Continental Association
Purpose
The Continental Association served to bring the various colonies represented at the First Continental Congress together for a unified response to the so-called Intolerable Acts. These acts had been put into place to punish Boston, and the Massachusetts colony in general, for the Boston Tea Party.
Document Structure
Clauses
1. Starting on December 1st, 1774 the colonies stopped importing all goods from "Great Britain and Ireland;" East India Tea from anywhere in the world; molosses, syrup, "paneles," coffee, and pimenta (spices) grown on British-owned plantations or in Dominica; wine from Madeira; and Indigo.
2. On December 1st, 1774, the colonies also were to "wholly discontinue the Slave Trade" and not conduct business with "those who are concerned in it." This was, unfortunately, not an early attempt by any person in the First Continental Congress to end slavery in what would be the United States. Instead, this was only a ban on the import/export side of slavery (for the time) and did nothing at all about the movement of slaves already in the colonies, nor did it put forth any arguments against slavery itself.
3. Beginning on March 1st, 1775, colonists were not to purchase or use any East India Tea or other imported British goods, even if it had been purchased in the past. This meant any merchants with inventories of imported goods could not sell their inventory after that date without being accused of not following the Association.
4. After September 10th, 1775, if the British government did not repeal the so-call "Intolerable Acts," the colonies would stop exporting goods to the whole of Great Britain. This was put off so long after December 1st due to the "earnest Desire we ((the framers)) have not to injure our Fellow Subjects in Great Britain, Ireland, or the West Indies."
5. Merchants who did not abide by the non-importation agreement would be publicly named and have their "commercial Connexion" cut off.
6. Ship owners must give orders to the captains and masters who work for them not to take onboard any goods prohibited by the non-importation agreement. If they do take these goods on board, they are to be fired from the owner's service.
7. An effort was to be made to breed more sheep and export none of them. At this time a lot of clothing and blankets were made of wool, which was largely imported from Great Britain.
8. Frugality was to be promoted and "every Species of Extravagance and Dissipation" discouraged. This included "all Horse-racing, and all Kinds of Gaming, Cock-fighting, Exhibitions of Shows, Plays, and other expensive Diversions and Entertainments." (No, they did not have animal welfare laws then to outlaw cockfighting.) There were even stipulations on mourning attire, limiting it to "a black Crape or Riband on the Arm or Hat for Gentlemen, and a black Riband and Necklace for Ladies." This clause also ended the tradition of giving gloves or scarves at funerals.
9. Merchants were not permitted to take advantage of high demand and low supply to raise their prices. Instead, they had to keep their prices close to the usual market rate.
10. Any goods imported between December 1st, 1774, and February 1st, 1775, could either be sent back, or given to the county or town in which they were imported. In the second instance, the goods could either be held (at the importer's risk) until the unknown end date of the non-importation period, or they could be sold at the direction of the local Committee (most likely the Committee of Safety). If the goods were sold, the importer would get their cost back, and the profits would go to the people of Boston who were in need due to the acts imposed on them. This clause was likely to benefit merchants who already had goods in the process of being imported. At the time, importing goods from across the sea took much longer than in the 21st century, and sometimes ships even got lost at sea and turned up months behind schedule. Any goods that arrived after February 1st, 1775, however, must be returned.
11. Committees of Safety were to be created in every county, city, and town to make sure people are following the guidelines set by the Association. Those who do not are to have their names published "in the Gazette," and known as "Enemies of American Liberty." Which certainly comes off pretty extreme.
12. Committees of Correspondence were to inspect the books of the local Custom Houses from time to time to ensure they are also abiding by the Association. These committees were then to keep each other informed of their findings and "every other material Circumstance that may occur relative to this association."
13. Going along with Article 9, all goods made within the colonies also had to be sold at reasonable prices regardless of scarcity.
14. There would be no trade with any colony in North America that did not hold to this Association. Instead, any colony that did not abide by the Association would be seen as "unworthy of the Rights of Freemen, and as inimical to the liberties of their Country."
Caveats
This Association was created before the war began, and so the idea of goods being brought in through privateering had not entered the framers' minds. However, that would have been seen as a legal and patriotic way of acquiring the good otherwise effectively banned. There also would likely have been some degree of looking the other way when it came to smuggling, depending on the location it was being done through. To get around Article 6, independent smuggling would have been more profitable than doing it on the side with the usual merchant trade.
Publication Status
The physical document is currently held by the National Archives in Washington, DC. Transcripts are available online, including within the Jefferson Papers collection on Founders Online.
Legal status
The legality of the Continental Association is and was questionable. Though the colonies had the ability to self-govern on a local level, they still had to follow the laws set down by the British government when doing so. Creating a document like this carried a great risk. This is part of why the framers made sure to not speak ill of the king when they wrote the Association, and made sure they explained their actions and the reasons for them carefully.
Historical Details
Background
The Continental Association was created as a unified response by all the American colonies (except Georgia) to the so-called Intolerable Acts imposed by Parliament on the colony of Massachusetts Bay for the damages incurred through the The Boston Tea Party. It was created during the meeting of the First Continental Congress in 1774, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
History
In the end, the Association had very little time to be in effect. Once the war began in April of 1775, things changed very quickly. There was still a push to continue following the Association, and non-importation remained a major topic throughout the war, but it had a different perception as time - and the war - wore on. This is especially true after the The Declaration of Independence turned the war from one of simply standing up for one's rights as a British subject to fighting to be an independent country. Before that, there was still the hope that reconciliation would happen and that the colonists could get what they wanted from the British government.
Legacy
The Continental Association does not have the same lasting legacy as documents such as the Declaration of Independence, of course. However, it is still an early example of the colonies coming together to form a unified action leading up to the war. This was not something that happened often, and should be remembered for that important detail.
- 1774 Articles of Association (National Archives Foundation)
- Continental Association, 20 October 1774 (Founders Online)
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