8 There
is no record of action in the case of the two sparsely settled
frontier counties of Northumberland and Westmoreland.
is no record of action in the case of the two sparsely settled
frontier counties of Northumberland and Westmoreland.
Arthur Schlesinger - Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution
39015011480665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.
hathitrust.
org/access_use#pd-google
? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
455
Unless some nearby harbors in -Npw Jprspy should furnish
opportunity for evasion, the province was pretty effectually
sealed. The people of Jersey, however, as we shall see,
were jffinjfply rnTpfnittpH tr> tfa^-Contingntal Association.
The movement for ratifying the Association in New
Jersey got under way early in December, 1774, when the
three precincts of Essex County observed the directions of
Article xi and appointed committees of observation. 1 The
movement spread rapidly, and the example of Essex County
in establishing committees of inspection in the local sub-
divisions was widely copied. By February 1, 1775. com-
mittees of observation and inspection had been appointed in
eight of the thirteen counties;2 and at least two other coun-
ties acted shortly after. 8 Every populous county, with the
possible exception of Salem, was now organized for the
enforcement of the Association. No public opposition of
any importance appeared against the establishment of com-
mittees. 4 With such a broad basis of popular support, it
was not surprising that the Assembly of the province voted
approval of the proceedings of Congress on January 24.
1775-5
1 Elizabeth, Newark and Acquackanonck. 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i. 1009-
1010, 1012-1013, 1028; N. Y. Gas. , Dec. 26, 1774.
* Other than Essex, these counties were in chronological order: Mon-
mouth, Gloucester, Somerset, Cumberland, Middlesex, Hunterdon, and
Morris. The italicization indicates the counties in which township
committees of inspection were organized. 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 35;
Pa. Gas. , Dec. 21, 1774; N. Y. Gas. , Dec. 26; Pa. Packet, Jan. 19, I77S;
4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1083-1084, 1163-1164, 1106.
* Burlington and Bergen; ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1235-1236; vol. ii, p. 579.
4 For two instances, however, vide ibid. , vol. i. p. 1165: vol. ii, pp.
130-131-
* An appearance of unanimity was given to this vote through the
skilful manipulation of "the Junto at Elizabeth Town," i. e. , William
Livingston, John DeHart and Ettas Boudinot. / N. J. Arch. , vol. x,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-08-19 01:37 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015011480665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 456 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1778
The fact that Philadelphia had been the scene of the
transactions of the Continental Congress gave decided im-
petus to the movement for ratification of the Association
throughout Pennsylvania. In the city the chief source of
opposition was the group of \ygftlthy Quaker merchants,
who controlled the policy of the sect to which they be-
longed. Galloway, outwitted in his first attempt to play
politics on a continental scale, was seeking balm for his
wounded sensibilities in the company of congenial spirits
in the city and in New York; and he did not appear in
public denunciation of Congress until after the radicals had
firmly established their organization in Pennsylvania.
The existing Committee of Forty-Three at Philadelphia,
representing city and county, had never been entirely satis-
factory to the ultra-radicals; it had been accepted by them
simply as the best committee that could be obtained under
the circumstances then prevailing. Even before the Conti-
nental Congress had begun its sessions, appeals had ap-
peared in the press, emanating avowedly from the laboring
class, demanding the appointment of a new committee. 1
As the Continental Association pointed to the selection of
a new committee, the radicals at once made known their
opinion that separate committees should be chosen for the
city and for the county. Their purpose evidently was to
preclude the possibility of the city moderates dominating
the action of the county, as they had done to a certain de-
pp. 537, 575-577- The Quaker members of the Assembly made an
exception to "such parts [of the proceedings of Congress] as seem
to wear an appearance, or may have a tendency to force (if any such
there be) as inconsistent with their religious principles. " 4 Am. Arch. ,
vok i, p. 1124. It would appear, however, that this saving clause was
removed on Jan. 25. Vide ibid. , vol. i, p. 1287; 1 N. J. Arch. , vol.
x, p. 546.
1 "An Artisan" in Pa. Gos. . Aug. 31, 1774; "A Mechanic" in Pa.
