It was generally
estimated that the stock of goods on hand on December 1,
1774, would suffice without replenishment for two years.
estimated that the stock of goods on hand on December 1,
1774, would suffice without replenishment for two years.
Arthur Schlesinger - Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution
For one, he could not
consent to the Carolinians becoming "dupes to the people
"Journal of the congress in 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1109-1118; Dray-
ton's detailed account of the debates in Drayton, Memoirs, vol. i,
pp. 168-176; brief accounts in S. C. Gas. , Jan. 23, 1775; N. Y. Gas. ,
Feb. 6; and AT. Y. Journ. , Feb. 9.
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? 468 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
of the North. " He even charged "a commercial scheme
among the Flour Colonies" to seize for themselves the
markets which had hitherto been supplied by South Caro-
lina rice via Great Britain. Turning to the indigo group,
he expatiated on the justice and practicability of a scheme
of compensation as a method of equalizing burdens.
The subject was thus complicated by the question of
compensation, and the debate became more general. Among
the principal speakers in opposition to the compensation
plan were Gadsden, Rawlins Lowndes, and the Rev. Wil-
liam Tennent. If the rice exemption must needs be re-
tained, yet, they asked, why should the benefits of compen-
sation be monopolized by the indigo growers alone? ; "it
should afford in justice also relief to the Hemp Grower,
the Lumber Cutter, the Corn Planter, the Makers of Pork
and Butter, &c. " It was said that "this odious distinction
has cruelly convulsed the Colony. " On the other side the
chief speakers were William Henry Drayton, the Rutledges,
and the Lynches, father and son. In this manner the whole
day was consumed, and at sunset a committee was ap-
pointed to formulate a plan of compensation. The report
was made late next morning to an assemblage that had been
waiting impatiently for two hours. All parties united in
voting through the first part of the report, which authorized
the committees of the several parishes and districts to sit
as judges and juries in all matters affecting the collection
of debts. But the details of the plan for compensation
proved unsatisfactory and were rejected.
The debate reverted to the original question of expung-
ing the words, "except rice to Europe," and continued
until dark. "Great heats prevailed and the members were
on the point of falling into downright uproar and con-
fusion. " When the question was at length put by candle-
light, a demand was made that the vote be taken by roll-call
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 469
instead of viva voce; and "by this mode [says Drayton]
some were overawed, either by their diffidence, circum-
stances, or connexions; and to the surprise of the nays,
they themselves carried the point by a majority of twelve
voices--eighty-seven to seventy-five. " A formal endorse-
ment of the Continental Association was then voted. A
day or so later the members succeeded in agreeing upon a
plan of compensation and exchange, in which the benefits
of the arrangement were extended far beyond the original
intention of relief for the indigo growers exclusively.
After the tenth of September the rice planters were to de-
liver to designated committees one-third of their crop and
receive, at a stated rate of exchange, not more than one-
third of certain other commodities produced in the prov-
ince, such as indigo, hemp, lumber, corn and pork.
Before adjourning, the provincial congress took the pre-
caution of appointing committees in each parish and dis-
trict to carry into effect the Continental Association; and
in every case members of congress composed a majority of
the committee. 1 In this way, according to Drayton, no
time was lost " in giving a complete appearance to the body
politic and the greatest energy to their operations. " Future
vacancies in the committees were to be filled by the inhabi-
tants of the parishes and districts. South Carolina was thus
equipped with a well-solidified extra-legal organization,
invigorated by an interested public opinion.
The province of Georgia had been unrepresented in the
Continental Congress, although the zealous radicals of St.
John's Parish, assisted by some congenial spirits at Savan-
nah in Christ Church Parish, had employed their utmost
endeavors to bring the province into line. From some
points of view, prospects for radical action were brighter
1 For the names of the members of these committees, vide 4 Am-
Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1113-1114.
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? 47o THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
in the months following the Continental Congress, inas-
much as the threatened Indian war had failed to materialize
and as rice, one of the staples of the province, had been
given a favored position in the Continental Association.
In other respects, the situation was more complicated be-
cause of a division among the radicals themselves as to the
question of tactics. Some of them insisted that the prov-
ince should be induced to accept the Continental Associa-
tion in the form in which it was issued by Congress; others
believed that a bid should be made for mercantile support
by further postponing the time at which the non-importation
and non-exportation regulations were to become effective.
The extremists of St. John's Parish were uncompromising
advocates of the former course and they hastened to adopt
the Association in toto on December 1. 1 The radicals at
Savannah and the radical members of the Assembly were
inclined to the more conciliatory course.
"Since the Carolina Deputies have returned from the
Continental Congress . . . , every means possible have been
used to raise a flame again in this Province," wrote Gov-
ernor Wright on December 13, 1774-2 The first step in the
direction of provincial action was taken by the Savannah
radicals on December 3, when a call was issued for a pro-
vincial congress to assemble on January 18, 1775. * At the
time appointed, delegates appeared from only five of the
twelve parishes and districts to which the radicals had par-
ticularly written, and some of these were under injunc-
tions as to the form of the Association which should be
adopted. 4 It would appear, also, that, with the exception
1 A convention of the District of Darien did the same on Jan. 12,
1775. 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1135-1136.
