massachusetts; but it made no
headway. 2 Lieutenant Governor Colden, who had orig-
inally been skeptical of the success of the Continental Asso-
ciation, uttered a dependable judgment when he wrote on
March I: "the non importation association of the Con-
gress is ever rigidly maintained in this Place. " *
The spirit of the New Jersey associators has already been
suggested by the conduct of the Elizabethtown committee
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 298, 448, 548, 917.
1Ibid. , vol. i, p. 1164; N. Y. Gas. , Mch. 20, 1775.
1 Letter Books, vol. ii, p. 389. Vide also ibid. , pp. 369-370, 373.
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? 494
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
in the Murray affair. On December 6, 1774, Governor
Franklin informed the home government that: "Altho' the
Proceedings of the Congress are not altogether satisfactory
to many of the Inhabitants of the Colonies, yet there seems
at present little Reason to doubt but that the Terms of
Association will be generally carried into Execution, even
by those who dislike Parts of it. But few have the Courage
to declare their Disapprobation publickly, as they all know,
if they do not conform, they are in Danger of becoming
Objects of popular Resentment, from which it is not in
the Power of Government here to protect them. " l The
public meetings of Gloucester County and of Woodbridge
Township in Middlesex County expressly instructed their
committees of observation that they should "as carefully
attend to and pursue the rules and directions for their gov-
ernment . . . set forth in the said association, as they
would if the same had been enacted into a law by the legis-
lature of this province. " 2
The committees had to devote very little time to the pre-
vention of importation because of the absence of any good
ports. However, a consignment of merchandise, which
had come by way of New York in the Lady Gage, was sold
at auction at New Brunswick; and another importation
from Bristol in the Fair Lady via the same port was sold
at Elizabeth town. 8 An effort was made to land secretly a
quantity of dutied tea at Greenwich in Cumberland County.
The consignment was seized by some inhabitants; and while
the committee of observation was gravely deliberating as to
its disposition, Indians a la Boston made a bonfire of it. 4
1 / N. J. Arch. , vol. x, p. 503.
1 Pa. Gas. , Dec. 21, 1774; 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1102-1103.
1 N. Y. Journ. , Jan. 19, 26, 1775.
4 Pa. Packet, Jan. 19, 1775; Andrews, F. D. , Tea-Burners of Cumber-
land County (Vineland, N. J. , 1908).
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES 495
In February the committees of observation of Elizabeth-
town and Woodbridge suspended commercial intercourse
with the obdurate inhabitants of nearby Staten Island, who
had neglected to join the Association. 1
Of the various committees that passed resolutions in be-
half of economy and home production, the Hanover com-
mittee in Morris County established the most comprehen-
sive regulations. They promised to take note of all horse-
racing, cock-fighting and gambling and to prosecute the
offenders in accordance with the law. To Article vii of the
Association they added the requirements that no sheep
should be taken from the county without the committee's
permission and that no sheep should be killed until it was
four years old. They recommended the wide cultivation of
flax and hemp, and inveighed against any dealers who
should advance prices. 2
An illustration of the effectiveness of the boycott was
accorded by the action of Silas Newcomb, a member of the
Cumberland County committee, in announcing voluntarily
on March 6 that he had been drinking tea in his family
since March 1 and that he proposed to continue the prac-
tice. All dealings were thereupon broken off with him;
and on May 11 he appeared before the committee and made
an abject apology for his offense: that body accepted his
"recantation. " *
In Pennsylvania the chief obstacle to a perfect execution
of the Association was the hostility of the Quaker merchant
aristocracy at Philadelphia, the only port of entry. These
men were too shrewd to expose themselves to the rigors of
1 N. Y. Journ. , Feb. 16, Mch. 9, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp.
1234-1235, 1249.
1 Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1240-1241; also Ar. Y. lourn. , Feb. 23, 1775.
14 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 34-35.
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? 496 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
the boycott through personal infractions of the Association;
but, being wealthy and influential members of the Society
of Friends, they were able to conduct a campaign against
the Association by controlling the official utterances of that
organization.
As early as May 30, 1774, the day before the Boston
Port Act became effective, the several meetings of the soci-
ety in Philadelphia joined in declaring that, if any Quakers
had countenanced the plan of suspending all business on
June 1, " they have manifested great inattention to our re-
ligious principles and profession, and acted contrary to the
rules of Christian discipline established for the preservation
of order and good government among us. " * In the follow-
ing months the constant effort of the Quaker leaders, in
striking contrast with earlier years, was to keep the members
of the society clear of radical activities. "This has occa-
sioned no small care and labor," wrote James Pemberton
on November 6, " but has been so far of service that I hope
it may be said we are generally clear; tho' there have been
instances of some few who claim a right of membership
with us that have not kept within such limits and bounds
as we could wish. " 2 Joseph Reed, fixed in his singleness
of purpose, seriously impugned their sincerity. They " act
their usual part," he wrote on the same day as Pemberton's
letter. "They have directed their members not to serve on
the Committee, and mean to continue the same undecisive,
neutral conduct until they see how the scale is like to pre-
ponderate. . . . But American Liberty in the mean time
must take her chance with them. " *
Finally, on December 15, a meeting for sufferings at
Philadelphia appointed a committee to wait on the Quaker
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 365-366.