Packet, Sept. 5.
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
457
gree in the election of the Forty-Three; but they tactfully
based their objections on the ground of convenience and
greater effectiveness of action. 1 They also demanded, in
curious contrast to their New York brethren, that the elec-
tion be held by ballot, for the reason, it would appear, that
the voters could thus be best protected from the "undue
influence" and "electioneering attempts" of the citizens
of wealth and position. 2
The Forty-Three had already sent out a call for a public
meeting on Saturday, November 12, 1774, to elect a joint
committee for city and county. 8 On Monday of that week,
a mass meeting, summoned without authority of the Forty-
Three, came together at the state house, and resolved by
unanimous vote that the election should be held in the sev-
eral wards by ballot of those who could vote for represen-
tatives in the Assembly, and that the city and its suburbs
should elect a committee of sixty separate from the county. 4
The plan adopted by this meeting, unauthorized though it
was, prevailed. Separate tickets of names for membership
in the city committee were made out by the two parties,
and these were printed and distributed for electioneering
purposes. On election day the list of sixty names submitted
by the radicals won by a great majority. 6 At the particular
request of the freeholders of two suburban districts, addi-
1 Pa. Gas. , Nov. 2, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 956-957.
1" Cassandra," a radical, in Pa. Gas. , Mcl1. 20, 1776.
* Ibid. , Nov. 2, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 956.
4 Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 965-967; also Pa. Gas. , Nov. 9, 1774.
* It is evident that only a small minority of all the citizens partici-
pated in the voting. 517 votes in all were cast in the city and the
Northern Liberties; and of these, 499 were for the radical ticket, with
very few exceptions to any one name. "Tiberius" in Pa. Ledger,
Mch. 16, 1776. Not one-sixth of the people voted, according to a
Philadelphia writer in the N. Y. Gasetteer, Feb. 23,
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? 458 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
tional members were included in the committee, making the
total number sixty-six. 1
The radical character of the Sixty-Six is indicated by
the fact that, in the election of the two committees that in
turn succeeded to the functions of this committee, few alter-
ations were made in the personnel. The Sixty-Six in-
cluded only seventeen members of the old Forty-Three;
and these were, for the most part, men of the more radical
stamp, like Dickinson. Thomas Mifflin, Joseph Reed and
Charles Thomson. Thomas Wharton and the Reverend
Dr. Smith were dropped permanently from committee rolls.
Of the new men on the Sixty-Six, William Bradford, editor
of the radical Pennsylvania Journal, was the best known.
The others were, for the greater part, small tradesmen,
mechanics, and nobodies who had been active in popular
demonstrations in earlier years. It is not necessary to
accept literally the scornful comment of a contemporary
that "there are many of this Committee who could not
get credit for 2Os. ;" and it would be difficult, if not impos-
sible, to verify his further statement that one of the Sixty-
Six, "an avowed Republican, had lately met with some dis-
appointments . . . ; another had acquired his fortune partly
by an illicit trade last war, and partly by taking advantage
< >f a Resolve of the people here, not to deal with the Rhcde-
Islanders. after they had broke through the Non-Importa-
tion Agreement, by supplying them with Goods, when no
other Merchant would do it; another was an illiterate Mer-
chant; another too insignificant to notice, &c. " a
The counties of the province quickly emulated the ex-
1 The names of the original sixty and of the four members from
Southwark are in Pa. Gas. , Nov. 16, 1774; the names of the two from
Kensington are in ibid. , Nov. 23. 'Lincoln states that the committee
was composed of sixty-seven. Rev'y Movement in Pa. , p. 185.
1 -V. Y. Goeetteer, Feb. 23, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1232.
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 459
ample of Philadelphia in preparing for the enforcement of
the Association. In Philadelphia County, committees were
first selected for each township; and at a meeting of these
committees on November 26 a general committee of forty
was named. 1 By the middle of February seven other
counties had chosen committees of inspection; 2 and the
committee of correspondence of another county had as-
sumed the function of executing the Association.