1 Ibid. , vol. i, p. 1040.
1 Ga. Gas. , Dec. 7, 1774; also Pa. Gas. , Dec. 28.
4 This account of the Georgia congress and the meeting of the
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
471
of St. John's Parish, small radical minorities had carried
through the election of delegates. 1 Furthermore, the dele-
gation from St. John's Parish, headed by Dr. Lyman Hall,
although present in Savannah, refused to take part in the
congress because of the known intention of that body to
deviate from the Continental Association, which the men
of St. John's had adopted verbatim.
Under these circumstances the members of the congress
found themselves in a dilemma. Representing a small and
amorphous minority of the people and estranged for the
time being from the ultra-radicals of St. John's, they did
not dare to represent their action as the voice of the prov-
ince; on the other hand, they did not wish the endorsement
of the Continental Congress to fail by default. They de-
cided therefore to take advantage of an opportunity
afforded by the presence of the Assembly in town. That
body had already given indications of its friendliness when
it had laid on the table without comment two petitions
signed by a number of " principal people," condemning the
measures of the northern provinces, and when it had
adopted the declaration of rights and grievances of the
Continental Congress. The plan was that the provincial
congress should formulate a course of action with reference
to the Association and then present its conclusions to the
House of Assembly, which would adopt them in a few
minutes before the governor could interfere by means of
dissolution.
Upon this understanding, the members of the congress
Assembly is based on various contemporary narratives, friendly and
unfriendly, in 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1156-1163; vol. ii, pp. 279-281;
and Pa. Journ. , Mch. 8, 1775.
1 Thus, it was alleged that 36 men had acted in St. Andrew's Par-
ish, which contained at least 800 men of military age; and that eighty
men hml done the work in St. Paul's, a parish of equal size.
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? 472
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
now proceeded. Ignoring the insistent messages trans-
mitted from time to time by the St. John's delegation that
the Association be ratified verbatim, they adopted it with
modifications, the most important of which postponed the
beginning of non-importation from December 1, 1774, to
March 15, 1775, and exempted goods necessary for the
Indian trade from its operation, and provided that non-
exportation should start on December 1, 1775, instead of
September 10, 1775. These changes were made on the plea
of allowing the Georgia merchants approximately the same
time for arranging their business for the suspension of
trade that the merchants of other provinces had enjoyed.
The congress also chose three inhabitants of Savannah as
delegates to the Second Continental Congress. These mat-
ters were now ready to be presented to the House of
Assembly for ratification "when the Governour, either
treacherously informed, or shrewdly suspecting the step,
put an end to the session. " The members of the provincial
congress made the most of a bad situation by issuing their
Association on January 23, with their signatures attached,
and pledging their constituents to its execution.
Thus the effort to unite the province in radical measures
with the other provinces proved a failure. The delegates
chosen to the Second Continental Congress refused to serve
in that capacity on the ground that they were not in position
to pledge the people of Georgia to the execution of any
measure whatsoever. The radicals in general awaited the
action which the Second Congress would take in the cir-
cumstances. The committee of St. John's Parish, unbend-
1ng in their self-sufficiency, began to cast about for some
way of escaping the boycott, which threatened them, as
well as the rest of the province, under Article xiv of the
Continental Association.
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? CHAPTER XII
FIVE MONTHS OF THE ASSOCIATION IN THE COMMERCIAL
PROVINCES (DECEMBER, 1774-APRIL, 1775)
IN studying the actual workings of the Association two
important considerations should be borne in mind. Warned
by the trend of public discussion in the months preceding
the adoption of the Association, and allowed several weeks
of open importation by the provisions of the Association,
the merchants had an opportunity to provide against future
scarcity by importing much greater quantities of merchan-
dise than customary. Richard Oswald quoted a British
exporter as saying that in July, 1774, an extraordinarily
brisk export trade set up, which swept the warehouses for
American goods clean and advanced the price of many
articles from ten to fifteen per cent. 1 Other evidences of
the inflated conditions of exportation to America are abun-
dant. Wrote a London merchant to his New York corres-
pondent on July 29, 1774: "The peqple of Philadelphia
have encreased their orders triply this fall; from whence I
am persuaded they mean to have a Non-Importation Agree-
ment. " 2 "I hear the merchants are sending for double
the quantity of goods they usually import," wrote Governor
Gage in August, "and in order to get credit for them, are
sending home all the money they can collect, insomuch that
bills have risen at New-York above five per cent. " * "So
1 Stevens, Facsimiles, vol. xxiv, no. 2037, p. 14.
1N. Y. Gasetteer, Sept. 22, 1274. Vide also Pa. Journ. , Aug. 24.
