No More Learning

232 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
without loud protest. A grand jury, of which John Gibson,
one of the resigned committeemen, was foreman, declared
that they would unite with their fellow-citizens to discoun-
tenance the use of British goods until the parliamentary
claim to colonial taxation was relinquished, the tea duty
repealed, the jurisdiction and power of the vice-admiralty
courts restricted, the Customs Board dissolved, and the
standing army removed or placed under direction of the
civil authority. 1 A mass meeting of inhabitants voted, with
only one dissenting voice, to adopt the resolutions which
the committee had submitted in vain to the merchants' meet-
ing; and a formal request was made that the merchants
should re-consider their action. 2 Meantime, the merchants
had chosen a new committee to supervise enforcement of
the altered agreement; and on Saturday, the twenty-ninth,
the London Packet sailed with the orders of the merchants
for British merchandise. 8
It was scarcely to be expected that the merchants at Bos-
ton should continue their non-importation when all about
them yielded to the stern call of necessity. "Some who
have been leaders would have been glad to hold out longer,"
wrote Dr. Andrew Eliot, " but persons in trade were weary,
and, as interest is generally their god, began to be furious. " *
After all, their purpose of bringing pressure to bear upon
British merchants and manufacturers was already defeated
by the defection of New York and Philadelphia. The first
indication of weakening came when the merchants, not-
withstanding their intense indignation, failed to pass reso-
lutions of boycott when New York departed the agreement. 5
1September 24; Pa. Gas. , Sept. 27, 1770.
1 September 27; ibid. , Oct. 4, 1770.
? Pa. Chron. , Sept. 24, 1770; N. Y. Journ. , Oct. 11.
4 4 M. H. S. Colls. , vol. iv,' p. 458.
* Vide sarcastic comment in Newport Merc. , Aug. 6, 1770; also
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? NON-IMPORTA TION
233
On September u, a few days before the final steps to dis-
solve the Philadelphia agreement had been taken, a great
meeting of the Boston trade was held, at which it was esti-
mated that not less than one thousand were present, includ-
ing " a very great Number of the principal and most wealthy
Merchants, as well as the most respectable Tradesmen of
the Town. " The assemblage voted to propose to Phila-
delphia an interprovincial congress of merchants to plan
ways and means of strengthening the union of the prov-
inces. 1 The letter reached Philadelphia after the committee
of that city had become non-existent. The news of the
desertion of Philadelphia brought the Boston merchants to
ajiecision after a fpw wepks "f irresolution: on October 12.
thjy mtt nt tV British ^oflfce House and unanimously voted
to open the importation of all British goods, except tea and
Such Other f ff>^g as WPI-P rtr might hp s11hjprt tr> rpvpnne
duties. 2 A week later, the goods which had been placed in
store were delivered up to their owners. 8
The downfall of non-importation in the commercial prov-
iflc. e. s mjggntjjiai the associations to the southward must soon
crumble also. The merchants of Baltimore lost little time
in sending forth a call for a meeting of the General Com-
mittee of Maryland at Annapolis when they learned that the
Philadelphia merchants had forsaken their agreement.
They resolved, furthermore, that if the provincial meeting
Mass. Spy, Aug. 14. The Mass. Spy on November 5 quoted from a
London paper that "at a late Meeting of the American Merchants,
it was agreed to give unlimited Credit to such of the Colonies as
should follow the Example of New York, by a general Importation. "
Such rumors, whether true or not, served no doubt to increase the
sentiment for renewing importation.
1 Bos. Gas. , Sept. 17, 1770; Pa. Chron. , Oct. 1.
*Mass. Spy, Oct. 13, 1770; also Mass Gas. & Post-Boy, Oct. 15.
s Mass. Spy, Oct. 20, 1770.
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? 234
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
should not be held, they would consider the association dis-
solved and open the importation of all goods save tea and
other dutied articles. 1 A provincial meeting was duly held
on October 25, but it proved a rather heterogeneous gather-
ing, consisting of a majority of the Assembly, several
Annapolis merchants, some members of the Council, a num-
ber of planters, and of properly chosen deputations from
only three counties. Jonathan Hudson, representing the
Baltimore merchants, defiantly informed the meeting that his
constituents were determined to depart the association not-
withstanding any resolutions they might adopt, and that he
had been instructed to agree to no terms short of a dis-
solution of the association. The meeting answered by
voting that the association should be strictly adhered to and
that all trade should be stopped with the Baltimore mer-
chants or any other violators. 2 The Annapolis incident
proved to be only a piece of theatricalism so far as the mer-
chants of the province were concerned. "A Merchant of
Maryland" ridiculed the gathering as "a fortuitous Col-
lection, not of Merchants, but of Counsellors, Representa-
tives, Lawyers, and others, who had been convened at
Annapolis on other public Business;" and he remarked
"how absurd, not to say indecent, it is for Men whose Occu-
pations and Employments lie altogether in a different Walk,
to attempt giving Law to the mercantile Part of the Com-
munity. " * The subsequent months showed that he spoke
with entire truthfulness when he said that the merchants did
not intend to pay "the least Regard to those flaming and
ridiculous Resolutions which were lately flashed off," but
that they would confine their non-importation only to tea
and other dutied articles.
