No More Learning

1
The South Carolina delegates were able to show that but
a small part of the export trade of the commercial provinces
was with Great Britain, while on the contrary nearly all of
the indigo and two thirds of the rice of South Carolina
went to the ports of Great Britain. Edward Rutledge felt
justified in remarking that: "People who are affected but
in speculation [>>". e. in theory] and submit to all the hard-
ships attending it will not shut up their ports, while their
neighbors, who are objects of ministerial vengeance, enjoy,
in a great degree, the benefits of commerce. " Furthermore,
they maintained that the commercial provinces would be
enabled to pay off their British debts by the returns of their
foreign trade and thus greatly ameliorate the rigor of the
trade suspension. In explaining the position of the South
Carolina delegation before the South Carolina convention a
few months later, John Rutledge declared that: "Upon the
whole, . . . the affair seemed rather like a commercial
scheme among the flour Colonies to find a better vent for
their Flour through the British Channel, by preventing, if
possible, any Rice from being sent to those markets; and
that, for his part, he could never consent to our becoming
the dupes to the people of the North or in the least to yield
to their unreasonable expectations. "
Much bitter feeling was generated in the Congress. Ed-
ward Rutledge declared: "A gentleman from the other end
of the room talked of generosity. True equality is the
1 It will be recalled that only enumerated commodities of the colonies
were required to be exported to Great Britain and that many American
products were not on the enumerated list. iRice and indigo were enu-
merated, but under temporary acts a way was opened by which rice
could be exported to Southern Europe and to regions in America
south of Georgia.
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? THE CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
419
only public generosity. " But it quickly became apparent
that tfrlYfl9* majority w^rp opposed to aHf>p<|Jn. g frh,e drastic
excfflif"* nf MnltJT? out American export_relations with
the entire world ^ and that they were equally disinclined to
cater to the self-interest of fhe^1ce_ and indigo planters of
. South Carolina. Richard Henry Lee pleaded earnestly
that: "All considerations of interest, and of equality of
sacrifice, should be laid aside. " In face of the vehement
protests of the South Carolinians, the resolution for non-
, According to its
terms, all exportation to the British Isles and the West In-
dies should cease on September 20, 1775, unless American
grievances were redressed before that time. The South
Carolina delegates had thus lost their first battle. But they
did not accept defeat, and they laid plans to make a final
stand before Congress adjourned.
The principal features of the plan of commercial resist-
ance had now been adopted by Congress. The work of
drawing up a complete plan " for carrying into effect the
non-importation, non-consumption and non-exportation"
was now confided to a special committee, consisting of
Cushing of Massachusetts, Low of New York, Mifflin of
Pennsylvania, Lee of Virginia, and Johnson of Maryland. 1
It is worth noting that the committee on rights and redress,
composed of two members from each province, was ignored
in this connection, although it still had its report under con-
sideration; and that, of the committee of five, all but Low
had the reputation of favoring radical measures. Low had
been included probably because, as a conservative merchant
of great wealth, his name would lend prestige to the work
of the comm1ttee.
Meantime, Congress did not give the special committee
'Sept. 30; Journals, vol. i, p. 53.
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? 420 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
an absolutely free hand, for portions of three days were
occupied in formulating an additional resolution for their
guidance. 1 This discussion was very largely confined to the
advisability of extending the non-importation regulation to
apply to commodities upon which an import duty had been
imposed by the revenue acts of 1764 and 1766. The South-
ern members wished to phrase the resolution so as to avoid
the confusion arising from the importation of smuggled
articles of the same kind as the dutied articles. "How is
the purchaser to know whether the molasses, sugar, or
coffee has paid the duty or not? " asked Pendleton of Vir-
ginia. "It can't be known. " "Many gentlemen in this
room know how to bring in goods, sugars and others, with-
out paying duties," declared Lynch significantly. Chase
urged the same practical objection as Pendleton, and ob-
jected further because of the principle involved. "Our
enemies will think," he said, " that we mean to strike at the
right of Parliament to lay duties for the regulation of
trade. " This caused Lynch to reply: " In my idea, Parlia-
ment has no power to regulate trade. But these duties are
all for revenue, not for regulation of trade. " Low felt
himself called upon to defend the merchant class, of which
he was so respectable a member. "Gentlemen have been
transported, by their zeal, into reflections upon an order of
men, who deserve it least of any men in the community. "