* 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 742-743.
473
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? 474 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
great has been the exportation to America, particularly to
New-England, for these six weeks past," wrote a London
correspondent in the same month, "that it is the opinion
of some Merchants conversant with American Trade that, if
the Colonies do agree in a non-importation scheme, it will
hardly be felt by our Manufacturers for six months or a
year. " 1 The Boston Committee of Correspondence enter-
tained the same general view of the situation. "We learn
by private papers from England," they wrote on September
7, "that prodigious quantities of goods are now shipping
for the Colony of Rhode Island, New York and Philadel-
phia. " 2
A? ft resMlt of the jn1yment^H impnrtafor1 info America
prior to the time that the Association went into effect, the
cgnditions__of_Hfe_under the non-impoTtat1on j"ggulation
were greatly apiplinrat. gH for the colonists.
It was generally
estimated that the stock of goods on hand on December 1,
1774, would suffice without replenishment for two years. 5
1N. Y. Gas. , Sept. 26, 1774.
1 ; Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 784. Dr. Samuel Cooper wrote to John Adams
in similar strain in October. Ibid. , p. 878. Vide also N. Y. Journ. ,
Sept. 29, 1774; AT. C. Col. Recs. , vol. i'x, p. 1093. A convention of
several Connecticut counties and a meeting of the town of Pomfret
protested against the flood of goods which was pouring into Connecticut
from New York. Conn. Cour. , Sept. 19, 1774; Bos. Com. Cor. Papers,
vol. ii, pp. 217-218, 307-310. A comparison of the imports from England
during the years 1773 and 1774 confirms these statements, although it is
only fair to note that the former year was an off year, due to the
excessive importations of 1771 and 1772 following the breakdown of
the earlier non-importation agreement. English importations into
New York increased from ? 289,214 in 1773 to ? 437,937 in 1774; into
Pennsylvania from ? 426,448 to ? 625,652; into Maryland and Virginia
from ? 328,904 to ? 528,738. There was a slighter increase in the case
of New England and the Carolinas--from ? 527,055 to ? 562476 in case
of the former, and from ? 344,859 to ? 378,116 in case of the latter.
Georgia showed a decrease. Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, vol.
"i, pp. 549-550, 564.
1? . g. , vide 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1740. "A Friend of Liberty"
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES 475
This was something of an overestimate, however. This
supply of merchandise rendered the enforcement of the
non-importation during the first twelvemonth easier than
it would otherwise have been, for the merchants who had
laid in goods were not easily tempted to defy the regula-
tions of Congress and the committees. On the other hand,
the utility of the Association as an instrument of coercion
was not materially lessened by the advance importations.
The great consignments of British wares had to reach
America before December 1, 1774, or, at the most, not
later than February 1, 1775; and thereafter British mer-
cantile houses and manufactories became idle so far as
American business was concerned. They were threatened
with dull times and industrial depression at a time when
their capital was more largely than usual tied up in Amer-
ican ventures.
The second consideration to be kept in mind in examin-
ing the Association in operation is that, after the non-
importation regulation had been in force for four and a
half months, events occurred which changed the whole face
of public affairs and rapidly converted the Association from
a mode of peaceful pressure into a war measure. The
action of the " embattled farmers " at Lexington and Con-
cord and the military operations that followed showed the
radicals that the Association as a method of redress had
suddenly become antiquated and that it must be altered, if
not altogether abandoned, to meet the greatly changed
conditions. This realization was at once acted upon by
local committees and by Congress; and by the middle of
averred that this was the understanding upon which the colonists had
associated. Pinkney's Va. Gas. , Feb. 2, 1775. Alexander Hamilton be-
lieved that the merchants' stocks would be exhausted in eighteen
months, but that with the clothes which the people already possessed
imported articles would be in use for three years. "The Farmer Re-
futed," Hamilton, Works (Lodge), vol. i, p. 151.
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? 476
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
1775 the Continental Association was rapidly losing its
original character. The military purposes to which the
machinery of the Association was turned became increas-
ingly important, so that by September 10, 1775, when the
non-exportation was to begin, the character of that measure
had also to be changed. Thus, the bold experiment, in-
augurated by the First Congress -- to establish the several
self-denying regulations of the Association through the
mobilizing of public opinion--was brought to a premature
close by the call to arms.
Certain generalizations may be made with reference to
the workings of the Association before taking up the prac
tice of the provinces separately, [in Massachusetts, where
the war fever was high, and, to a lesser extent, in the
neighboring provinces, the committees and conventions felt
called upon to concern themselves with military preparations
even before the outbreak of warj Every province without
exception availed itself of the suggestion made in the Asso-
ciation that such further regulations should be established
by the provincial conventions and committees as might be
deemed proper to enforce the Association. Non-importa-
tion and sumptuary regulations occupied the entire attention
in the period before the opening of hostilities, save for the
non-exportation of sheep, inasmuch as the general non-
exportation was not to become effective until September 10,
1775. For the present, the period of enforcement prior to
the outbreak of war will be considered.