8 There
is no record of action in the case of the two sparsely settled
frontier counties of Northumberland and Westmoreland.
Ratification o^ the ^^tiruf1tal A^sr)fiation_was jasily
carried in r,he Pennsylvania Assemblv. That body had
held its first session while the Continental Congress was
still in session; and its first act had been to elect a successor
to Joseph Galloway, who had been speaker for so many
years. The second session began on December 5, and on
the tenth the proceedings of Congress were approved by a
unanimous vote. 4 Three days later. Galloway made his
first appearance in this Assembly. During the remainder
of the session and in the February session he proceeded
quietly and indefatigably to work up sentiment among the
members in opposition to the measures of Congress, and
he gained an increasingly large following. But he was
laboring against heavy odds; and the excitement, produced
by the acceleration of public events, contributed in defeat-
1 This committee contained three members of the old Committee of
Forty-Three. Pa. Gas. , Nov. 16, 30, 1774.
* In chronological order: Berks, Bucks, York, Chester, Northampton,
Cumberland and Lancaster. Vide 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, passim, and
contemporary newspapers. Galloway wrote from his country seat in
Bucks County: "A Committee has been appointed for this County by
a few warm People of neither Property or significance among us. "
Pa. Mag. , vol. xxi, p. 478.
5 Bedford; 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1226-1227, 1229-1230.
4 Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 869, 1023; Lincoln, op. fit. , p. 185.
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? 460 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
ing his efforts. 1 Meanwhile the Sixty-Six at Philadelphia,
feeling that the time had come for frankly discarding the
leadership of the Assembly, had called into being a second
provincial convention. When that body assembled on Jan-
uary 23, 1775, it immediately adopted a unanimous resolu-
tion endorsing the Continental Association and pledging
obedience to its provisions. 2
In general, the situation in Pennsylvania was extremely
favorable for a close observance of the Association. With
the only port of entry well guarded, the chief source of
danger lay in the course which the Quaker merchants might
choose to pursue.
There was nothing distinctive about the movement to
ratifvjJ3? _^? SQciation in the T~)plawar<> O"mn^j{<<; On No-
vember 28, 1774, a committee of inspection was chosen in
Newcastle County. Kent County followed this example on
December 7. Apparently no committee was chosen at this
early stage in Sussex County, where the preponderance of
Episcopalians made it more difficult for the radicals to
carry their objects. 8 At the first session of the House of
Assembly following the dissolution of the Continental Con-
gress, several unanimous resolves were passed on March
15, 1775, expressing high approval of the proceedings of
Congress. 4
Of the plantation group, the earliest action was taken by
1 For Galloway's account of the sharp politics of this unavailing
struggle, vide his letters to Governor Franklin, / N. J. Arch. , vol. x,
pp. 572-575, S79-S86; his A Reply to the Observations of Lieutenant
General Sir William Howe, etc. , pp. 127-128; and his letters to Ver-
planck, Pa. Mag. , vol. xxi, pp. 477-484.
1 Pa. Gas. , Dec. 28, 1774, Feb. 1, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. I, p. 1169.
? Adams, J. , Works (Adams), vol. x, pp. 81-82.
*N. Y. Gas. , Mch. 27, 1775; also J Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 126-137.
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 461
Maryland. The counties in which Annapolis and Baltimore
were located took the lead; and by the end of November
committees had been chosen in six of the sixteen counties. 1
On the twenty-first of the month a provincial convention
had assembled at Annapolis, but because of the shortness
of the notice several counties were not represented. Before
adjourning, the convention voted unanimous approval of
the proceedings of Congress and recommended to the people
of Maryland an inviolable obedience to the Association.
The convention renewed its vote at a full meeting on De-
cember 8-1 2. 2 Under stimulus of these provincial meet-
ings, a committee of observation was chosen in St. Mary's
County, and several of the old committees were enlarged so
as to afford a broader representation. * In the counties that
failed to appoint committees, it would appear that the ex-
isting committees of correspondence took over the new
functions. The province proved to be adequately organ-
ized to execute the Association.
