APPENDIX 613
that " for extending the limits of Quebec, &c.
that " for extending the limits of Quebec, &c.
Arthur Schlesinger - Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution
net/2027/mdp.
39015011480665 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.
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? 604 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
measures as evidence a desire and design to break off the
happy connection we have heretofore enjoyed with the
kingdom of Great-Britain, and our just and necessary sub-
ordination to the king and those who are lawfully placed in
authority under him . . . " * They attempted, during the
war for independence, to steer a middle course, although
many of the . younger members, in defiance of their elders,
joined heartily in the American cause. 2
Many merchants, on the other hand, actuated by a
broader understanding of class interest, frankly cast their
lot with the mother country. In Massachusetts, where the
conversion of the merchants to the loyalist side had occurred
earlier than in the other provinces, more than two hundred
1nembers of the trade accompanied the British troops upon
the evacuation of Boston in March, 1776. The elder
Thomas Wharton, a foremost member of the merchant-
aristocracy of Philadelphia and a "non-importer" of
earlier days, had forsaken extra-legal activities when the
results of the First Continental Congress showed that his
efforts to guide events in approved channels had proven
futile. A year or so later he was exiled to Virginia because
his presence in Philadelphia was deemed dangerous to the
patriot cause in view of the proximity of the British army
after the battle of Brandywine. In South Carolina Miles
Brewton, a wealthy merchant who had been a candidate of
the Charleston Chamber of Commerce for nomination to
the First Continental Congress, departed for England with
most of his movable property when independence was de-
clared, a destination he was not fated to reach. 4
1 Pa. Ledger, Jan. 27, 1776; also Sharpless, Quakers in the Revolution,
pp. 125-128.
1 Ibid. , pp. 130-137-
1 Sabine, L. , Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American
Revolution (Boston, 1864), vol. i, p. 25.
4 McCrady, 5. C. under Royal Gov"t, p. 406.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 605
In New York the great leader of the mercantile reform-
ers, Isaac Low, had fought a noble battle against the en-
gulfing tide of radicalism, and did not begin seriously to
doubt his ability to control events until the bloody occur-
rences in mid-April, 1775. Dismayed for the moment, he
declined membership in the provincial convention of April
20-22 and thus deliberately rendered himself ineligible for
election to the Second Continental Congress. But on sober
second thought he accepted the chairmanship of the new
city committee of One Hundred, and sought to guide the
action of the provincial congress which began its sessions
in May. He would probably have accepted election to the
second provincial congress in November, but the radical
party would have none of him. He welcomed the British
troops when they occupied the city in August, 1776. When
at a later period Low petitioned the British government for
compensation, it is no wonder that his prominence in the
revolutionary movement was misunderstood and that his
application was not at first favorably received. Many other
New Yorkers had followed the same course as Low. There
had been nineteen men of this stripe on the committee of
Fifty-One, thirteen or fourteen on the committee of Sixty,
and perhaps eighteen on the committee of One Hundred. 1
Of the merchants who remained in America after the
Declaration of Independence, many retained the convictions
that had animated their class throughout the ten years'
struggle for commercial reform; and they made the most
of a difficult situation by becoming passive spectators or
secret abettors of the British in the struggle. They had the
mournful satisfaction, when the war closed, of finding their
worst fears confirmed in the inefficient government which
the radicals established and in the enfeebled state of Amer-
1 Becker, N. Y. Parties, 1760-1776, pp. 116 n. , 168 n. . 197-198. Some
of these men served on all three committees, of course.
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? 606 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS; 1763-1776
ican commerce and business at home and abroad. In the
troubled years that followed, the merchants of the country
regardless of their antecedents drew together in an effort
to found a government which would safeguard the interests
of their class. Thus, once more united, the mercantile inter-
ests became a potent factor in the conservative counter-
revolution that led to the establishment of the United States
Constitution. 1
1 Marshall, J. , Life of Washington (1850), vol. ii, p. 99; Beard, C. A. ,
An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States
(New York, 1913), pp. 4O-49, $6-57, 149-1S1, 175, and passim.