Almost the first collective action taken in Massachusetts
to strengthen the Continental Association locally was an
agreement, signed by forty-one blacksmiths of Worcester
County on November 8, 1774, that they would refuse their
work to all persons who did not strictly conform to the
Association. They agreed further that they would not
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
477
perform any kind of work, after December 1, for persons
of Tory leanings, particularly Timothy Ruggles of Hard-
wick, John Murray of Rutland, James Putnam of Worces-
ter, their employees and dependents. 1 By this latter re-
solve hung a tale, for Timothy Ruggles and his friends,
with the active co-operation of Governor Gage, were seek-
ing to promote a loyalist association for the purpose of de-
feating the Continental Association. By the terms of this
association the subscribers pledged themselves to defend,
with lives and fortune, their "life, liberty and property"
and their "undoubted right to liberty in eating, drinking,
buying, selling, communing, and acting . . . consistent
with the laws of God and the King. " "When the person
or property of any of us shall be invaded or threatened by
Committees, mobs, or unlawful assemblies," said one por-
tion of the paper, "the others of us will, upon notice re-
ceived, forthwith repair, properly armed, to the person on
whom . . . such invasion or threatening shall be, and will
to the utmost of our power, defend such person and his
property, and, if need be, will oppose and repel force with
force. "1
This brave pledge of opposition failed to win signers, for
the reason that every signer of the paper at once exposed
himself to the swift wrath of the radicals. The provincial
congress on December 9 recommended to the committees of
correspondence to give " the earliest notice to the publick
of all such combinations, and of the persons signing the
same, . . . that their names may be published to the world,
their persons treated with that neglect, and their memories
transmitted to posterity with that ignominy which such un-
1 Bos. Go*. , Nov. 28, 1774.
tMass. Gas. & Post-Boy, Dec. 26, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i,
pp. 1057-1058.
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? 478 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
natural conduct must deserve. " 1 It was under influence of
this resolution that, a few weeks later, a mob of people at
Wrentham coerced five loyalists to plead, with heads un-
covered, the forgiveness of Heaven, and to pledge unde-
viating adherence to the Continental Association. 2 Marsh-
field was the only town where as many as one hundred and
fifty men signed the loyalist association, and the associators
discreetly sent a hurry-call fo Gage for troops for their
protection. 8 Gage complained that the "considerable
people" of Boston were "more shy of making open dec-
larations," notwithstanding that they were in a fortified
town, than the people in the country. 4 The failure of the
loyalist association way fl"* tn fhp . ^pyrW nr^n\7f^nn of
f*lg radJTalg rattlfT than tn ]prl o. f support f^T it.
The provincial congress, meeting in late November and
early December, 1774, passed a number of resolutions to
supplement and strengthen several portions of the Conti-
nental Association. They also recommended that the min-
isters of the gospel throughout the province instruct their
congregations to cleave to the Association; and in a fervent
address directly to the inhabitants of the province they
urged the organization of minute-men as a protection
against Gage's troops who would certainly be employed to
defeat the Association. 6
There was unmistakable evidence that the non-importa-
tion regulation was strictly enforced. In accordance with
Article x, importers of merchandise which arrived between
December 1, 1774, and February 1, 1775, were given the
1 Bos. Gas. , Dec. 19, 1774; . also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1004. Vide
also the resolution of April 12, 1775; ibid. , pp. 1360-1361.
1 N. Y. Ga*. , Jan. 23, 1775.
84 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1177-1178. 1249-1251.
4 Ibid. , vol. i, p. 1634; vide also ibid pp. 1046-1047.
6 Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1000, 1005-1006.
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES 479
choice of immediately re-shipping the goods, storing the
goods with the local committee, or having them auctioned
off under direction of the committee. In the last case, the
owner was reimbursed to the extent of his actual invest-
ment and the profits were devoted to the uses of the Boston
needy. The provincial congress provided that such sales
must be advertised in the Boston and Salem papers at least
ten days in advance, and that the goods should be sold to
the highest bidder. 1 The newspapers related many in-
stances of each course of procedure; and even the loyalist
writings did not seek to represent otherwise. The chief
centers of activity were Marblehead, Salem and Plymouth.
Many, perhaps most, importers preferred to offer their
goods at committee auction than to tie up their capital for
an indefinite period by storing the goods--a choice which,
by the way, afforded them an opportunity to buy back their
own goods.
As an example of such sales, the committee of inspection
at Marblehead offered at auction on December 26 such part
of the cargo of the London ship Champion as had then
been delivered to the committee, consisting of Russia duck,
osnaburgs, ticklinburgs, baizes, hemp, linens, hats, books,
women's hose, nails, needles, calicoes, velvets and medi-
cines to the value of ? 2410 sterling; and also the entire
cargo of the Falmouth brigantine Polly, consisting of
lemons, wines, raisins and figs.
consent to the Carolinians becoming "dupes to the people
"Journal of the congress in 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1109-1118; Dray-
ton's detailed account of the debates in Drayton, Memoirs, vol. i,
pp. 168-176; brief accounts in S. C. Gas. , Jan. 23, 1775; N. Y. Gas. ,
Feb. 6; and AT. Y. Journ. , Feb. 9.