. In the neighboring province of Virginia, committees of
nh. <;erva. fion were f. hosfln wi*k alTTIOSf
Five counties acted in November; eleven counties and the
town of Williamsburg in December; five counties in Jan-
uary; and at least four others in the subsequent months. 4
1 In chronological order: Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Charles,
Frederick, Prince George's. Consult ; Am. Arch. , vol. i, index.
* Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 991, 1031; also Md. Gas. , Dec. I, 15, 1774.
* The size of committees was increased in Baltimore, Anne Arundel,
Frederick, Charles and Prince George's. Consult 4 Am. Arch. , vol.
i, index.
4 In November, Henrico, Elizabeth City, Warwick, Chesterfield and
James City; in December, Richmond, Essex, Isle of Wight, Princess
Anne, Caroline, Prince William, King and Queen, Northampton, Charles
City, Orange, Williamsburg, Accomack; in January, Charlotte, Prince
George's, Fincastle, P1ttsylvania and Westmoreland; in February, Lan-
caster; in April, Bedford; in May, Mecklenburgh and Augusta. Vide
ibid. , vols. i, ii, passim, and Pinkne/s Va. Gas. , passim.
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? 462 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
In the provincial convention, which began to meet on
March 20, every one of the sixty-two counties was repre-
sented; which makes it probable that a great many more
counties than those noted here appointed committees of ob-
servation. On March 22 the members of the provincial
convention voted their unanimous approval of the meas-
ures of the Continental Congress. 1 The new House of
Burgesses, the first since the dramatic dissolution of May,
1774, was not called into session until the first of June,
1775; and on the fifth of the month they also resolved,
without a dissenting voice, their entire approval of the pro-
ceedings of Congress. 2
Thus, excellent machinery of enforcement was estab-
lished in all parts of the province. A source of weakness
was the small but powerful body of merchants and factors,
who could not be expected to relinquish without a struggle
their prospects of recovering the great sums which the
planters owed them; but even these professed an allegiance
to the Association.
The movement in North Carolina for the appointment of
committees proceeded sluggishly, except at the principal
port, Wilmington, where a city committee of observation
was chosen on November 23, 1774, and a county committee
some weeks later. 8 Pitt County appointed a committee on
December 9, and other tidewater counties probably fol-
lowed this example. 4 A pronounced and effective Apposi-
tion to the Association was made in the populous back-
country counties, where the Regulators had risen up several
years before in opposition to the oppressive practices of the
very tidewater leaders who now sought their support
1 Va. Co<<. , Mch. 30, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 167.
1 Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 1193.
1 N. C. Col. Recs. , vol. ix, pp. 1088-1089, 1107-1108, 1154.
4 Ibid. , vol. ix, p. I09S; vol. x, pp. 37-38.
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 463
against England. 1 Addresses were sent to Governor Mar-
tin, signed by many inhabitants of Anson, Rowan, Surry
and Guilford Counties, condemning the " lawless combina-
tions and unwarrantable practices" introduced into North
Carolina from other provinces. 2
When a provincial convention assembled at Newbern on
Monday, April 3, 1775, nine county and two town constitu-
encies, most of them in the back country, failed to send
representatives; and Governor Martin averred that: "in
many others the Committees consisting of 10 or 12 Men
took upon themselves to name them and [in] the rest they
were not chosen according to the best of my information
by 1-20 part of the people. " 8 The convention met one day
before the time fixed for the sitting of the Assembly. This
was of considerable convenience, physically and politically,
since every member of the Assembly who appeared was,
with a single exception, also a member of the convention. 4
Sturdy John Harvey acted as "Mr. Moderator" of the
one body and " Mr. Speaker" of the other; and indeed the
two bodies met in the same room, changing character with
chameleonlike suddenness when occasion demanded. Gov-
ernor Martin issued a proclamation for dispersing the con-
vention; and on Tuesday he sent a message to the Assembly
denouncing the convention and all committees of observa-
tion/ While the House on the following day set about
preparing an answer to the governor, the convention took
occasion to ratify the Continental Association in a formal
vote, and all the members of the convention, with a few ex-
1 Bassett, "Regulators of North Carolina," Am. Hist. Assn. Rep.
(1894), pp. 209-210.
