No More Learning

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.
? ? 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
? 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. , vol. ix, pp. 1157, 1160-1164.
"Ibid. , vol. ix, p. I23&
4 There were more delegates, however, than Assemblymen.
* Ibid. , vol. ix, pp. 1187, 1190-1196.
? ? 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
? 464 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763. 1776
ceptions, signed their names to it. 1 The situation became
intolerable to Governor Martin when, on Friday, the sev-
enth, the House presented an address in defense of the con-
vention and the committees and voted approval of the
Association. 2 On the following day he dissolved the As-
sembly. Although not as thoroughly organized as many
other provinces, North Carolina was in position to carry
through the Association, since the burden of enforcement
rested with the tidewater communities where committees
were in existence.
In South Carolina the General Committee at Charleston
took the initiative in bringing about a ratification of the
Association. The situation presented some peculiar diffi-
culties because of the partiality shown to the rice planters
in the non-exportation regulation of the Association.
Ultra-radicals like Gadsden did not like the appearance of
a sales-price attached to South Carolina patriotism, and
they resolved to ratify the Association with the proviso
that the rice exemption be stricken out. On the other hand,
the indigo interests saw no reason why the welfare of the
rice planters should be safeguarded by the Association and
their own, equally meritorious, ignored.
The General Committee sought to disarm both elements
of opposition by the course it adopted. On November 9,
1774, a call was sent out for a provincial congress to meet
at Charleston on Wednesday, January 11, for the purpose
of acting on the Continental Association and choosing a
new committee. 11 The committee then proceeded to have
copies of the Association (of which they signified their high
1 N. C. Col. Recs. , vol. ix, pp. 1180-1182, 1184-1185.
1 Ibid. , vol. ix, pp. 1198-1205. The North Carolina provincial congress,
which assembled on Aug. 20, 1775, voted a formal acceptance of the
Association on the twenty-third. Ibid. , vol. x, p. 171.
? 5. C. Gas. , Nov. 21, 1774-
? ? 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
? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 465
approval) distributed to the members in the various parts
of the province; and with this document they also sent
copies of a justification which the South Carolina delegates
in the Continental Congress had drawn up to explain their
course there. 1 This latter paper was a shrewd piece of
writing. It endeavored to show, on the one hand, that the
apparent discrimination in the Association in favor of
South Carolina served, in fact, only to place the province
on a basis of equality with the other provinces, and that
therefore any charge of commercialized patriotism was
ill-founded. 2 The larger part of the document was spent
in an effort to convince the indigo growers that the rice
planters had no desire to take unfair advantage of them.
Three reasons were offered why rice had been permitted to
be exported by Congress instead of indigo: rice was a
perishable commodity; it did not serve the people of Great
Britain as provision, nor, as in the case of indigo, as an aid
in manufacturing; furthermore, lands which produced rice
could be devoted to no other use whereas most of the indigo
lands might be advantageously planted with wheat, barley
and hemp. In conclusion, the delegates proposed that the
superior advantage of the rice planters should be counter-
balanced by a compensatory arrangement with the indigo
growers; that is, "that a reasonable proportion of all rice
made after the present crop be appropriated to the purchase
of indigo made by such planters as are so situated as to be
unable to turn their lands to the production of articles
1 A copy of this justification may be found in N. Y. Journ. , Dec.
8, 1774-
1 Thus it was declared: "That while the other colonies had the ex-
portation of wheat, flour, oil, fish and other commodities open, Caro-
lina would (without the exception of rice) have had no sort of article
to export at all;" and further, "That Carolina, having no manufac-
tures, was under a more immediate necessity of some means to pur-
chase the necessaries of life, particularly negro clothing. "
? ? 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
? 466 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
which may be exported; and that the indigo so purchased
become the property of those for whose rice it was ex-
changed. "
[The appeal of the delegates was well calculated to accom-
plish their purpose; and it proved particularly effective in
healing the breach that had appeared between the rice
planters and the indigo growersj A strong note of dissent
was still to be heard, however, in certain quarters. A letter
written at Charleston on the last day of the year claimed
that: "Most of the inhabitants of this province are dis-
pleased that their Delegates asked an exception of rice from
the Non-Exportation agreement. " < In the South Carolina
Gasette of January 2, 1775, "A Country Rice Planter"
asked if the South Carolina delegates were " ever instructed
by the People to hold out in that Article and to refuse their
Vote if not complied with ? "; and suggested that: "Even
supposing we were not upon a Level as to the Privilege of
Exportation with some other Colonies, is it the grand
struggle now, Whether we shall be upon a Level? or is it,
Whether we shall be free, and who shall do most and suffer
most to establish this Freedom? " The rice planters were
advised to repudiate their exemption outright rather than
agree to " the Scheme of Barter proposed, which it will not
only be as difficult to obtain the Assent of the Colony to as
the above--but be infinitely more difficult to accomplish to
Satisfaction. " As late as the opening day of the provincial
congress, an onlooker at Charleston predicted that positive
instructions would be given the delegates to the Second
Continental Congress to put a stop to the exportation of
rice when the non-exportation regulation should take effect. 2
But these writers, as the result showed, undervalued the
persuasive appeal of self-interest to the planting element.
1 N. Y. Journ. , Jan. 26, 1775.
1 Mass. Spy, Feb. 16, 1775.
? ? 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
? RATIFICATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 467
The provincial congress, which began its sessions on
Wednesday, January n, had a membership almost four
times as large as that of the House of Assembly, and all
parishes and districts of the province were represented
according to a predetermined ratio. Colonel Charles Pinck-
ney, chairman of the General Committee, was chosen as
chairman of the congress, and the omnipresent Peter Tim-
othy served as secretary. 1 On the first day, the delegates to
the Continental Congress being in attendance, the Asso-
ciation was taken under consideration. The last four
words of Article iv--" except rice to Europe "--gave rise
to a long and violent debate. Gadsden spoke for the mo-
tion, recounted the critical situation precipitated by his four
colleagues in the Continental Congress, and declared that
the reluctant concession granted by the other provinces had
created a jealousy of the rice provinces which ought to be
removed at the earliest possible time. John Rutledge now
undertook to defend the action of the majority of the South
Carolina delegation. He contended that the northern prov-
inces " were less intent to annoy the mother country in the
article of trade than to preserve their own trade;" which
made it seem only " justice to his constituents to preserve
to them their trade as entire as possible. " In vigorous lan-
guage he emphasized the point that, since rice and indigo
were enumerated products, non-exportation in those articles
meant entire ruin for those staples of South Carolina,
whereas the northern provinces, having export connections
chiefly with foreign countries, were little affected by a non-
exportation to British countries. 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.
? ? 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
? 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
? ? 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
? 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.
? ? 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
? 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
? ? 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
? 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.
? ? 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
? 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.
? ? 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
? 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
? ? 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
? 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.