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? APPENDIX
THE CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION l
[The footnotes refer to pages of the Journals of the Continental
Congress on which subsequent alterations of the Association may be
found. ]
WE, his majesty's most loyal subjects, the delegates of
the several colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay,
Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania, the three lower counties of New-Castle, Kent, and
Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, and
South-Carolina, deputed to represent them in a continental
Congress, held in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th day of
September, 1774, avowing our allegiance to his majesty, our
affection and regard for our fellow-subjects in Great-Britain
and elsewhere, affected with the deepest anxiety, and most
alarming apprehensions, at those grievances and distresses,
with which his Majesty's American subjects are oppressed;
and having taken under our most serious deliberation, the
state of the whole continent, find, that the present unhappy
situation of our affairs is occasioned by a ruinous system of
colony administration, adopted by the British ministry about
the year 1763, evidently calculated for inslaving these colonies,
and, with them, the British empire. In prosecution of which
system, various acts of parliament have been passed, for rais-
ing a revenue in America, for depriving the American subjects,
in many instances, of the constitutional trial by jury, exposing
their lives to danger, by directing a new and illegal trial beyond
1 The text is taken from the Journals of the Continental Congress
(Library of Congress Edition, Ford, W. C. , and Hunt, G. , eds. ), vol.
i, PP. 75-8I.
607
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? 608 APPENDIX
the seas, for crimes alleged to have been committed in
America: and in prosecution of the same system, several late,
cruel, and oppressive acts have been passed, respecting the town
of Boston and the Massachusetts-Bay, and also an act for
extending the province of Quebec, so as to border on the
western frontiers of these colonies, establishing an arbitrary
government therein, and discouraging the settlement of British
subjects in that wide extended country; thus, by the influence
of civil principles and ancient prejudices, to dispose the in-
habitants to act with hostility against the free Protestant
colonies, whenever a wicked ministry shall chuse so to direct
them.
To obtain redress of these grievances, which threaten de-
struction to the lives, liberty, and property of his majesty's
subjects, in North America, we are of opinion, that a non-
importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement,
faithfully adhered to, will prove the most speedy, effectual,
and peaceable measures: and, therefore, we do, for ourselves,
and the inhabitants of the several colonies whom we represent,,
firmly agree and associate, under the sacred ties of virtue,
honour and love of our country, as follows:
1. That from and after the first day of December next, we
will not import, into British America, from Great-Britain or
Ireland, any goods, wares, or merchandise whatsoever, or
from any other place, any such goods, wares, or merchandise,
as shall have been exported from Great-Britain or Ireland;J
nor will we, after that day, import any East-India tea from
any part of the world; nor any molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee,
or pimento, from the British plantations or from Dominica;
nor wines from Madeira, or the Western Islands; nor foreign
indigo. 2
2. We will neither import nor purchase, any slave imported
after the first day of December next; after which time, we
1 Journals, vol. ii, pp. 238-239, 247.
* Ibid. , vol. iv, pp. 257-259.
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? APPENDIX 609
will wholly discontinue the slave trade, and will neither be con-
cerned in it ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels, nor sell our
commodities or manufactures to those who are concerned in it.
3. As a non-consumption agreement, strictly adhered to, will
be an effectual security for the observation of the non-importa-
tion, we, as above, solemnly agree and associate, that, from
this day, we will not purchase or use any tea, imported on
account of the East-India company, or any on which a duty
hath been or shall be paid; and from and after the first day
of March next, we will not purchase or use any East-India
tea whatever;J nor will we, nor shall any person for or under
us, purchase or use any of those goods, wares, or merchandise,
we have agreed not to import, which we shall know, or have
cause to suspect, were imported after the first day of Decem-
ber, except such as come under the rules and directions of
the tenth article hereafter mentioned.
4. The earnest desire we have, not to injure our fellow-
subjects in Great-Britain, Ireland, or the West-Indies, induces
us to suspend a non-exportation until the tenth day of Septem-
ber, 1775; at which time, if the said acts and parts of acts of
the British parliament herein after mentioned are not repealed,
we will not, directly or indirectly, export any merchandise or
commodity whatsoever to Great-Britain, Ireland, or the West-
Indies, except rice to Europe. 2
5. Such as are merchants, and use the British and Irish
trade, will give orders, as soon as possible, to their factors,
agents, and correspondents, in Great-Britain and Ireland, not
to ship any goods to them, on any pretence whatsoever, as they
cannot be received in America; and if any merchant residing
in Great-Britain or Ireland, shall directly or indirectly ship
any goods, wares, or merchandise, for America, in order to
break the said non-importation agreement, or in any manner
contravene the same, on such unworthy conduct being well
1 Journals, vol. iv, pp. 277-278.
'/Md. , vol. ii, pp. 184-185, 238-239; vol. iii, pp. 308, 314, 315, 336, 36*-
364, 380-390, 464-465; vol. iv, pp. 257-259.