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? 468 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
of the North. " He even charged "a commercial scheme
among the Flour Colonies" to seize for themselves the
markets which had hitherto been supplied by South Caro-
lina rice via Great Britain. Turning to the indigo group,
he expatiated on the justice and practicability of a scheme
of compensation as a method of equalizing burdens.
The subject was thus complicated by the question of
compensation, and the debate became more general. Among
the principal speakers in opposition to the compensation
plan were Gadsden, Rawlins Lowndes, and the Rev. Wil-
liam Tennent. If the rice exemption must needs be re-
tained, yet, they asked, why should the benefits of compen-
sation be monopolized by the indigo growers alone? ; "it
should afford in justice also relief to the Hemp Grower,
the Lumber Cutter, the Corn Planter, the Makers of Pork
and Butter, &c. " It was said that "this odious distinction
has cruelly convulsed the Colony. " On the other side the
chief speakers were William Henry Drayton, the Rutledges,
and the Lynches, father and son. In this manner the whole
day was consumed, and at sunset a committee was ap-
pointed to formulate a plan of compensation. The report
was made late next morning to an assemblage that had been
waiting impatiently for two hours. All parties united in
voting through the first part of the report, which authorized
the committees of the several parishes and districts to sit
as judges and juries in all matters affecting the collection
of debts. But the details of the plan for compensation
proved unsatisfactory and were rejected.
The debate reverted to the original question of expung-
ing the words, "except rice to Europe," and continued
until dark. "Great heats prevailed and the members were
on the point of falling into downright uproar and con-
fusion. " When the question was at length put by candle-
light, a demand was made that the vote be taken by roll-call
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 469
instead of viva voce; and "by this mode [says Drayton]
some were overawed, either by their diffidence, circum-
stances, or connexions; and to the surprise of the nays,
they themselves carried the point by a majority of twelve
voices--eighty-seven to seventy-five. " A formal endorse-
ment of the Continental Association was then voted. A
day or so later the members succeeded in agreeing upon a
plan of compensation and exchange, in which the benefits
of the arrangement were extended far beyond the original
intention of relief for the indigo growers exclusively.
After the tenth of September the rice planters were to de-
liver to designated committees one-third of their crop and
receive, at a stated rate of exchange, not more than one-
third of certain other commodities produced in the prov-
ince, such as indigo, hemp, lumber, corn and pork.
Before adjourning, the provincial congress took the pre-
caution of appointing committees in each parish and dis-
trict to carry into effect the Continental Association; and
in every case members of congress composed a majority of
the committee. 1 In this way, according to Drayton, no
time was lost " in giving a complete appearance to the body
politic and the greatest energy to their operations. " Future
vacancies in the committees were to be filled by the inhabi-
tants of the parishes and districts. South Carolina was thus
equipped with a well-solidified extra-legal organization,
invigorated by an interested public opinion.
The province of Georgia had been unrepresented in the
Continental Congress, although the zealous radicals of St.
John's Parish, assisted by some congenial spirits at Savan-
nah in Christ Church Parish, had employed their utmost
endeavors to bring the province into line. From some
points of view, prospects for radical action were brighter
1 For the names of the members of these committees, vide 4 Am-
Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1113-1114.
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? 47o THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
in the months following the Continental Congress, inas-
much as the threatened Indian war had failed to materialize
and as rice, one of the staples of the province, had been
given a favored position in the Continental Association.
In other respects, the situation was more complicated be-
cause of a division among the radicals themselves as to the
question of tactics. Some of them insisted that the prov-
ince should be induced to accept the Continental Associa-
tion in the form in which it was issued by Congress; others
believed that a bid should be made for mercantile support
by further postponing the time at which the non-importation
and non-exportation regulations were to become effective.
The extremists of St. John's Parish were uncompromising
advocates of the former course and they hastened to adopt
the Association in toto on December 1. 1 The radicals at
Savannah and the radical members of the Assembly were
inclined to the more conciliatory course.
"Since the Carolina Deputies have returned from the
Continental Congress . . . , every means possible have been
used to raise a flame again in this Province," wrote Gov-
ernor Wright on December 13, 1774-2 The first step in the
direction of provincial action was taken by the Savannah
radicals on December 3, when a call was issued for a pro-
vincial congress to assemble on January 18, 1775. * At the
time appointed, delegates appeared from only five of the
twelve parishes and districts to which the radicals had par-
ticularly written, and some of these were under injunc-
tions as to the form of the Association which should be
adopted. 4 It would appear, also, that, with the exception
1 A convention of the District of Darien did the same on Jan. 12,
1775. 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1135-1136.