1 N. C. Col. Recs.
? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
455
Unless some nearby harbors in -Npw Jprspy should furnish
opportunity for evasion, the province was pretty effectually
sealed. The people of Jersey, however, as we shall see,
were jffinjfply rnTpfnittpH tr> tfa^-Contingntal Association.
The movement for ratifying the Association in New
Jersey got under way early in December, 1774, when the
three precincts of Essex County observed the directions of
Article xi and appointed committees of observation. 1 The
movement spread rapidly, and the example of Essex County
in establishing committees of inspection in the local sub-
divisions was widely copied. By February 1, 1775. com-
mittees of observation and inspection had been appointed in
eight of the thirteen counties;2 and at least two other coun-
ties acted shortly after. 8 Every populous county, with the
possible exception of Salem, was now organized for the
enforcement of the Association. No public opposition of
any importance appeared against the establishment of com-
mittees. 4 With such a broad basis of popular support, it
was not surprising that the Assembly of the province voted
approval of the proceedings of Congress on January 24.
1775-5
1 Elizabeth, Newark and Acquackanonck. 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i. 1009-
1010, 1012-1013, 1028; N. Y. Gas. , Dec. 26, 1774.
* Other than Essex, these counties were in chronological order: Mon-
mouth, Gloucester, Somerset, Cumberland, Middlesex, Hunterdon, and
Morris. The italicization indicates the counties in which township
committees of inspection were organized. 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 35;
Pa. Gas. , Dec. 21, 1774; N. Y. Gas. , Dec. 26; Pa. Packet, Jan. 19, I77S;
4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1083-1084, 1163-1164, 1106.
* Burlington and Bergen; ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1235-1236; vol. ii, p. 579.
4 For two instances, however, vide ibid. , vol. i. p. 1165: vol. ii, pp.
130-131-
* An appearance of unanimity was given to this vote through the
skilful manipulation of "the Junto at Elizabeth Town," i. e. , William
Livingston, John DeHart and Ettas Boudinot. / N. J. Arch. , vol. x,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-08-19 01:37 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015011480665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 456 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1778
The fact that Philadelphia had been the scene of the
transactions of the Continental Congress gave decided im-
petus to the movement for ratification of the Association
throughout Pennsylvania. In the city the chief source of
opposition was the group of \ygftlthy Quaker merchants,
who controlled the policy of the sect to which they be-
longed. Galloway, outwitted in his first attempt to play
politics on a continental scale, was seeking balm for his
wounded sensibilities in the company of congenial spirits
in the city and in New York; and he did not appear in
public denunciation of Congress until after the radicals had
firmly established their organization in Pennsylvania.
The existing Committee of Forty-Three at Philadelphia,
representing city and county, had never been entirely satis-
factory to the ultra-radicals; it had been accepted by them
simply as the best committee that could be obtained under
the circumstances then prevailing. Even before the Conti-
nental Congress had begun its sessions, appeals had ap-
peared in the press, emanating avowedly from the laboring
class, demanding the appointment of a new committee. 1
As the Continental Association pointed to the selection of
a new committee, the radicals at once made known their
opinion that separate committees should be chosen for the
city and for the county. Their purpose evidently was to
preclude the possibility of the city moderates dominating
the action of the county, as they had done to a certain de-
pp. 537, 575-577- The Quaker members of the Assembly made an
exception to "such parts [of the proceedings of Congress] as seem
to wear an appearance, or may have a tendency to force (if any such
there be) as inconsistent with their religious principles. " 4 Am. Arch. ,
vok i, p. 1124. It would appear, however, that this saving clause was
removed on Jan. 25. Vide ibid. , vol. i, p. 1287; 1 N. J. Arch. , vol.
x, p. 546.
1 "An Artisan" in Pa. Gos. . Aug. 31, 1774; "A Mechanic" in Pa.
Packet, Sept. 5.