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? 61o APPENDIX
attested, it ought to be made public; and, on the same being
so done, we will not, from thenceforth, have any commercial
connexion with such merchant.
6. That such as are owners of vessels will give positive or-
ders to their captains, or masters, not to receive on board
their vessels any goods prohibited by the said non-importation
agreement, on pain of immediate dismission from their service.
7. We will use our utmost endeavours to improve the breed
of sheep, and increase their number to the greatest extent;
and to that end, we will kill them as seldom as may be, es-
pecially those of the most profitable kind; nor will we export
any to the West-Ind1es or elsewhere; and those of us, who are
or may become overstocked with, or can conveniently spare
any sheep, will dispose of them to our neighbours, especially
to the poorer sort, on moderate terms.
8. We will, in our several stations, encourage frugality,
economy, and industry, and promote agriculture, arts, and the
manufactures of this country, especially that of wool; and
will discountenance and discourage every species of extra-
vagance and dissipation, especially all horse-racing, and all
kinds of gaming, cock-fighting, exhibitions of shews, plays,
and other expensive diversions and entertainments; and on the
death of any relation or friend, none of us, or any of our
families, will go into any further mourning-dress, than a black
crape or ribbon on the arm or hat, for gentlemen, and a black
ribbon and necklace for ladies, and we will discontinue the
giving of scarves at funerals. 1
9. Such as are venders of goods or merchandise will not
take advantage of the scarcity of goods, that may be occasioned
by this association, but will sell the same at the rates we have
been respectively accustomed to do, for twelve months last
past. --And if any vender of goods or merchandise shall sell
any such goods on higher terms, or shall, in any manner, or by
any device whatsoever violate or depart from this agreement,
no person ought, nor will any of us deal with any such person,
1 Journals, vol. iv, p. 224.
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? APPENDIX 6u
or his or her factor or agent, at any time thereafter, for any
commodity whatever. 1
10. In case any merchant, trader, or other person, shall
import any goods or merchandise, after the first day of
December, and before the first day of February next, the
same ought forthwith, at the election of the owner, to be
either re-shipped or delivered up to the committee of the county
or town, wherein they shall be imported, to be stored at the
risque of the importer, until the non-importation agreement
shall cease, or be sold under the direction of the committee
aforesaid; and in the last-mentioned case, the owner or owners
of such goods shall be reimbursed out of the sales, the first
cost and charges, the profit, if any, to be applied towards
relieving and employing such poor inhabitants of the town of
Boston as are immediate sufferers by the Boston port-bill;
and a particular account of all goods so returned, stored, or
sold, to be inserted in the public papers; and if any goods
or merchandises shall be imported after the said first day
of February, the same ought forthwith to be sent back again,
without breaking any of the packages thereof.
11. That a committee be chosen in every county, city, and
town, by those who are qualified to vote for representatives
in the legislature, whose business it shall be attentively to
observe the conduct of all persons touching this association;
and when it shall be made to appear, to the satisfaction of a
majority of any such committee, that any person within the
limits of their appointment has violated this association, that
such majority do forthwith cause the truth of the case to be
published in the gazette; to the end, that all such foes to the
rights of British-America may be publicly known, and uni-
versally contemned as the enemies of American liberty; and
thenceforth we respectively will break off all dealings with
him or her. 2
1 Journals, vol. iv, pp. 320, 404.
1 Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 67.
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? 612 APPENDIX
12. That the committee of correspondence, in the respective
colonies, do frequently inspect the entries of their custom-
houses, and inform each other, from time to time, of the
true state thereof, and of every other material circumstance
that may occur relative to this association.
13. That all manufactures of this country be sold at reason-
able prices, so that no undue advantage be taken of a future
scarcity of goods.
14. And we do further agree and resolve, that we will have
no trade, commerce, dealings, or intercourse whatsoever, with
any colony or province, in North-America, which shall not
accede to, or which shall hereafter violate this association, but
will hold them as unworthy of the rights of freemen, and as
inimical to the liberties of their country.