1 Ibid. , vol. i, p. 1040.
1 Ga. Gas. , Dec. 7, 1774; also Pa. Gas. , Dec. 28.
4 This account of the Georgia congress and the meeting of the
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? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION
471
of St. John's Parish, small radical minorities had carried
through the election of delegates. 1 Furthermore, the dele-
gation from St. John's Parish, headed by Dr. Lyman Hall,
although present in Savannah, refused to take part in the
congress because of the known intention of that body to
deviate from the Continental Association, which the men
of St. John's had adopted verbatim.
Under these circumstances the members of the congress
found themselves in a dilemma. Representing a small and
amorphous minority of the people and estranged for the
time being from the ultra-radicals of St. John's, they did
not dare to represent their action as the voice of the prov-
ince; on the other hand, they did not wish the endorsement
of the Continental Congress to fail by default. They de-
cided therefore to take advantage of an opportunity
afforded by the presence of the Assembly in town. That
body had already given indications of its friendliness when
it had laid on the table without comment two petitions
signed by a number of " principal people," condemning the
measures of the northern provinces, and when it had
adopted the declaration of rights and grievances of the
Continental Congress. The plan was that the provincial
congress should formulate a course of action with reference
to the Association and then present its conclusions to the
House of Assembly, which would adopt them in a few
minutes before the governor could interfere by means of
dissolution.
Upon this understanding, the members of the congress
Assembly is based on various contemporary narratives, friendly and
unfriendly, in 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1156-1163; vol. ii, pp. 279-281;
and Pa. Journ. , Mch. 8, 1775.
1 Thus, it was alleged that 36 men had acted in St. Andrew's Par-
ish, which contained at least 800 men of military age; and that eighty
men hml done the work in St. Paul's, a parish of equal size.
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? 472
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
now proceeded. Ignoring the insistent messages trans-
mitted from time to time by the St. John's delegation that
the Association be ratified verbatim, they adopted it with
modifications, the most important of which postponed the
beginning of non-importation from December 1, 1774, to
March 15, 1775, and exempted goods necessary for the
Indian trade from its operation, and provided that non-
exportation should start on December 1, 1775, instead of
September 10, 1775. These changes were made on the plea
of allowing the Georgia merchants approximately the same
time for arranging their business for the suspension of
trade that the merchants of other provinces had enjoyed.
The congress also chose three inhabitants of Savannah as
delegates to the Second Continental Congress. These mat-
ters were now ready to be presented to the House of
Assembly for ratification "when the Governour, either
treacherously informed, or shrewdly suspecting the step,
put an end to the session. " The members of the provincial
congress made the most of a bad situation by issuing their
Association on January 23, with their signatures attached,
and pledging their constituents to its execution.
Thus the effort to unite the province in radical measures
with the other provinces proved a failure. The delegates
chosen to the Second Continental Congress refused to serve
in that capacity on the ground that they were not in position
to pledge the people of Georgia to the execution of any
measure whatsoever. The radicals in general awaited the
action which the Second Congress would take in the cir-
cumstances. The committee of St. John's Parish, unbend-
1ng in their self-sufficiency, began to cast about for some
way of escaping the boycott, which threatened them, as
well as the rest of the province, under Article xiv of the
Continental Association.
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? CHAPTER XII
FIVE MONTHS OF THE ASSOCIATION IN THE COMMERCIAL
PROVINCES (DECEMBER, 1774-APRIL, 1775)
IN studying the actual workings of the Association two
important considerations should be borne in mind. Warned
by the trend of public discussion in the months preceding
the adoption of the Association, and allowed several weeks
of open importation by the provisions of the Association,
the merchants had an opportunity to provide against future
scarcity by importing much greater quantities of merchan-
dise than customary. Richard Oswald quoted a British
exporter as saying that in July, 1774, an extraordinarily
brisk export trade set up, which swept the warehouses for
American goods clean and advanced the price of many
articles from ten to fifteen per cent. 1 Other evidences of
the inflated conditions of exportation to America are abun-
dant. Wrote a London merchant to his New York corres-
pondent on July 29, 1774: "The peqple of Philadelphia
have encreased their orders triply this fall; from whence I
am persuaded they mean to have a Non-Importation Agree-
ment. " 2 "I hear the merchants are sending for double
the quantity of goods they usually import," wrote Governor
Gage in August, "and in order to get credit for them, are
sending home all the money they can collect, insomuch that
bills have risen at New-York above five per cent. " * "So
1 Stevens, Facsimiles, vol. xxiv, no. 2037, p. 14.
1N. Y. Gasetteer, Sept. 22, 1274. Vide also Pa. Journ. , Aug. 24.
* 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 742-743.