* Sharpless, Quakers in Revolution, p. 108.
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 963-964.
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
497
members of the provincial assembly and reprimand them
for having given their votes to a resolution ratifying the
doings of the Continental Congress five days earlier. 1 This
was preliminary to the action taken by the meeting for
sufferings for Pennsylvania and New Jersey, held at Phila-
delphia on January 5, 1775. At this meeting disapproval
was expressed of the measures which were being prosecuted
against Great Britain, and all members of the society were
earnestly requested to avoid joining in such measures as
inconsistent with their religious principles. 2 A gathering
of Quaker representatives from the two provinces later in
the month was even more explicit in their "testimony"
against "every usurpation of power and authority in op-
position to the Laws and Government, and against all Com-
binations, Insurrections, Conspiracies and Illegal Assem-
blages. " ?
Many members differed with the official utterances of the
society, some perhaps because they had increased their
stocks in anticipation of the non-importation, many others
because they could not see why they should abstain from
extra-legal activities at this juncture inasmuch as Quakers
had been leaders in commercial combinations against Great
Britain during Stamp Act times. A contemporary noted
that the Quakers were divided; that many of them disap-
proved of the Testimony, just alluded to, and indeed that
the Testimony had been adopted by a gathering of only
twenty-six people. 4 "B. L. ," writing in the Pennsylvania
Journal of February 1, 1775, reasoned blandly that the
Testimony could not have been directed against extra-legal
1 Sharpless, op. cit. , p. 107.
*N. Y. Gas. , Jan. 30, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1093-1094.
1Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1176-1177; also Pa. Jottrn. , Feb. 8, 1775.
44 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1270.
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? THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
measures, since that supposition would condemn the very
meeting which had issued the paper, and since James Pem-
berton, the secretary of the meeting, was well known as an
active participant in the selection of the committee last
summer. The upshot was that the Society of Friends was
not able to fasten an official stigma on the radical measures
nor to control the actions of all of its members, although it
continued to seek to do so.
The Committee of Sixty-Six at Philadelphia made care-
ful arrangements for the enforcement of the non-importa-
tion regulation. The membership of the committee was
divided into six districts, and one person from each district
was required to attend every morning at the London Coffee
House to inspect the arrival of vessels. 1 All importers after
December 1 were warned to consult with this sub-committee
as to whether new merchandise should be stored, auctioned
off, or re-shipped. Detailed regulations were laid down for
public sales, such as, for instance, that in ordinary cases no
lots worth more than ? 15 sterling nor less than ? 3 sterling
should be offered for sale.
2
Unfortunately no record has been found in the news-
papers or elsewhere of the performance of the committee in
the first two months of the non-importation; but that the
committee was faithful to its trust there can be no doubt.
"There seems to be too general a disposition every where
to adhere strictly to the Resolutions of the Congress," wrote
Deputy Governor Penn on December 31. 8 The Sixty-Six
declared on February 16, 1775, that they had "not met
with the least impediment or obstruction in carrying into
execution any one Resolution of the Continental Congress,"
lPa. Gas. , Dec. 7, 1774; also N. Y. Journ. , Dec. 15.
* Pa. Gas. , Dec. 14, 1774; also Essex Joitrn. , Dec. 28.
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1081.
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
499
although, like in every community, there were persons who,
placing private interest against public good, had a malig-
nant pleasure in stirring up dissension. 1 "The Non Im-
portation is Strictly adheard to . . . ," wrote Eliza Far-
mar on February 17; "all ships that came in after the
first of Deer, the goods were deliverd to the Commities to
be sold by Auction agreeable to the order of the Congress. " 2
After February 1 the newspapers from time to time
published instances of the return of cargoes without break-
ing bulk. So, with some pipes of Madeira wine that arrived
early in February; and so, also, with a large consignment
of Irish beef which arrived in April. 8 "All Ships with
goods after the 1st of this month are not Sufferd to un-
load," reported Eliza Farmar in the letter noted above;
"several have been obliged to go to the West Indies. "
It would appear likely that the Sixty-Six showed some
laxity in the regulation of prices; and this may have been
done to appease the merchants in order to accomplish the
larger purposes of the non-importation. While the First
Continental Congress was still sitting, it was charged that
pins had advanced to 15s. a pack, pepper to 33. 6d. a pound,
etc. , in anticipation of a suspension of trade. 4 On Novem-
ber 30, the Sixty-Six took official notice of advances made
by "a few persons" and recommended to the public that
the boycott, prescribed by Article ix in such cases, should
be promptly carried out. 5 The provincial convention in
January added the weight of its influence to this timely
1 N. Y. Gas. , Mch. 31, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1243. An
abusive reply to the committee's assertion did not deny that the non-
importation had been faithfully observed. Ibid. , voL ii, pp. 238-242.