And we do solemnly bind ourselves and our constituents,
under the ties aforesaid, to adhere to this association, until
such parts of the several acts of parliament passed since the
close of the last war, as impose or continue duties on tea,
wine, molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee, sugar, pimento, indigo,
foreign paper, glass, and painters' colours, imported into
America, and extend the powers of the admiralty courts beyond
their ancient limits, deprive the American subjects of trial
by jury, authorize the judge's certificate to indemnify the
prosecutor from damages, that he might otherwise be liable
to from a trial by his peers, require oppressive security from
a claimant of ships or goods seized, before he shall be allowed
to defend his property, are repealed. --And until that part of
the Act of the 12 G. 3. ch. 24, entitled "An act for the better
securing his majesty's dock-yards, magazines, ships, ammuni-
tion, and stores," by which any persons charged with com-
mitting any of the offences therein described, in America,
may be tried in any shire or county within the realm, is re-
pealed--and until the four acts passed in the last session of
parliament, viz. that for stopping the port and blocking up the
harbour of Boston--that for altering the charter and govern-
ment of the Massachusetts-Bay--and that which is entitled
"An act for the better administration of justice, &c. "--and
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?
APPENDIX 613
that " for extending the limits of Quebec, &c. " are repealed. 1
And we recommend it to the provincial conventions, and to
the committees in the respective colonies, to establish such
farther regulations as they make think proper, for carrying
into execution this association.
The foregoing association being determined upon by the
Congress, was ordered to be subscribed by the several mem-
bers thereof; and thereupon, we have hereunto set our respec-
tive names accordingly.
In Congress, Philadelphia, October 20, 1774.
1 Journals, vol. ii, p. 125.
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? BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES
1. UNPRINTED SOURCES
Barrell Correspondence. Letters of the brothers William, of Boston,
and Joseph, of Philadelphia, merchants of their respective cities,
covering the period June 16, 1773, to Aug. 12, 1776. In Mass. Hist.
Soc. Library. For other Barrell letters vide Mercantile Papers
of Stephen Collins & Son, below.
Boston. Minutes of the Committee of Correspondence, November, 1772-
December, 1774. 13 v. Mostly in handwriting of William
Cooper. Part of the George Bancroft collection in the New York
Public Library. Referred to in this work as: Bos. Com. Cor. Mss.
Boston. Papers of the Committee of Correspondence. 3 v. , cover-
ing the years 1772-1775. Intraprovincial and interprovincial cor-
respondence, about 650 items in all, in the handwriting of Samuel
Adams, Joseph Warren, Benjamin Church, Thomas Young and
others. Part of the George Bancroft collection in the New York
Public Library.
Boston. Papers of the Boston Merchants, 1763-1774. In Mass. Hist
.
S. . Library.
British Papers relating to the American Revolution. 3 v. Transcripts of
the correspondence of colonial governors and answers of the
colonial office during the years 1763-1775, forming vol. xliii of the
"Sparks Mss. " in Harvard Library.
Chalmers, George, Letter to Lord Mansfield on the History of the
American Colonies 1780. Transcript in "Sparks Mss. ," vol. vii,
in Harvard Library.
Charlestown, Mass. Papers of the Charlestown Committee of Corres-
pondence. Cover the period 1774-1775. In Mass. Hist. Soc.
Library.
Clifford Correspondence 1722-1832. 29 v. Vols. v, xxviii, and xxix
contain important letters of Thomas Clifford, a Philadelphia mer-
chant, bearing on colonial economic conditions, 1763-1775. In His-
torical Society of Pa. Library.
Collinses, Mercantile Papers of Stephen Collins & Son. go v. , cover-
ing the period 1754-1813. Consists of the journals, ledgers, letter
books and miscellaneous correspondence of this Philadelphia firm.
In Library of Congress.
614
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? BIBLIOGRAPHY 615
Hutchinson, Thomas, Hutehinson's Correspondence. 3 v. , covering
the periods 1743-1773, 1761-1770 and 1770-1774 respectively. They
form vols. xxv, xxvi and xxvii of the Mass. Archives in the State
House in Boston.
Library of Congress Transcripts. They are listed in Andrews, C. M. ,
and Davenport, F. G. , Guide to the Manuscript Materials for the
History of the United States to 1783, in the British Museum, in
Minor London Archives, and in the Libraries of Oxford and
Cambridge (Washington, 1908), pp. 431-445; and in Andrews, C. M. ,
Guide to the Materials for American History to 1783, in the
Public Record Office of Great Britain (Washington, 1912-1914),
vol. i, pp. 308-309; vol. ii, p. 368.
Loyalists. Transcripts of the Manuscript Books and Papers of the
Commission of Enquiry into the Losses and Scn'ices of the Ameri-
can Loyalists held under Acts of Parliament of 23, 25, 26, 28 and 29
of George III, preserved amongst the Audit Office Records in the
Public Record Office of England, 1783-1790. 59 v. Includes ap-
plications, memorials and petitions to the British Government for
aid and is rich in biographical material. In the New York Pub-
lic Library.