He argued against the exclusion of West India rum, sugar
and molasses from the provinces as a measure ruinous to
American business; and he proposed that, as the importa-
tion of East India Company tea had been suspended by the
resolution of September 27, smuggled Dutch tea should
likewise be placed under the ban. 2
1 Oct. 1, 5, 6; Journals, vol. i, pp. 53, 5511. , 57. Notes on the discussion
are in Adams, J. , Works, vol. ii, pp. 393-394-
1 Low gained his point later in Art . i of the completed Association.
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? THE CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
421
The outcome of the discussion was a resolution of Octo-
ber 6, which declared against the importation of the most
important dutied articles after December 1 next, i. e. mo-
lasses, coffee and pimento from the British plantations, or
from Dominica, formerly a French possession; wines from
Madeira and the Western Islands; and foreign indigo.
The special committee of five were instructed to include this
new regulation in their report. Pendleton might well ex-
claim: "Shan't we by this hang out to all the world our
intentions to smuggle? " As finally phrased in the com-
pleted Association, the importation of syrups and paneles
(>>'. e. , brown unpurified sugar) was also forbidden from the
British plantations and Dominica.
On Wednesday, October 12, the committee of five re-
ported the results of their deliberations in the form of an
"Association," which was ordered to lie on the table for
the perusal of the delegates. Time was spent on the subject
on the following Saturday, and again on Monday; finally,
on Tuesday, October 18, the form of association was
adopted after sundry amendments, and was ordered to be
transcribed that it might be signed by the members. 1 The
vote of passage was not recorded as unanimous, and this
makes it extremely probable that the South Carolina dele-
gation delivered their ultimatum at this juncture. 2 Lynch,
Middleton and the Rutledges, speaking for their province,
demanded the exclusion of rice and indigo from the non-
exportation regulation as the price of their signatures.
Their proposition met with an angry dissent. Forty-eight
1Oct. 12, 15, 17, 18; Journals, vol. i, pp. 62, 74, 75. No record of
the debates remains.
1For this episode, vide Drayton, Memoirs, vol. i, pp. 169-170; N. Y.
Journ. , Dec. 8, 1774; Izard, Correspondence, vol. i, pp. 21-25; Cooper,
What Think Ye of Congress Now? , p. 40; Stevens, Facsimiles, vol.
xxiv, no. 2034-
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? 422 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
hours were allowed to pass, during which all parties had an
opportunity to digest the situation. Without the accession
of the South Carolina delegates to the Association, the
province of South Carolina would not be bound thereby,
for such were the terms of the instructions which had been
granted the delegates. 1 On the other hand, the South Caro-
lina delegates were too earnest in their opposition to parlia-
mentary encroachment to be willing to be detached from
co-operation with the sister provinces, if their demands
could be partially met. On Thursday, October 20, the final
trial of strength came. The Association was read to the
assembled Congress, and the delegates advanced to the
table to attach their signatures. Thereupon the four dele-
gates nf Sr>|1rh Carolina departed from the hall, leaving
only the stout-hearted Gadsden, who offered to sign his
name alone and to trust to the generosity of his constituents
for vindication. But wiser counsels prevailed. For the
sake of preserving the union of the provinces, the departed
delegates were recalled; they agreed to abandon their point
regarding indigo, and, in return, Congress conceded the
demanded for the article of rice.
, According to Galloway, the majority were forced to re-
sort to some further strategy before they succeeded in ob-
taining his signature and those of the other delegates who
had voted against many parts of the Association. At the
end of the document were placed the words: "The fore-
'Before the Congress met, Dr. Franklin had addressed these words
to a friend in Pennsylvania: "Your province will surely be wise enough
not to enter into violent measures without the strictest concert with
the other Colonies, particularly Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas,
because on them depend the whole effect of the American non-exporta-
tion. The Northern Colonies have all the European markets almost
for their chief exports, but those. Colonies have hardly any but th<<
English markets for their chief exports of tobacco and naval stores
. . . " Mass. Gas. & Post-Boy, Oct. 24, 1774.