* Pa. Mag. , vol. xl, pp. 202-203.
1 Pa. Packet, Feb. 13, 1775; Pa. Eve. Post, Apr. 20.
4 Letter in N. Y. Gasetteer, Oct. 6, 1774.
* Pa. Gas. , Nov. 30, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1010.
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? THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
advice. 1 However, in March, 1775, it was freely charged
that the drygoods merchants were, without the least oppo-
sition, asking prices for goods representing an increase of
twenty-five to one hundred per cent over former prices;2
and as late as September of the same year Chase declared
publicly in the Second Congress that prices had been ad-
vanced fifty per cent in Philadelphia. 8
The spirit of the enforcement outside of the city was in-
dicated by the resolution of the provincial convention that,
if opposition should be offered to any committee of obser-
vation, the committees of the other counties should render
all the assistance in their power to keep the Association
inviolate. 4
The distinctive feature of the working of the Association
in Pennsylvania was the importance that was given to the
development of home production and to the introduction
of simpler modes of living. Community sentiment was well
fertilized for such an undertaking by the religious teachings
of the Friends as well as by the homely maxims of " Poor
Richard" through a long period of years. The funeral
regulations, recommended by Congress, were well observed,
even such a prominent man as Thomas Lawrence, ex-mayor
of Philadelphia, being buried in accordance with these
directions. 5 The Sixty-Six on November 30 recommended
that no ewe-mutton be purchased or eaten in the country
until May 1, 1775, and none after that day until October 1,
and that thereafter none at all should be used. Notices in
English and German were published throughout the prov-
1 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1172; also Pa. Journ. , Feb. 1, 1775.
1 "An Englishman," 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 239.
1Adams, J. , Works (Adams), vol. ii, p. 447.
4 Pa. Journ. , Feb. 1, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1170.
lPa. Journ. , Jan. 25, 1775.
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
ince to warn the country people against selling sheep to
butchers contrary to the regulation. 1 Sixty-six butchers of
Philadelphia agreed to be bound by the recommendation of
the committee, and the butchers of Reading signed a similar
agreement. 2 In January the provincial convention resolved
unanimously that after the first of March no sheep under
four years of age should be killed or sold, except in cases
of extreme necessity. 8
The provincial convention made many recommendations
respecting the commodities and wares which the province
seemed best fitted to produce. Raw wool should be utilized
in the making of coatings, flannels, blankets, hosiery and
coarse cloths; and dyes should be obtained from the culti-
vation of madder, woad and other dye stuffs. Of the
farther-reaching proposals were the recommendations that
fulling-mills should be erected, and mills should be estab-
lished for the manufacture of woolcombs and cards, of steel,
nails and wire, of paper, of gunpowder, of copper kettles
and tinplates. As the demand for Pennsylvania-made glass
exceeded the supply, it was recommended that more glass
factories be established. To carry these proposals more
speedily into effect, local societies should be established,
and premiums awarded in the various counties. 4 The Bed-
ford County Committee, among others, acted on these rec-
ommendations a few weeks later, and offered five pounds
to the person who erected the first fulling-mill in the county,
1 Because several city butchers had a stock of sheep on hand, the-
regulation was not to become operative until January I in Philadelphia.
Pa. Gas. , Nov. 30, Dec. 21, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1010.
1Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1050-1051, 1144; also Pa. Gas. , Dec. 21, 1774, and
Pa. Journ. , Jan. 25, 1775.
1 Ibid. , Feb. 1, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1171.
* Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1171-1172; also Pa. Journ. , Feb. 1, 1775.
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? 502 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
and four smaller money prizes to the persons making the
best pieces of linen cloth within a given period. 1
The most ambitious venture of this character was the
United Company of Philadelphia for Promoting American
Manufactures, established in March, 1775. The company
was financed through the sale of stock at ten pounds a
share; and the efforts of the company were devoted to the
manufacture of woolen, cotton and linen textiles. Daniel
Roberdeau was chosen first president. At the start, some
mistakes were made, owing to the inexperience of the man-
agers; but soon nearly four hundred spinners were em-
ployed, and at the end of six months the board of managers
announced that the enterprise was not only practicable but
promised to be profitable for the stockholders. More stock
was then sold to enlarge the scope of the company's opera-
tions. 2
In the light of this array of facts, the announcement,
made on February 27, 1775, by the Sixty-Six testifying to
"the uniform spirit and conduct of the people in the faith-
ful execution " of the Association, and a private statement,
made on the same day, that the " City Committee have sub-
dued all opposition to their Measures," bear the stamp of
truth. 8 As President Roberdeau of the United Company of
Philadelphia put it, "The Resolves of the Congress have
been executed with a fidelity hardly known to laws in any
Country . . . " *
Possessing no important commercial connections, it
1 Pa. lourn. , Mch. 8, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1226-1227.