Philadelphia. Papers of the Committee of Merchants of Philadelphia,
Feb. 6, 1769-Dec. 19, 1769. Transcripts selected from Charles
Thomson's papers in 1828, forming sub-vol. vii of vol. Ixii of the
"Sparks Mss. " in Harvard Library.
Salem, Mass. The papers of the Salem Committee of Correspondence,
July 12, 1772-Oct. 30, 1776, form a part of the Pickering Papers,
vols. xxxiii and xxxix, in the Mass. Hist. Soc. Library.
Smith, William, Notes and Papers on the Commencement of the
American Revolution. Dr. Smith was provost of the College of
Philadelphia. In Historical Society of Pa. Library.
Stevens, B. F. , ed. , Facsimiles of Manuscripts in European Archives
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Collations, References and Translations. 25 v. London, 1889-1898.
Wharton, Thomas, Wharton Letter Book 1773-1784. In Historical So-
ciety of Pa. Library. Selections from the letter book of this
prominent Philadelphia merchant have been reprinted in the Pa.
Mag. of Hist, and Biog. , vol. xxxiii, pp. 319-339, 432-453; vol.
xxxiv, pp. 41-61.
2. PRINTED SOURCES
A. CONTEMPORARY HISTORIES AND DESCRIPTIONS
Burnaby, A. , Travels through the Middle Settlements in North America,
in the Years 1759 and 1760. London, 1775.
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? BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chalmers, G. , An Introduction to the History of the Revolt of the
American Colonies. 2 v. Boston, 1845.
Cluny, A. , The American Traveller: Containing Observations on the
present State, Culture and Commerce of the British Colonies in
America . . . By an Old and Experienced Trader. Philadelphia,
1770.
Drayton, ]. , Memoirs of the American Revolution, from its Com-
mencement to the Year 1776, inclusive; as relating to the State of
South Carolina, etc. 2 v. Charleston, 1821.
Eddis, W. , Letters from America, 1769-1777. London, 1792.
Gordon, W. , History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the
Independence of the United States of America. 4 v. London, 1788.
Hewatt, A. , Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies
of South Carolina and Georgia, a v. London, 1779.
History of the Origin, Rise and Progress of the War in America be-
tween Great Britain and the Colonies, 1764-1774. Boston, 1780.
Hutchinson, T. , History of the Colony [and Province] of Massachu-
setts Bay. 3 v. Boston and London, 1795-1828.
Jones, T. , History of New York during the Revolutionary War and of
the Leading Events in the Other Colonies at that Period. E. F.
de Lancey, ed. a v. New York, 1879.
Macpherson, D. , Annals of Commerce, Manufactures, Fisheries, and
Navigation, etc. 4 v. 1805.
Minot, G. R. , Continuation of the History of Massachusetts, 1748-1765.
a v.
? 604 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS: 1763-1776
measures as evidence a desire and design to break off the
happy connection we have heretofore enjoyed with the
kingdom of Great-Britain, and our just and necessary sub-
ordination to the king and those who are lawfully placed in
authority under him . . . " * They attempted, during the
war for independence, to steer a middle course, although
many of the . younger members, in defiance of their elders,
joined heartily in the American cause. 2
Many merchants, on the other hand, actuated by a
broader understanding of class interest, frankly cast their
lot with the mother country. In Massachusetts, where the
conversion of the merchants to the loyalist side had occurred
earlier than in the other provinces, more than two hundred
1nembers of the trade accompanied the British troops upon
the evacuation of Boston in March, 1776. The elder
Thomas Wharton, a foremost member of the merchant-
aristocracy of Philadelphia and a "non-importer" of
earlier days, had forsaken extra-legal activities when the
results of the First Continental Congress showed that his
efforts to guide events in approved channels had proven
futile. A year or so later he was exiled to Virginia because
his presence in Philadelphia was deemed dangerous to the
patriot cause in view of the proximity of the British army
after the battle of Brandywine. In South Carolina Miles
Brewton, a wealthy merchant who had been a candidate of
the Charleston Chamber of Commerce for nomination to
the First Continental Congress, departed for England with
most of his movable property when independence was de-
clared, a destination he was not fated to reach. 4
1 Pa. Ledger, Jan. 27, 1776; also Sharpless, Quakers in the Revolution,
pp. 125-128.