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? THE CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
423
going Association being determined upon by the Congress,
was ordered to be subscribed by the several Members
thereof; and thereupon, we have hereunto set our respective
names accordingly. " l The recalcitrant delegates were told
that they were in the position of a Speaker of Assembly,
who signed, by order, a bill that was contrary to his per-
sonal judgment, a proceeding which could not be considered
as his private act but that of the majority who made the
order. This story bears the earmarks of truth, though it is
clear that Galloway also felt impelled to sign "on the
ground of preventing the Congress from proceeding to more
violent measures. " 2 Galloway remarked afterward that he
would rather have cut off his hand than sign. 8 Congress
directed that one hundred and twenty copies of the Associa-
tion should be struck off; but the document was not made
public until the close of the session.
The Association was the most remarkable document put
forth by the Congress. Of its authorship nothing is known
definitely, perhaps for the reason that the instrument was
the outgrowth of the experience of all the delegates through
a decade of trade-suspension agreements and thus did not
embody the views of any one man or any single committee.
In part, the Association was the standardization and nation-
alization of the systems of commercial opposition which had
hitherto been employed upon a local scale; the earlier ex-
periments in non-importation, non-consumption, and various
forms of the secondary boycott bore fruit in a number of
1 Galloway, A Reply to an Address, etc. , pp. 114-115. The italics are
Galloway's. Vide also Colden. Letter-Book, vol. ii, p. 374.
1 Galloway, Examination, p. 56. Vide also Pa. Mag. , vol. xxvi, pp.
320-321.
1 Conn. Hist. Soc. Colls. , vol. ii, p. 201. Several delegates were absent
on Oct. 20 and affixed their signatures later. Journals, vol. i, p. 81 n.
The Association was published in the Pa. Packet, Oct. 31, 1774, and
Mass. Spy. Nov. 10.
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? 424 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
carefully drawn provisions of the Association. The influ-
ence of the southern delegates was plainly discernible in
many portions of the paper. The very name, "Associa-
tion," was of southern origin, and had been used in that
section in earlier years in preference to the northern term,
"Agreement. " Most of the basic features of the Associa-
tion were, in substance, identical with the Virginia Asso-
ciation of August, 1774. 1 Furthermore, one important pur-
pose of the Association made it natural that the plantation
delegates should lead in its formulation. The Association,
though framed with the primary object of bringing indus-
trial pressure to bear upon England, was a worthless fabric
unless the colonial merchants could be compelled to observe
its provisions. This was a problem with which the planters
in the South had had to deal in the earlier periods of non-
importation, whereas the northern delegates, with the ex-
ception of Massachusetts, knew nothing of the difficulty,
because their non-importation agreements had been made
and enforced by the merchants themselves.
The Association was a document of more than two thou-
sand words divided into a preamble and fourteen articles.
5
The introductory paragraphs avowed allegiance to the king,
and declared that commercial coercion was adopted as " the
most speedy, effectual, and peaceable " method of obtaining
redress from the "ruinous system of colony administra-
tion," inaugurated by Great Britain about the year 1763
and modified and elaborated in the subsequent years.
Therefore, continued the paper, "we do, for ourselves and
\Vide supra, pp. 368-370. l! y this avenue of reasoning, it might ap-
pear that Richard Henry Lee, a memher of the committee of five, should
have major credit for the content of the Association. On the other
hand, it is known that he held much narrower views at the opening
of Congress. Adams, J. , Works, vol. ii, p. 362.
? Text in Journals, vol. i. pp. 75-81; also in appendix, present volume.
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? THE CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
425
the inhabitants of the several colonies, whom we represent,
firmly agree and associate, under the sacred ties of virtue,
honour and love of our country . . . " The demand for a
return to the conditions prevailing before 1763 was, in a
later portion, made specific and unmistakable by an enu-
meration of the acts that must be repealed. These were
named as of three groups: (1) the duties on tea, wine,
molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee, sugar, pimento, indigo,
foreign paper, glass, and painters' colors, and the act ex-
tending the powers of the admiralty courts beyond their
ancient limits; (2) that part of the act for better securing
the royal dockyards, ships, etc. (12 George III, c. 24) by
which any person in America, charged with an offense
therein described, might be transported to England for
trial; and (3) the three acts of 1774 against Boston and
Massachusetts and the Quebec Act. 1
Of the fourteen articles which made up the directive
portion of the Association, ten were devoted to establishing
rules of conduct with reference to non-importation and the
cognate subject, non-consumption, and with reference to
the adjustment of the American standard of living to the
situation. Three articles applied to both non-importation
and non-exportation and contained the most important
executory provisions.