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
457
gree in the election of the Forty-Three; but they tactfully
based their objections on the ground of convenience and
greater effectiveness of action. 1 They also demanded, in
curious contrast to their New York brethren, that the elec-
tion be held by ballot, for the reason, it would appear, that
the voters could thus be best protected from the "undue
influence" and "electioneering attempts" of the citizens
of wealth and position. 2
The Forty-Three had already sent out a call for a public
meeting on Saturday, November 12, 1774, to elect a joint
committee for city and county. 8 On Monday of that week,
a mass meeting, summoned without authority of the Forty-
Three, came together at the state house, and resolved by
unanimous vote that the election should be held in the sev-
eral wards by ballot of those who could vote for represen-
tatives in the Assembly, and that the city and its suburbs
should elect a committee of sixty separate from the county. 4
The plan adopted by this meeting, unauthorized though it
was, prevailed. Separate tickets of names for membership
in the city committee were made out by the two parties,
and these were printed and distributed for electioneering
purposes. On election day the list of sixty names submitted
by the radicals won by a great majority. 6 At the particular
request of the freeholders of two suburban districts, addi-
1 Pa. Gas. , Nov. 2, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 956-957.
1" Cassandra," a radical, in Pa. Gas. , Mcl1. 20, 1776.
* Ibid. , Nov. 2, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 956.
4 Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 965-967; also Pa. Gas. , Nov. 9, 1774.
* It is evident that only a small minority of all the citizens partici-
pated in the voting. 517 votes in all were cast in the city and the
Northern Liberties; and of these, 499 were for the radical ticket, with
very few exceptions to any one name. "Tiberius" in Pa. Ledger,
Mch. 16, 1776. Not one-sixth of the people voted, according to a
Philadelphia writer in the N. Y. Gasetteer, Feb. 23,
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-08-19 01:37 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015011480665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? 458 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
tional members were included in the committee, making the
total number sixty-six. 1
The radical character of the Sixty-Six is indicated by
the fact that, in the election of the two committees that in
turn succeeded to the functions of this committee, few alter-
ations were made in the personnel. The Sixty-Six in-
cluded only seventeen members of the old Forty-Three;
and these were, for the most part, men of the more radical
stamp, like Dickinson. Thomas Mifflin, Joseph Reed and
Charles Thomson. Thomas Wharton and the Reverend
Dr. Smith were dropped permanently from committee rolls.
Of the new men on the Sixty-Six, William Bradford, editor
of the radical Pennsylvania Journal, was the best known.
The others were, for the greater part, small tradesmen,
mechanics, and nobodies who had been active in popular
demonstrations in earlier years. It is not necessary to
accept literally the scornful comment of a contemporary
that "there are many of this Committee who could not
get credit for 2Os. ;" and it would be difficult, if not impos-
sible, to verify his further statement that one of the Sixty-
Six, "an avowed Republican, had lately met with some dis-
appointments . . . ; another had acquired his fortune partly
by an illicit trade last war, and partly by taking advantage
< >f a Resolve of the people here, not to deal with the Rhcde-
Islanders. after they had broke through the Non-Importa-
tion Agreement, by supplying them with Goods, when no
other Merchant would do it; another was an illiterate Mer-
chant; another too insignificant to notice, &c. " a
The counties of the province quickly emulated the ex-
1 The names of the original sixty and of the four members from
Southwark are in Pa. Gas. , Nov. 16, 1774; the names of the two from
Kensington are in ibid. , Nov. 23. 'Lincoln states that the committee
was composed of sixty-seven. Rev'y Movement in Pa. , p. 185.
1 -V. Y. Goeetteer, Feb. 23, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1232.
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 459
ample of Philadelphia in preparing for the enforcement of
the Association. In Philadelphia County, committees were
first selected for each township; and at a meeting of these
committees on November 26 a general committee of forty
was named. 1 By the middle of February seven other
counties had chosen committees of inspection; 2 and the
committee of correspondence of another county had as-
sumed the function of executing the Association.
8 There
is no record of action in the case of the two sparsely settled
frontier counties of Northumberland and Westmoreland.