1 Ibid. , pp. 130-137-
1 Sabine, L. , Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American
Revolution (Boston, 1864), vol. i, p. 25.
4 McCrady, 5. C. under Royal Gov"t, p. 406.
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? TRANSFORMATION OF THE ASSOCIATION 605
In New York the great leader of the mercantile reform-
ers, Isaac Low, had fought a noble battle against the en-
gulfing tide of radicalism, and did not begin seriously to
doubt his ability to control events until the bloody occur-
rences in mid-April, 1775. Dismayed for the moment, he
declined membership in the provincial convention of April
20-22 and thus deliberately rendered himself ineligible for
election to the Second Continental Congress. But on sober
second thought he accepted the chairmanship of the new
city committee of One Hundred, and sought to guide the
action of the provincial congress which began its sessions
in May. He would probably have accepted election to the
second provincial congress in November, but the radical
party would have none of him. He welcomed the British
troops when they occupied the city in August, 1776. When
at a later period Low petitioned the British government for
compensation, it is no wonder that his prominence in the
revolutionary movement was misunderstood and that his
application was not at first favorably received. Many other
New Yorkers had followed the same course as Low. There
had been nineteen men of this stripe on the committee of
Fifty-One, thirteen or fourteen on the committee of Sixty,
and perhaps eighteen on the committee of One Hundred. 1
Of the merchants who remained in America after the
Declaration of Independence, many retained the convictions
that had animated their class throughout the ten years'
struggle for commercial reform; and they made the most
of a difficult situation by becoming passive spectators or
secret abettors of the British in the struggle. They had the
mournful satisfaction, when the war closed, of finding their
worst fears confirmed in the inefficient government which
the radicals established and in the enfeebled state of Amer-
1 Becker, N. Y. Parties, 1760-1776, pp. 116 n. , 168 n. . 197-198. Some
of these men served on all three committees, of course.
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? 606 THE COLONIAL MERCHANTS; 1763-1776
ican commerce and business at home and abroad. In the
troubled years that followed, the merchants of the country
regardless of their antecedents drew together in an effort
to found a government which would safeguard the interests
of their class. Thus, once more united, the mercantile inter-
ests became a potent factor in the conservative counter-
revolution that led to the establishment of the United States
Constitution. 1
1 Marshall, J. , Life of Washington (1850), vol. ii, p. 99; Beard, C. A. ,
An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States
(New York, 1913), pp. 4O-49, $6-57, 149-1S1, 175, and passim.
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? APPENDIX
THE CONTINENTAL ASSOCIATION l
[The footnotes refer to pages of the Journals of the Continental
Congress on which subsequent alterations of the Association may be
found. ]
WE, his majesty's most loyal subjects, the delegates of
the several colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay,
Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsyl-
vania, the three lower counties of New-Castle, Kent, and
Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, and
South-Carolina, deputed to represent them in a continental
Congress, held in the city of Philadelphia, on the 5th day of
September, 1774, avowing our allegiance to his majesty, our
affection and regard for our fellow-subjects in Great-Britain
and elsewhere, affected with the deepest anxiety, and most
alarming apprehensions, at those grievances and distresses,
with which his Majesty's American subjects are oppressed;
and having taken under our most serious deliberation, the
state of the whole continent, find, that the present unhappy
situation of our affairs is occasioned by a ruinous system of
colony administration, adopted by the British ministry about
the year 1763, evidently calculated for inslaving these colonies,
and, with them, the British empire. In prosecution of which
system, various acts of parliament have been passed, for rais-
ing a revenue in America, for depriving the American subjects,
in many instances, of the constitutional trial by jury, exposing
their lives to danger, by directing a new and illegal trial beyond
1 The text is taken from the Journals of the Continental Congress
(Library of Congress Edition, Ford, W. C. , and Hunt, G. , eds. ), vol.
i, PP. 75-8I.
607
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? 608 APPENDIX
the seas, for crimes alleged to have been committed in
America: and in prosecution of the same system, several late,
cruel, and oppressive acts have been passed, respecting the town
of Boston and the Massachusetts-Bay, and also an act for
extending the province of Quebec, so as to border on the
western frontiers of these colonies, establishing an arbitrary
government therein, and discouraging the settlement of British
subjects in that wide extended country; thus, by the influence
of civil principles and ancient prejudices, to dispose the in-
habitants to act with hostility against the free Protestant
colonies, whenever a wicked ministry shall chuse so to direct
them.