Non-importation was to become effective on December 1,
1774. Beginning with that date, no goods whatever were
to be imported from the British Isles, directly or indirectly;
new conditions created by a suspension of trade. One
article dealt solely with the establishment of non-export;
no East India tea was to be imported from any part of the
world (thus affecting the smuggled as well as the legal ar-
ticle) ; the importation of molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee
'Art. JUT.
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? 426 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
or pimento from the British plantations and Dominica was
forbidden, of wines from Madeira and the Western Islands,
of indigo from foreign parts. 1 It was further declared
specifically that no slaves were to be imported after that
date. 2
Next, as " an effectual security for the observation of the
non-importation," a non-consumption regulation was de-
vised. No goods should be purchased or used which there
was cause to suspect had been imported after December 1,
1774, except under special conditions described in Article x;
likewise in the case of slaves. 8 Venders of imported goods
were warned not to take advantage of the scarcity of goods
but were required to sell at their customary rates during the
preceding year. 4 An immediate non-consumption of dutied
tea was announced, with the provision that after March 1,
1775, the use of smuggled tea should also be abandoned. 6
Article x provided for the disposal of merchandise im-
ported contrary to the Association. If any such imports
arrived during the first two months of the non-importation
(<<. e. , before February 1. 1775), the owner should have the
option of re-shipping the goods immediately, or of storing
the goods at his own risk with the local committee during
the duration of the non-importation, or of authorizing the
committee to sell the goods. In the last case, the owner was
to receive from the proceeds of the sale the first cost and
charges; the profit, if any, was to be applied toward em-
ploying the victims of the Boston Port Act. Should any
goods arrive after February 1, 1775, they "ought forth-
with to be sent back again, without breaking any of the
packages thereof. "
Sumptuary regulations were made in preparation for the
1 Art. i. * Art. ii.
1 Arts, iii and ii.
4Art. ix. 6Art. iii.
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? THE CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
427
radical change which the absence of imported goods was
certain to produce in the life of the average American.
"Utmost endeavours" were to be made to improve the
breed of sheep and to increase their number. 1 "Agricul-
ture, arts and the manufactures of this country, especially
that of wool," were to be promoted. 2 All American manu-
factures were required to be sold at reasonable prices, so
that no undue advantage might be taken of a future scar-
city of goods. 1 Rigid economy was to be practised: we
"will discountenance and discourage every species of ex-
travagance and dissipation, especially all horseracing, and
all kinds of gaming, cock-fighting, exhibitions of shews,
plays, and other expensive diversions and entertainments. "
Economy in mourning was revived from the days of 1765-
1766. detailed directions being given. 4
The non-exportation regulation was announced to be-
come operative on September 10, 1775, if Parliament had
not made amends by that time. Beginning with that date,
no goods whatsoever should be exported, directly or in-
directly, to the British Isles or the West Indies, except rice
to Europe. 8 Another part provided that no sheep should
be exported to the West Indies or elsewhere; and this regu-
lation was to become effective immediately. *
In some respects, the most important portions of the
Association related to the means of enforcement. Lacking
legal sanction, the Continental Congress were compelled to
create their own administrative and judicial machinery and
to impose their own penalties. This machinery was to con-
sist of a committee in every county, city and town, chosen
by those qualified to vote for representatives in the legisla-
ture. These committees were "attentively to observe the
1 Art. vii. 1 Art. viii.
? Art. xiii. 4 Art. viii.
* Art. iv. * Art. vii.
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? 428 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