1 October 5, Md. Gas. , Oct. 11, 1770; also Pa. Gas. , Oct . 18.
1Mrf. Gas. , Nov. 1, 1770; also Pa. Gas. , Nov. 8.
* Ibid. , Dec. 13. 1770.
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? NON-IMPORTATION 235
In the latter part of October the South Carolina Gen-
eral Committee addressed a circular letter to the northern
provinces with the purpose of learning whether the body of
the people acquiesced in the decision of the mercantile por-
tion in altering the non-importation. 1 While the liberal
terms of the South Carolina Association and its compara-
tively recent adoption had prevented the growth of the in-
tense dissatisfaction which had disrupted the northern
agreements, yet the defection of the commercial provinces,
joined with a widespread belief that the declining price of
rice was due to the non-importation,2 resulted in seriously
weakening the sentiment in South Carolina. On November
20, the General Committee announced that a meeting of the
subscribers of the association would be held on December
13 to decide as to their future course. 8 The merchant,
Henry Laurens, presided at the meeting. The non-import-
ing faction were led by Thomas Lynch, planter and radical,
who came fifty miles for the purpose and "exerted all his
eloquence & even the trope of rhetorical tears for the ex-
piring liberty of his dear country which the merchants would
sell like any other merchandize. " * It was quickly evident
that the importers controlled a majority; a motion to delay
action until the General Assembly met, and an effort to con-
tinue the association with an open importation from Holland,
met with defeat. The assemblage thereupon voted to limit
1 S. C. Gas. , Nov. 1, 1770; also Mass. Spy, Jan. 3, 1771.
1" A Planter" in S. C. Gas. , Dec. 27, 1770. Current newspapers
show that rice averaged 703. per hundredweight in 1768 (before the
non-importation); 6os. during 1769; 45s, during 1770.
* 5. C. Gas. , Nov. 22, 1770. For an account of the meeting, vide ibid. ,
Dec. 13.
4 Bull to Hillsborough, quoted in McCrady, S. C. under Royal
Govt. , pp. 682-683.
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? 236 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
non-importation and non-consumption to tea and other
articles subject to duty. 1
In Virginia, the non-importation spirit, which had been
feeble throughout, gradually subsided. A meeting of as-
sociators was called for December 14, 1770, at Williams-
burg; but so few attended that they did nothing but adjourn
until the following summer. 2 In February Thomas Jeffer-
son sent an order for goods to an English merchant with
instructions to send immediately only such goods as were
admissible by the association; by June he felt so confident
that the approaching meeting would repeal the association,
except for dutied articles, that he took time by the forelock
and ordered the shoes and other debarred articles to be
shipped at once. 8 Early in July the Virginia meeting took
the action that Jefferson had anticipated. 4 In North Caro-
lina, no record apparently remains of the passing of the
non-importation.
Before leaving the subject of the second non-importation
movement, it would appear desirable to determine the effects
of the colonial plan of commercial coercion on Great Britain.
Statistics of trade show that the English merchants and
manufacturers dependent upon American commerce suf-
1 A committee was appointed to send a protest in behalf of South
Carolina against the conduct of the northern provinces. There ap-
peared to be a strong sentiment in favor of stopping trade with those
parts, especially since it was held that that commerce drained specie
from South Carolina "mostly for mere Trash. " But this action was
not taken, apparently because "the defection not having been among
the Landholders, Farmers and Mechanicks . . . it would be unjust to
retaliate upon them, for the Injuries received from some of the Mer-
chants in those Colonies. " S. C. Gas. , Dec 27, 1770.
1Brit. Papers (" Sparks Mss. "), vol. ii, p. 70.
5 Writings (Ford), vol. i, pp. 387-389, 394-395-
4Washington, Writings (Ford), vol. ii, pp. 334-338.
