No More Learning

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.
1Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1256-1257; vol. ii, pp. 140-144; vol. iii, pp. 73, 820-
821; also Pa. Gca. , Feb. 22, Aug. 9, 1775. and Pa. Journ. , Mch. 22,
Sept. 27.
? 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1269, 1270.
4Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 141; also Pa. Ledger, Apr. 15, 1775.
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
503
would appear that the Association went quietly into force
in the Lower Counties on the Delaware. If any decided
opposition developed in Sussex County, where no committee
was yet appointed, no record of it remains. In Newcastle
and Kent, the chief attention was given to carrying out the
popular Pennsylvania regulation regarding the conservation
of sheep and to the elimination of extravagance and dissi-
pation. 1 Letters written to Philadelphia in February de-
clared that " the greatest unanimity subsists in putting into
force the Resolves of the Continental Congress. " *
1 E. g. , vide 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1022; Niles, Prins. 6. Acts, p. 339.
*Pa. Journ. , Feb. 15, 1775-
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? CHAPTER XIII
FIVE MONTHS OF THE ASSOCIATION IN THE PLANTATION
PROVINCES. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS
[THE problem of enforcing the Continental Association
in the plantation provinces differed in one respect markedly
from that in the commercial provinces. The old antagon-
ism between merchant and planter -- between creditor and
debtor -- that had raised its forbidding head at various
times during the previous years, had now become more
acute.
The conditions, imposed by a non-intercourse, in-
creased the difficulties of the planters to repay their obliga-
tions; and the economic dominance of the merchants and
factors made it necessary that their power be broken before
the Association could be successfully administered. The
plantation provinces thus, without exception, resorted to
extreme measures against the merchant-creditors^
The execution of the non-importation and non-consump-
tion regulations in Maryland was somewhat complicated by
the fact that there were more than twenty rivers in the
province navigable by large ships. However, commerce
centered naturally at Baltimore and Annapolis; and the
zeal and watchfulness of the radicals probably reduced
evasions of the Association to a minimum in all parts of
the province.
It was well understood that the merchant and factor class
were likely to be the most pertinacious offenders against the
Association, and therefore the Maryland convention, meet-
ing in December, 1774, resolved that lawyers should prose-
504
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? IN THE PLANTATION PROVINCES 505
cute no suits for violators of the Association, and that, if
the violator were a factor, lawyers should not conduct debt
prosecutions for the store of which he was manager. 1 In-
fluenced in the interval by the example of Virginia, where
the mercantile interests were even more deeply intrenched,
the Maryland convention went to greater lengths in August,
I775- They resolved that no civil actions (with a few
specified exceptions) should be commenced or renewed in
any court of law, save by permission of the committee of
observation of the county in which the debtors and defend-
ants resided. These committees were instructed to permit
the trial of cases where debtors refused to renew their obli-
gations, or to give reasonable security, or to refer their dis-
putes to one or more disinterested parties, or when the
debtors were justly suspected of an intention to leave the
province or to defraud their creditors. '
In the first two months of the non-importation, public
sales of merchandise imported in contravention of the
Association were reported at Annapolis, Chestertown, Pis-
cataway and Calvert County. For example, James Dick
and Anthony Stewart, who were in bad odor for past in-
discretions, were concerned in an importation of Madeira
wines at Annapolis; and the consignment was sold, at their
request, at a profit of ? 1 us. 1d. for the Boston poor. ' In
the months following February 1, 1775, many instances of
effective execution were noted in the newspapers. Thus, to
cite one case that required more than usual skill in its man-
agement, the captain of the brig Sally from Bristol ap-
peared before the Baltimore committee and attested under
oath that his cargo consisted of twenty-four indentured
1 Md. Gaz. , Dec. 15, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1032.
'Ibid. , vol. iii, pp. 117-118.
* Md. Gas. , Dec. 15, 1774. For other instances, vide ibid. , Feb. 23,
Men. 2, June 29, 1775.
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? 506 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
servants and one hundred tons of British salt. Clearly the
bringing in of servants did not violate the Association, and
Dr. John Stevenson, the consignee, maintained to the com-
mittee that the salt ought to be considered merely as ballast
and thus not contrary to the Association. But the commit-
tee voted unanimously that the salt should not be landed.
A week later the captain and the consignee were called be-
fore the committee again and charged with having unladen
a portion of the salt in defiance of the decision of the com-
mittee. Stevenson replied that he had understood the reso-
lution to apply to Baltimore County only and that he had
shipped a quantity on board four bay-craft to various parts
of Maryland and Virginia. Inasmuch as there was a color-
able pretext for this interpretation, the committee decided
not to boycott him upon his pledge to give the proceeds of
the sales to the relief of Boston and not to land the remain-
der of the salt anywhere between Nova Scotia and Georgia.
Word was sent out to various parts of the province to stop
the sale of the salt and to punish all persons guiltily in-
volved. In Prince George's County Thomas Bailey was
discovered to be implicated and, after a hearing, declared
to have wilfully violated the Association. 1
The more usual procedure in cases of forbidden impor-
tation was for the captain to take his vessel away at the
command of the local committee without disturbing the
cargo. 2 A little out of the ordinary was the arrival of a
tomb-stone in Charles County, which had been brought
there from a vessel that had stopped in the Potomac. The
committee ordered that the stone should be broken to
pieces. 8 With regard to non-consumption regulations, some
1 Md. Gas. , Mch. 30, June 15, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, pp.
34, 308.