473
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? 474 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
great has been the exportation to America, particularly to
New-England, for these six weeks past," wrote a London
correspondent in the same month, "that it is the opinion
of some Merchants conversant with American Trade that, if
the Colonies do agree in a non-importation scheme, it will
hardly be felt by our Manufacturers for six months or a
year. " 1 The Boston Committee of Correspondence enter-
tained the same general view of the situation. "We learn
by private papers from England," they wrote on September
7, "that prodigious quantities of goods are now shipping
for the Colony of Rhode Island, New York and Philadel-
phia. " 2
A? ft resMlt of the jn1yment^H impnrtafor1 info America
prior to the time that the Association went into effect, the
cgnditions__of_Hfe_under the non-impoTtat1on j"ggulation
were greatly apiplinrat. gH for the colonists.
It was generally
estimated that the stock of goods on hand on December 1,
1774, would suffice without replenishment for two years. 5
1N. Y. Gas. , Sept. 26, 1774.
1 ; Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 784. Dr. Samuel Cooper wrote to John Adams
in similar strain in October. Ibid. , p. 878. Vide also N. Y. Journ. ,
Sept. 29, 1774; AT. C. Col. Recs. , vol. i'x, p. 1093. A convention of
several Connecticut counties and a meeting of the town of Pomfret
protested against the flood of goods which was pouring into Connecticut
from New York. Conn. Cour. , Sept. 19, 1774; Bos. Com. Cor. Papers,
vol. ii, pp. 217-218, 307-310. A comparison of the imports from England
during the years 1773 and 1774 confirms these statements, although it is
only fair to note that the former year was an off year, due to the
excessive importations of 1771 and 1772 following the breakdown of
the earlier non-importation agreement. English importations into
New York increased from ? 289,214 in 1773 to ? 437,937 in 1774; into
Pennsylvania from ? 426,448 to ? 625,652; into Maryland and Virginia
from ? 328,904 to ? 528,738. There was a slighter increase in the case
of New England and the Carolinas--from ? 527,055 to ? 562476 in case
of the former, and from ? 344,859 to ? 378,116 in case of the latter.
Georgia showed a decrease. Macpherson, Annals of Commerce, vol.
"i, pp. 549-550, 564.
1? . g. , vide 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1740. "A Friend of Liberty"
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES 475
This was something of an overestimate, however. This
supply of merchandise rendered the enforcement of the
non-importation during the first twelvemonth easier than
it would otherwise have been, for the merchants who had
laid in goods were not easily tempted to defy the regula-
tions of Congress and the committees. On the other hand,
the utility of the Association as an instrument of coercion
was not materially lessened by the advance importations.
The great consignments of British wares had to reach
America before December 1, 1774, or, at the most, not
later than February 1, 1775; and thereafter British mer-
cantile houses and manufactories became idle so far as
American business was concerned. They were threatened
with dull times and industrial depression at a time when
their capital was more largely than usual tied up in Amer-
ican ventures.
The second consideration to be kept in mind in examin-
ing the Association in operation is that, after the non-
importation regulation had been in force for four and a
half months, events occurred which changed the whole face
of public affairs and rapidly converted the Association from
a mode of peaceful pressure into a war measure. The
action of the " embattled farmers " at Lexington and Con-
cord and the military operations that followed showed the
radicals that the Association as a method of redress had
suddenly become antiquated and that it must be altered, if
not altogether abandoned, to meet the greatly changed
conditions. This realization was at once acted upon by
local committees and by Congress; and by the middle of
averred that this was the understanding upon which the colonists had
associated. Pinkney's Va. Gas. , Feb. 2, 1775. Alexander Hamilton be-
lieved that the merchants' stocks would be exhausted in eighteen
months, but that with the clothes which the people already possessed
imported articles would be in use for three years. "The Farmer Re-
futed," Hamilton, Works (Lodge), vol. i, p. 151.
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? 476
THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
1775 the Continental Association was rapidly losing its
original character. The military purposes to which the
machinery of the Association was turned became increas-
ingly important, so that by September 10, 1775, when the
non-exportation was to begin, the character of that measure
had also to be changed. Thus, the bold experiment, in-
augurated by the First Congress -- to establish the several
self-denying regulations of the Association through the
mobilizing of public opinion--was brought to a premature
close by the call to arms.
Certain generalizations may be made with reference to
the workings of the Association before taking up the prac
tice of the provinces separately, [in Massachusetts, where
the war fever was high, and, to a lesser extent, in the
neighboring provinces, the committees and conventions felt
called upon to concern themselves with military preparations
even before the outbreak of warj Every province without
exception availed itself of the suggestion made in the Asso-
ciation that such further regulations should be established
by the provincial conventions and committees as might be
deemed proper to enforce the Association. Non-importa-
tion and sumptuary regulations occupied the entire attention
in the period before the opening of hostilities, save for the
non-exportation of sheep, inasmuch as the general non-
exportation was not to become effective until September 10,
1775. For the present, the period of enforcement prior to
the outbreak of war will be considered.