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? NON-IMPORTATION 237
fered a great loss of trade. 1 Friends of parliamentary taxa-
tion in England were quick to claim that the colonies were
being partially supplied by means of a clandestine trade by
way of Quebec and Halifax; but there was little basis for
this charge in fact. 2 Yet, notwithstanding the decline of
American trade, very little actual distress was experienced
in England during the period of the non-importation. This
was the result of several fortuitous circumstances uncon-
nected with the American situation. Crops in England
were better . tjjaj^,. they had been in vears, and the material
condition of the wnrlcinymgn wat; much jrpprnvpH Ky rh>>
general reduction of the price of provisions.
8 Further than
this, the Russo-Turkish war, which broke out in 1768,
and the increased demand for woolens in Germany, as well
as other unusual circumstances, served to neutralize the~ef-
fects which the American non-importation agreements
would otherwise have produced. 4
Not a manufactunng"village in this kingdom complains
1 Exports to the thirteen colonies fell from ? 2,157,218 in 1768 to
? 1,336,122 in 1769; imports from the colonies, from ? 1,251,454 to
? 1,060,206. Vide Macpherson, Annals of Com. , vol. iii, under the ap-
propriate dates, for these and the other figures cited hereafter.
1 Pa. Cos. , June 21, Sept. 6, 1770; N. Y. Journ. , Aug. 30, Sept . 6.
There was probably some evasion of non-importation by way of Canada,
for the purpose, it would appear, of providing Albany traders with
merchandise for the Indian trade. English importations at Quebec
increased from ? 110,598 in 1768 to ? 174,435 in 1769; at Newfoundland,
from ? 46,761 to ? 64,080; at Nova Scotia, there was a small decrease.
A suspicious increase of imports occurred at Jamaica, from ? 473,146 in
1768 to ? 570,468 in the following year; but contemporary writers failed
to prefer any charges on this score.
lBos. Chron. , Nov. 16, 1769; also N. Y. Gas. & Merc. , Nov. 27.
* This was repeatedly averred. E. g. , vide 5 M. H. S. Colls. , vol. ix,
pp. 384-385; Pa. Gas. , Jan. 4, Sept. 6, 1770; Bos. Chron. , June 11;
N. Y. Gas. & Post-Boy, May 21; N. Y. Journ. , Sept. 27; Mass. Spy,
Sept. 15; Adams, John, Works, vol. ii, p. 352; AT. Y. Gas. & Merc. ,
Nov. 27, 1769.
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? 238 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
of a slack trade," declared a London newspaper of Novem-
ber 27, 1768, " nay, what is more, when some of them were
applied to, at the close of last session to sign a petition
setting forth their distresses arising from the suspension
of the American orders, they said that they were then so
fully employed that they could not, with any colour of truth,
sign such a petition. " * An American travelling in England
wrote back to Philadelphia friends in May, 1770, that goods
were scarce and prices advanced at Birmingham, Halifax
and Leeds, and only at Sheffield were prices lower than
formerly. 2 Even the merchant, Barlow Trecothick, while
arguing before the House of Commons for a total repeal
of the Townshend duties in April, 1770, admitted that " at
present all our manufacturers were employed and all our
manufactures vended," pointing out, however, that the
woolens trade with Germany and northern Europe was only
transitory, "a passing cloud. " 8
"The merchants here," wrote Dr. Franklin from London
in March, 1770, " were at length prevailed on to present a
petition, but they moved slowly, and some of them, I
thought, reluctantly. " 4 Some of the merchants in Ameri-
can trade were buoyed up by the rumors from Boston that
the agreements were collapsing;5 others declared impatiently
that non-importation "is now a stale device and will not
do a second time;" * still others had gotten their share of
1AT. 7. Journ. , Feb. 22, 1770.
1 Pa. Gas. , Aug. 16, 1770; also N. Y. Journ. , Aug. 30.
*Bos. Chron. , June 11, 1770; 5 M. H. S. Colls. , vol. ix, pp. 43o-431-
In face of this universally accepted evidence, however, it should be
noted that the statistics in Macpherson's Annals of Commerce do not
disclose any abnormal increase in English exportations to Russia,
Holland or Germany.
4 Writings (Smyth), vol. v, p. 252.
'Bos. Chron. , Jan. 8, 1770; also N. Y. Journ. , Jan. 18.
? N. Y. Gas. & Merc. , Sept. 3, 1770.