To obtain redress of these grievances, which threaten de-
struction to the lives, liberty, and property of his majesty's
subjects, in North America, we are of opinion, that a non-
importation, non-consumption, and non-exportation agreement,
faithfully adhered to, will prove the most speedy, effectual,
and peaceable measures: and, therefore, we do, for ourselves,
and the inhabitants of the several colonies whom we represent,,
firmly agree and associate, under the sacred ties of virtue,
honour and love of our country, as follows:
1. That from and after the first day of December next, we
will not import, into British America, from Great-Britain or
Ireland, any goods, wares, or merchandise whatsoever, or
from any other place, any such goods, wares, or merchandise,
as shall have been exported from Great-Britain or Ireland;J
nor will we, after that day, import any East-India tea from
any part of the world; nor any molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee,
or pimento, from the British plantations or from Dominica;
nor wines from Madeira, or the Western Islands; nor foreign
indigo. 2
2. We will neither import nor purchase, any slave imported
after the first day of December next; after which time, we
1 Journals, vol. ii, pp. 238-239, 247.
* Ibid. , vol. iv, pp. 257-259.
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? APPENDIX 609
will wholly discontinue the slave trade, and will neither be con-
cerned in it ourselves, nor will we hire our vessels, nor sell our
commodities or manufactures to those who are concerned in it.
3. As a non-consumption agreement, strictly adhered to, will
be an effectual security for the observation of the non-importa-
tion, we, as above, solemnly agree and associate, that, from
this day, we will not purchase or use any tea, imported on
account of the East-India company, or any on which a duty
hath been or shall be paid; and from and after the first day
of March next, we will not purchase or use any East-India
tea whatever;J nor will we, nor shall any person for or under
us, purchase or use any of those goods, wares, or merchandise,
we have agreed not to import, which we shall know, or have
cause to suspect, were imported after the first day of Decem-
ber, except such as come under the rules and directions of
the tenth article hereafter mentioned.
4. The earnest desire we have, not to injure our fellow-
subjects in Great-Britain, Ireland, or the West-Indies, induces
us to suspend a non-exportation until the tenth day of Septem-
ber, 1775; at which time, if the said acts and parts of acts of
the British parliament herein after mentioned are not repealed,
we will not, directly or indirectly, export any merchandise or
commodity whatsoever to Great-Britain, Ireland, or the West-
Indies, except rice to Europe. 2
5. Such as are merchants, and use the British and Irish
trade, will give orders, as soon as possible, to their factors,
agents, and correspondents, in Great-Britain and Ireland, not
to ship any goods to them, on any pretence whatsoever, as they
cannot be received in America; and if any merchant residing
in Great-Britain or Ireland, shall directly or indirectly ship
any goods, wares, or merchandise, for America, in order to
break the said non-importation agreement, or in any manner
contravene the same, on such unworthy conduct being well
1 Journals, vol. iv, pp. 277-278.
'/Md. , vol. ii, pp. 184-185, 238-239; vol. iii, pp. 308, 314, 315, 336, 36*-
364, 380-390, 464-465; vol. iv, pp. 257-259.
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? 61o APPENDIX
attested, it ought to be made public; and, on the same being
so done, we will not, from thenceforth, have any commercial
connexion with such merchant.
6. That such as are owners of vessels will give positive or-
ders to their captains, or masters, not to receive on board
their vessels any goods prohibited by the said non-importation
agreement, on pain of immediate dismission from their service.
7. We will use our utmost endeavours to improve the breed
of sheep, and increase their number to the greatest extent;
and to that end, we will kill them as seldom as may be, es-
pecially those of the most profitable kind; nor will we export
any to the West-Ind1es or elsewhere; and those of us, who are
or may become overstocked with, or can conveniently spare
any sheep, will dispose of them to our neighbours, especially
to the poorer sort, on moderate terms.