conduct of all persons touching this association," and, in
case of a violation, to publish " the truth of the case " in the
newspapers, to the end that all such " enemies of American
liberty" might be universally contemned and boycotted. 1
At this point the Association exposed its real character as
a quasi-law, inasmuch as its binding force was not limited to
those who accepted its provisions but was made applicable
to "all persons. " It was one thing for two or more men
to agree with each other not to buy goods from British
merchants; quite another to agree that, if a man not a
party to the compact, bought goods, they would restrain
him and ruin his business. For fear that this regulation
would not reach non-residents, it was provided that any
British or Irish merchant guilty of transgressing the non-
importation should likewise be published and boycotted; 2
that captains of American vessels should be forbidden to
receive on board prohibited imports on pain of immediate
dismissal;* and that no vessels should be hired or com-
modities sold to those engaged in the slave trade after De-
cember 1, 1774. 4 The principle of the boycott was invoked
against whole provinces in the provision that "no trade,
commerce, dealings or intercourse whatsoever" should be
sustained with any province in North America which did
not accede to or hereafter violated the Association. 5 The
committees of correspondence of the various provinces were
instructed to inspect the custom-house entries frequently
and to inform each other of "every material circumstance
that may occur relative to this association. "" Finally, great
elasticity was given to the enforcement provisions by the
blanket recommendation that the provincial conventions
and the committees in the various provinces should " estab-
1 Art. xi. * Art. v.
1 Art. vi. * Art. ii.
1Art. xiv. 'Art. xii.
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? THE CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
429
lish such farther regulations as they may think proper, for
carrying into execution this association. " 1
A few days after Congress had completed the Associa-
tion, a resolution was passed for calling another continental
congress to meet on May 10, 177$, if American grievances
jhould not then be_redressed. 2 Thus, asecohd congress
was to be held four months before the time at which the
non-exportation regulation was scheduled to go into effect,
--which obviously meant that an opportunity would be
afforded for further modifications of that measure, if any
should prove desirable. The balance of the time of Con-
gress was spent in drawing up a declaration of rights and
grievances, and in formulating addresses to the people of
Great Britain, to the inhabitants of the British colonies, to
the inhabitants of Quebec, and to the king. 8 These papers
varied widely in form and phraseology and intent, but all
joined in endorsing the sentiment: "Place us in the same
situation that we were at the close of the last war, and our
former harmony will be restored. ' * The declaration of
rights and grievances undertook to define the colonial theory
of the power of Parliament. This matter had caused con-
siderable difficulty in Congress. Five provinces maintained
that Parliament had the right to regulate trade; five prov-
inces denied this view; and Massachusetts and Rhode
Island were divided within themselves. 5 A statement was
finally agreed upon to the effect that the colonial legisla-
1 Art. xiv.
* Oct. 22; Journals, vol. i, p. 102.
1John Adams wrote to Jefferson in 1813: "I never bestowed much
attention on any of those addresses, which were all but repetitions of
the same things, the same facts and arguments . . . I was in a great
error, no doubt, . . . for those things were necessary to give popularity
to our cause, both at home and abroad. " Works, vol. x, p. 80.
4 Journals, vol. i, p. 89.
5 Adams, J. , Works, vol. ii, p. 357.
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? 430
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
tures had exclusive powers of law-making in all cases of
taxation and internal polity, subject only to the royal nega-
tive; and that from the necessity of the case the colonists
did " cheerfully consent" to the bona fide regulation of their
external commerce by Parliament when it was done for the
good of the whole empire and contained no " idea of taxa-
tion, internal or external, for raising a revenue on the sub-
jects in America, without their consent. " * The list of acts,
whose repeal was held by the declaration of rights and
grievances to be "essentially necessary," was somewhat
more comprehensive than the group of laws named as the
object of the Association, and included the Currency Act
of 1764, the act establishing the board of customs commis-
sioners and reorganizing the customs service, and the quar-
tering act of 1774. 2
The Boston Tea Party--the episode that had precipitated
the present crisis--received scant notice. In the address to
the colonists, it was noted that the British administration
had entered into a " monopolizing combination" with the
East India Company to send a dutied commodity to Amer-
ica, and that the tea sent to Boston was destroyed because
Governor Hutchinson would not suffer it to be returned. 8
A longer discussion of the affair appeared in the address to
the people of Great Britain; some slight effort was made to
justify the destruction, but most emphasis was placed on
the thought that: "even supposing a trespass was thereby
committed and the proprietors of the Tea entitled to dam-
ages, the Courts of Law were open" for the prosecution of
suits, instead of which thirty thousand souls had been re-
duced to poverty and distress upon unauthenticated ex parte
1 Journals, vol. i, pp. 68-69.
1Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 71-73.
1 Ibid. , vol. i, p. 98.
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? THE CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION
431
evidence, for the act of thirty or forty. 1 No mention what-
ever was made of the matter in the other documents.
Congress adjourned on Wednesday, October 26, and the
great majority of the delegates departed for their homes
with the feeling that effective measures for a reconciliation
had been taken. But there were some dissenting minds. 2
Furthermore, the supreme test was yet to come: what would
the country think of the work of Congress?