Almost the first collective action taken in Massachusetts
to strengthen the Continental Association locally was an
agreement, signed by forty-one blacksmiths of Worcester
County on November 8, 1774, that they would refuse their
work to all persons who did not strictly conform to the
Association. They agreed further that they would not
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES
477
perform any kind of work, after December 1, for persons
of Tory leanings, particularly Timothy Ruggles of Hard-
wick, John Murray of Rutland, James Putnam of Worces-
ter, their employees and dependents. 1 By this latter re-
solve hung a tale, for Timothy Ruggles and his friends,
with the active co-operation of Governor Gage, were seek-
ing to promote a loyalist association for the purpose of de-
feating the Continental Association. By the terms of this
association the subscribers pledged themselves to defend,
with lives and fortune, their "life, liberty and property"
and their "undoubted right to liberty in eating, drinking,
buying, selling, communing, and acting . . . consistent
with the laws of God and the King. " "When the person
or property of any of us shall be invaded or threatened by
Committees, mobs, or unlawful assemblies," said one por-
tion of the paper, "the others of us will, upon notice re-
ceived, forthwith repair, properly armed, to the person on
whom . . . such invasion or threatening shall be, and will
to the utmost of our power, defend such person and his
property, and, if need be, will oppose and repel force with
force. "1
This brave pledge of opposition failed to win signers, for
the reason that every signer of the paper at once exposed
himself to the swift wrath of the radicals. The provincial
congress on December 9 recommended to the committees of
correspondence to give " the earliest notice to the publick
of all such combinations, and of the persons signing the
same, . . . that their names may be published to the world,
their persons treated with that neglect, and their memories
transmitted to posterity with that ignominy which such un-
1 Bos. Go*. , Nov. 28, 1774.
tMass. Gas. & Post-Boy, Dec. 26, 1774; also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i,
pp. 1057-1058.
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? 478 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
natural conduct must deserve. " 1 It was under influence of
this resolution that, a few weeks later, a mob of people at
Wrentham coerced five loyalists to plead, with heads un-
covered, the forgiveness of Heaven, and to pledge unde-
viating adherence to the Continental Association. 2 Marsh-
field was the only town where as many as one hundred and
fifty men signed the loyalist association, and the associators
discreetly sent a hurry-call fo Gage for troops for their
protection. 8 Gage complained that the "considerable
people" of Boston were "more shy of making open dec-
larations," notwithstanding that they were in a fortified
town, than the people in the country. 4 The failure of the
loyalist association way fl"* tn fhp . ^pyrW nr^n\7f^nn of
f*lg radJTalg rattlfT than tn ]prl o. f support f^T it.
The provincial congress, meeting in late November and
early December, 1774, passed a number of resolutions to
supplement and strengthen several portions of the Conti-
nental Association. They also recommended that the min-
isters of the gospel throughout the province instruct their
congregations to cleave to the Association; and in a fervent
address directly to the inhabitants of the province they
urged the organization of minute-men as a protection
against Gage's troops who would certainly be employed to
defeat the Association. 6
There was unmistakable evidence that the non-importa-
tion regulation was strictly enforced. In accordance with
Article x, importers of merchandise which arrived between
December 1, 1774, and February 1, 1775, were given the
1 Bos. Gas. , Dec. 19, 1774; . also 4 Am. Arch. , vol. i, p. 1004. Vide
also the resolution of April 12, 1775; ibid. , pp. 1360-1361.
1 N. Y. Ga*. , Jan. 23, 1775.
84 Am. Arch. , vol. i, pp. 1177-1178. 1249-1251.
4 Ibid. , vol. i, p. 1634; vide also ibid pp. 1046-1047.
6 Ibid. , vol. i, pp. 1000, 1005-1006.
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? IN THE COMMERCIAL PROVINCES 479
choice of immediately re-shipping the goods, storing the
goods with the local committee, or having them auctioned
off under direction of the committee. In the last case, the
owner was reimbursed to the extent of his actual invest-
ment and the profits were devoted to the uses of the Boston
needy. The provincial congress provided that such sales
must be advertised in the Boston and Salem papers at least
ten days in advance, and that the goods should be sold to
the highest bidder. 1 The newspapers related many in-
stances of each course of procedure; and even the loyalist
writings did not seek to represent otherwise. The chief
centers of activity were Marblehead, Salem and Plymouth.
Many, perhaps most, importers preferred to offer their
goods at committee auction than to tie up their capital for
an indefinite period by storing the goods--a choice which,
by the way, afforded them an opportunity to buy back their
own goods.
As an example of such sales, the committee of inspection
at Marblehead offered at auction on December 26 such part
of the cargo of the London ship Champion as had then
been delivered to the committee, consisting of Russia duck,
osnaburgs, ticklinburgs, baizes, hemp, linens, hats, books,
women's hose, nails, needles, calicoes, velvets and medi-
cines to the value of ? 2410 sterling; and also the entire
cargo of the Falmouth brigantine Polly, consisting of
lemons, wines, raisins and figs.