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? NON-IMPORTATION 239
the new trade with northern Europe. At the instigation
of the colonial agents, the merchants in American trade at
Bristol and London finally petitioned Parliament in Janu-
ary and February, 1770, for a total repeal of the Towns-
hend duties. 1 The manufacturing towns absolutely refused
to movp! and thus the rqemnrials lacked the solid business
support whirh had hrrn {Hran tn t^"* ^"TTIrlpd for the repeal
nf thr Stnmr1 Art The petition of the London merchants
furnished merely the occasion, not the cause, for Lord
North's motion to repeal all the Townshend duties save
the tea tax. The ministry had announced its intention as
early as 1769 so to proceed; and Lord North's motion was
based on the claim that the Townshend law, the product of
a former m^j^try wag "prppostprn1fc" in so farj^s jt im-
posed taxes nn British rr^a/nu>fa<c{ures. 2 He did not deny
that "dangerous combinations" had been formed beyond
the Atlantic and that the British merchants with American
connections were discontented; but it was clear that the
former consideration made him reluctant to make any con-
cessions at all, while the force of the latter was minimized by
the practical certainty that the non-importation agreements
could not continue much longer. In conclusion, then, it
would appear that the effects of American trade coercion
were off-set by a fortuitous expansion of British commerce;
and that the partial repeal was produced by a desire to
correct a law, passed by a former ministry and based upon
a principle injurious to British commercial interests.
lVa. Mag. , vol. xii, p. 164; Pa. Gas. , Apr. 26, 1770.
* Parliamentary History, vol. xvi, pp. 853-855; 5 M. H. S. Colls. , vol.
ix, pp. 421-422.
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? CHAPTER VI
COLONIAL PROSPERITY AND A NEW PERIL (1770-1773)
THE three years that followed the breakdown of the
great mercantile combination were, for the most part, years
of material prosperity and political calm. In the earlier
years the merchants of the commercial provinces had been
the backbone of the demand for a restricted parliamentary
control; but in the period following the autumn of 1770
tV|o on^r,no^rvf ffr<<>> ^piTlrTT' fll j"*"""^ \\\\A tin radicals
was broken. The merchants were dominated by a desire to
prevent any further strengthening of non-mercantile power
in provincial politics and by a substantial satisfaction in the
concessions that Parliament had made. The influence of
yras fhrnwp jfl
well enoughalone; "and the return of better times_seemed
anjfraf utnbTe argument in favor of this position. Happy it
would have been for the merchant class and for the stability
of the British empire if the merchants had not been induced
to depart from this position during a few critical weeks in
the fall of 1773!
so sensible of their darflTM-J froTM P<<'"*" rand tnm11ltr11 thit
they will not rashly heinducetj tp e,ptfT *"*n
promote disorder for thn fntnrg,
due subordination t"_2pfffi
Even Thomas Cushing, who as speaker of the Massachusetts
House of Representatives had been a leading spokesman for
1 N. Y. Col. Docs. , vol . viii, p. 217.
240
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? COLONIAL PROSPERITY
241
radical colonial demands and who as a merchant continued
somewhat restive under the existing trade regulations, pre-
ferred that "high points about the supreme authority of
Parliament" should "fall asleep" lest there be "great
danger of bringing on a rupture fatal to both countries. " 1
John Adams wrote in his diary at this time that he had
learned wisdom from his experience in f1ghting in behalf
of the people's rights: "I shall certainly become more re-
tired and cautious. I shall certainly mind my own farm
and my own office. "2 As "Chronus" expressed it, the
public had become impatient with the "group of gloomy
mortals" who prated unceasingly of tyranny. He noted
that justice was duly administered by " learned and judicious
men who have estates and property of their own and who
are therefore likely to be as tenacious of the public rights
and liberties as any other person can be; " that shops were
filled with merchandise, business thriving; that ships were
plying a brisk trade abroad and farmers were busily cultivat-
ing their own lands. Were such men slaves groaning from
lack of liberty? he queried; and he reminded his readers
of the evils resulting in the past from following " officious
Patriots," men who " have nothing to lose, but when public
rule and order are broken in upon and all things are thrown
into confusion, they may be gainers. " *
After six years of almost continuous agitation and bad
business conditions, the merchants turned, with a sense of
profound relief, to the pleasant task of wooing the profits
of commerce. Conditions generally were favorable to the
pursuit of this beguiling occupation. The non-importation
had caused a net balance of trade in favor of the com-
1 4 M. H. S. Colls. , vol. iv, p. 360.
1 Works (Adams, C. R), vol. ii, p. 260.