1 E. g. , vide ibid. , vol. ii, pp. 123, 175-176, 659-660, 1122-1123.
*N. Y. Gas. , July 24, 1775.
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? IN THE PLANTATION PROVINCES 507
difficulty was experienced in preventing the use of tea. In
the instance of one obdurate tea dealer, the committee for
the Upper Part of Frederick County sentenced the offen-
der, one John Parks, to set fire to his tea with head uncov-
ered and then to suffer the rigors of the boycott. Not con-
tent with these measures, the populace derived some satis-
faction from breaking in his door and windows. 1 Usually,
however, offenders acquiesced without trouble.
The supervision of prices received careful attention. In
December, 1774, the Maryland convention noted the wide
range of prices in different parts of the province during the
preceding twelve months, and resolved that all merchants
must observe a uniform rule which the convention an-
nounced: that wholesale prices should not be more than
H2^ per cent, retail prices cash not more than 130 per
cent, and retail prices on credit not more than 150 per
cent, advance on the prime cost. 2 Alexander Ogg, a mer-
chant of Huntington, was found guilty of infringing this
rule by the Calvert County Committee and published as an
enemy to his country. He offered to give store credit for
every farthing he had charged beyond the limit fixed, but
his plea fell on deaf ears. 8
The rigorous observance of the boycott was attested by
the petitions of John Baillie, Patrick Graham and Alexan-
der Ogg to the provincial convention. 4 The first two had
been proscribed for knowingly importing goods forbidden
by the Association, at a public meeting called by the Charles
County committee. Baillie declared that he had suffered
"the extremity of a heavy, though just, sentence" which
14 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1009; also Md. Journ. , Nov. 16, 1774, and
Md. Gas. , Dec. 22.
1 Ibid. , Dec. 15, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1031-1032.
* Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 281; also Md. Gas. , Apr. 13, 1775.
44 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 727; vol. iii, pp. 101, 102, 106, 119-121.
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? 508 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
had been " executed with such rigour that it has been with
the most extreme and hazardous difficulty he could obtain
the necessary food to support a life rendered miserable by
his conduct and the abovementioned sentence;" and he
promised exemplary conduct if his offense were forgiven.
Graham testified that he had " already suffered greatly, not
only in his own person, property and reputation, but should
he continue much longer in the present situation, his offence
must reduce an innocent wife and four children to beggary
and ruin. " Ogg, who had advanced prices unduly, declared
that he had not been able to carry on his business or to
collect the debts due to him. The convention squarely re-
jected Baillie's petition; but Graham and Ogg, because of
mitigating circumstances, were allowed to resume thei1
earlier occupations, the former under some restrictions.
A resolution of the Maryland convention in December
1774, sought to prevent the killing of any lamb under fGUI
years of age. Because the terms of this resolution were
much more severe than the recommendation in the Conti-
nental Association, considerable confusion arose from the
representations of violators that they were entirely in har-
mony with the Continental Association and therefore ought
not to be proscribed. To relieve the situation the resolu-
tion was withdrawn by the Maryland convention in August,
1775-1 The provincial convention of November, 1774,
recommended that balls be discontinued in this time of
public calamity. 2 The Jockey Club at Annapolis called off
the races which had been arranged to conclude the club sub-
scription. 8 In April, 1775, the Baltimore committee unani-
mously recommended to the people of the county not to en-
1 1 Am. f Arch. , vol. i, p. 1031; vol. ii, pp. 308-309, 903-904; vol. iii, pp.
104, 117. "
1 Ibid. , vol. i, p. 991; also Md. Gas. . Dec. 1, 1774.
? Ibid. , Nov. 3, 1774-
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? IN THE PLANTATION PROVINCES 509
courage or attend the approaching fair because of its ten-
dency to encourage horse-racing, gaming, drunkenness and
other dissipation. 1
In view of the abundant evidence, it is scarcely necessary
to quote Governor Eden's words of December 30, 1774, to
the effect that he firmly believed that the Marylanders
would "persevere in their nonimportation and nonexporta-
tion experiments, in spite of every inconvenience that they
must consequently be exposed to, and the total ruin of their
trade. " *
In Virginia the chief dissent to the Association came
from the merchant and factor element, largely Scotch by
nativity. The fact that a majority of the faculty of Wil-
liam and Mary College were non-associators elicited un-
favorable comment from the radical press; * but their op-
position was no more important than that of the small
Quaker element in the population, which Madison noted,4
or of the royal office holding class, since none of these
groups was in position to enforce their views even if they
wanted to.
The opposition of the Scotch was clandestine but none
the less pertinacious. The body of the trade at Williams-
burg, numbering more than four hundred, professed sup-
port of the Association in a written pledge early in Novem-
ber, 1774, and received the thanks of Peyton Randolph and
other delegates of the province for disregarding the influ-
ence of their commercial interest in the great struggle for
liberty. * And the Norfolk committee affirmed on Decem-
1 Md. Gas. , May 4, 1775; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. ii, p. 337.
1 Ibid. , vol. i, p. 1076; also Pa. Eve. Post, June 6, 1775.
? Pinkney's Va. Gas. , Dec. 22, 1774; Jan. 5, 26, 1775.
? Writings (Hunt), vol. i, pp. 28-29.