8. We will, in our several stations, encourage frugality,
economy, and industry, and promote agriculture, arts, and the
manufactures of this country, especially that of wool; and
will discountenance and discourage every species of extra-
vagance and dissipation, especially all horse-racing, and all
kinds of gaming, cock-fighting, exhibitions of shews, plays,
and other expensive diversions and entertainments; and on the
death of any relation or friend, none of us, or any of our
families, will go into any further mourning-dress, than a black
crape or ribbon on the arm or hat, for gentlemen, and a black
ribbon and necklace for ladies, and we will discontinue the
giving of scarves at funerals. 1
9. Such as are venders of goods or merchandise will not
take advantage of the scarcity of goods, that may be occasioned
by this association, but will sell the same at the rates we have
been respectively accustomed to do, for twelve months last
past. --And if any vender of goods or merchandise shall sell
any such goods on higher terms, or shall, in any manner, or by
any device whatsoever violate or depart from this agreement,
no person ought, nor will any of us deal with any such person,
1 Journals, vol. iv, p. 224.
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? APPENDIX 6u
or his or her factor or agent, at any time thereafter, for any
commodity whatever. 1
10. In case any merchant, trader, or other person, shall
import any goods or merchandise, after the first day of
December, and before the first day of February next, the
same ought forthwith, at the election of the owner, to be
either re-shipped or delivered up to the committee of the county
or town, wherein they shall be imported, to be stored at the
risque of the importer, until the non-importation agreement
shall cease, or be sold under the direction of the committee
aforesaid; and in the last-mentioned case, the owner or owners
of such goods shall be reimbursed out of the sales, the first
cost and charges, the profit, if any, to be applied towards
relieving and employing such poor inhabitants of the town of
Boston as are immediate sufferers by the Boston port-bill;
and a particular account of all goods so returned, stored, or
sold, to be inserted in the public papers; and if any goods
or merchandises shall be imported after the said first day
of February, the same ought forthwith to be sent back again,
without breaking any of the packages thereof.
11. That a committee be chosen in every county, city, and
town, by those who are qualified to vote for representatives
in the legislature, whose business it shall be attentively to
observe the conduct of all persons touching this association;
and when it shall be made to appear, to the satisfaction of a
majority of any such committee, that any person within the
limits of their appointment has violated this association, that
such majority do forthwith cause the truth of the case to be
published in the gazette; to the end, that all such foes to the
rights of British-America may be publicly known, and uni-
versally contemned as the enemies of American liberty; and
thenceforth we respectively will break off all dealings with
him or her. 2
1 Journals, vol. iv, pp. 320, 404.
1 Ibid. , vol. ii, p. 67.
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? 612 APPENDIX
12. That the committee of correspondence, in the respective
colonies, do frequently inspect the entries of their custom-
houses, and inform each other, from time to time, of the
true state thereof, and of every other material circumstance
that may occur relative to this association.
13. That all manufactures of this country be sold at reason-
able prices, so that no undue advantage be taken of a future
scarcity of goods.
14. And we do further agree and resolve, that we will have
no trade, commerce, dealings, or intercourse whatsoever, with
any colony or province, in North-America, which shall not
accede to, or which shall hereafter violate this association, but
will hold them as unworthy of the rights of freemen, and as
inimical to the liberties of their country.
And we do solemnly bind ourselves and our constituents,
under the ties aforesaid, to adhere to this association, until
such parts of the several acts of parliament passed since the
close of the last war, as impose or continue duties on tea,
wine, molasses, syrups, paneles, coffee, sugar, pimento, indigo,
foreign paper, glass, and painters' colours, imported into
America, and extend the powers of the admiralty courts beyond
their ancient limits, deprive the American subjects of trial
by jury, authorize the judge's certificate to indemnify the
prosecutor from damages, that he might otherwise be liable
to from a trial by his peers, require oppressive security from
a claimant of ships or goods seized, before he shall be allowed
to defend his property, are repealed. --And until that part of
the Act of the 12 G. 3. ch. 24, entitled "An act for the better
securing his majesty's dock-yards, magazines, ships, ammuni-
tion, and stores," by which any persons charged with com-
mitting any of the offences therein described, in America,
may be tried in any shire or county within the realm, is re-
pealed--and until the four acts passed in the last session of
parliament, viz. that for stopping the port and blocking up the
harbour of Boston--that for altering the charter and govern-
ment of the Massachusetts-Bay--and that which is entitled
"An act for the better administration of justice, &c. "--and
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?
APPENDIX 613
that " for extending the limits of Quebec, &c. " are repealed. 1
And we recommend it to the provincial conventions, and to
the committees in the respective colonies, to establish such
farther regulations as they make think proper, for carrying
into execution this association.
The foregoing association being determined upon by the
Congress, was ordered to be subscribed by the several mem-
bers thereof; and thereupon, we have hereunto set our respec-
tive names accordingly.
In Congress, Philadelphia, October 20, 1774.
1 Journals, vol. ii, p. 125.
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? BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES
1. UNPRINTED SOURCES
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