Ratification o^ the ^^tiruf1tal A^sr)fiation_was jasily
carried in r,he Pennsylvania Assemblv. That body had
held its first session while the Continental Congress was
still in session; and its first act had been to elect a successor
to Joseph Galloway, who had been speaker for so many
years. The second session began on December 5, and on
the tenth the proceedings of Congress were approved by a
unanimous vote. 4 Three days later. Galloway made his
first appearance in this Assembly. During the remainder
of the session and in the February session he proceeded
quietly and indefatigably to work up sentiment among the
members in opposition to the measures of Congress, and
he gained an increasingly large following. But he was
laboring against heavy odds; and the excitement, produced
by the acceleration of public events, contributed in defeat-
1 This committee contained three members of the old Committee of
Forty-Three. Pa. Gas. , Nov. 16, 30, 1774.
* In chronological order: Berks, Bucks, York, Chester, Northampton,
Cumberland and Lancaster. Vide 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, passim, and
contemporary newspapers. Galloway wrote from his country seat in
Bucks County: "A Committee has been appointed for this County by
a few warm People of neither Property or significance among us. "
Pa. Mag. , vol. xxi, p. 478.
5 Bedford; 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1226-1227, 1229-1230.
4 Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 869, 1023; Lincoln, op. fit. , p. 185.
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? 460 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
ing his efforts. 1 Meanwhile the Sixty-Six at Philadelphia,
feeling that the time had come for frankly discarding the
leadership of the Assembly, had called into being a second
provincial convention. When that body assembled on Jan-
uary 23, 1775, it immediately adopted a unanimous resolu-
tion endorsing the Continental Association and pledging
obedience to its provisions. 2
In general, the situation in Pennsylvania was extremely
favorable for a close observance of the Association. With
the only port of entry well guarded, the chief source of
danger lay in the course which the Quaker merchants might
choose to pursue.
There was nothing distinctive about the movement to
ratifvjJ3? _^? SQciation in the T~)plawar<> O"mn^j{<<; On No-
vember 28, 1774, a committee of inspection was chosen in
Newcastle County. Kent County followed this example on
December 7. Apparently no committee was chosen at this
early stage in Sussex County, where the preponderance of
Episcopalians made it more difficult for the radicals to
carry their objects. 8 At the first session of the House of
Assembly following the dissolution of the Continental Con-
gress, several unanimous resolves were passed on March
15, 1775, expressing high approval of the proceedings of
Congress. 4
Of the plantation group, the earliest action was taken by
1 For Galloway's account of the sharp politics of this unavailing
struggle, vide his letters to Governor Franklin, / N. J. Arch. , vol. x,
pp. 572-575, S79-S86; his A Reply to the Observations of Lieutenant
General Sir William Howe, etc. , pp. 127-128; and his letters to Ver-
planck, Pa. Mag. , vol. xxi, pp. 477-484.
1 Pa. Gas. , Dec. 28, 1774, Feb. 1, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. I, p. 1169.
? Adams, J. , Works (Adams), vol. x, pp. 81-82.
*N. Y. Gas. , Mch. 27, 1775; also J Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp. 126-137.
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 461
Maryland. The counties in which Annapolis and Baltimore
were located took the lead; and by the end of November
committees had been chosen in six of the sixteen counties. 1
On the twenty-first of the month a provincial convention
had assembled at Annapolis, but because of the shortness
of the notice several counties were not represented. Before
adjourning, the convention voted unanimous approval of
the proceedings of Congress and recommended to the people
of Maryland an inviolable obedience to the Association.
The convention renewed its vote at a full meeting on De-
cember 8-1 2. 2 Under stimulus of these provincial meet-
ings, a committee of observation was chosen in St. Mary's
County, and several of the old committees were enlarged so
as to afford a broader representation. * In the counties that
failed to appoint committees, it would appear that the ex-
isting committees of correspondence took over the new
functions. The province proved to be adequately organ-
ized to execute the Association.
. In the neighboring province of Virginia, committees of
nh. <;erva. fion were f. hosfln wi*k alTTIOSf
Five counties acted in November; eleven counties and the
town of Williamsburg in December; five counties in Jan-
uary; and at least four others in the subsequent months. 4
1 In chronological order: Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Calvert, Charles,
Frederick, Prince George's. Consult ; Am. Arch. , vol. i, index.
* Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 991, 1031; also Md. Gas. , Dec. I, 15, 1774.
* The size of committees was increased in Baltimore, Anne Arundel,
Frederick, Charles and Prince George's. Consult 4 Am. Arch. , vol.
i, index.
4 In November, Henrico, Elizabeth City, Warwick, Chesterfield and
James City; in December, Richmond, Essex, Isle of Wight, Princess
Anne, Caroline, Prince William, King and Queen, Northampton, Charles
City, Orange, Williamsburg, Accomack; in January, Charlotte, Prince
George's, Fincastle, P1ttsylvania and Westmoreland; in February, Lan-
caster; in April, Bedford; in May, Mecklenburgh and Augusta. Vide
ibid. , vols. i, ii, passim, and Pinkne/s Va. Gas. , passim.
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? 462 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
In the provincial convention, which began to meet on
March 20, every one of the sixty-two counties was repre-
sented; which makes it probable that a great many more
counties than those noted here appointed committees of ob-
servation. On March 22 the members of the provincial
convention voted their unanimous approval of the meas-
ures of the Continental Congress. 1 The new House of
Burgesses, the first since the dramatic dissolution of May,
1774, was not called into session until the first of June,
1775; and on the fifth of the month they also resolved,
without a dissenting voice, their entire approval of the pro-
ceedings of Congress. 2
Thus, excellent machinery of enforcement was estab-
lished in all parts of the province. A source of weakness
was the small but powerful body of merchants and factors,
who could not be expected to relinquish without a struggle
their prospects of recovering the great sums which the
planters owed them; but even these professed an allegiance
to the Association.
The movement in North Carolina for the appointment of
committees proceeded sluggishly, except at the principal
port, Wilmington, where a city committee of observation
was chosen on November 23, 1774, and a county committee
some weeks later. 8 Pitt County appointed a committee on
December 9, and other tidewater counties probably fol-
lowed this example. 4 A pronounced and effective Apposi-
tion to the Association was made in the populous back-
country counties, where the Regulators had risen up several
years before in opposition to the oppressive practices of the
very tidewater leaders who now sought their support
1 Va. Co<<. , Mch. 30, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 167.
1 Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 1193.
1 N. C. Col. Recs. , vol. ix, pp. 1088-1089, 1107-1108, 1154.
4 Ibid. , vol. ix, p. I09S; vol. x, pp. 37-38.
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 463
against England. 1 Addresses were sent to Governor Mar-
tin, signed by many inhabitants of Anson, Rowan, Surry
and Guilford Counties, condemning the " lawless combina-
tions and unwarrantable practices" introduced into North
Carolina from other provinces. 2
When a provincial convention assembled at Newbern on
Monday, April 3, 1775, nine county and two town constitu-
encies, most of them in the back country, failed to send
representatives; and Governor Martin averred that: "in
many others the Committees consisting of 10 or 12 Men
took upon themselves to name them and [in] the rest they
were not chosen according to the best of my information
by 1-20 part of the people. " 8 The convention met one day
before the time fixed for the sitting of the Assembly. This
was of considerable convenience, physically and politically,
since every member of the Assembly who appeared was,
with a single exception, also a member of the convention. 4
Sturdy John Harvey acted as "Mr. Moderator" of the
one body and " Mr. Speaker" of the other; and indeed the
two bodies met in the same room, changing character with
chameleonlike suddenness when occasion demanded. Gov-
ernor Martin issued a proclamation for dispersing the con-
vention; and on Tuesday he sent a message to the Assembly
denouncing the convention and all committees of observa-
tion/ While the House on the following day set about
preparing an answer to the governor, the convention took
occasion to ratify the Continental Association in a formal
vote, and all the members of the convention, with a few ex-
1 Bassett, "Regulators of North Carolina," Am. Hist. Assn. Rep.
(1894), pp. 209-210.
1 N. C. Col. Recs.
