The Association (The Articles of Association)
The First Continental Congress convened in Carpenters’ Hall in Philadelphia, PA between Sept. 5 and Oct. 26, 1774. Delegates from twelve of Britain’s thirteen American colonies met to discuss America’s future under growing British aggression.
Delegates discussed boycotting British goods to establish the rights of Americans. They promptly began drafting and discussing the Continental Association. This would become their most important policy outcome. The Association called for an end to British imports starting in December 1774 and an end to exporting goods to Britain in September 1775. This policy would be enforced by local and colony-wide committees of inspection. These committees would check ships that arrived in ports, force colonists to sign documents pledging loyalty to the Continental Association, and suppress mob violence.
The idea of using non-importation as leverage was neither new nor unexpected. Prior to the Continental Congress, eight colonies had already endorsed the measure and merchants had been warned against placing any orders with Britain, as a ban on importation was likely to pass. Some colonies had already created their own associations to ban importation and, in some cases, exportation.
The Virginia Association had passed at the Virginia Convention with George Washington in attendance. Washington, like many delegates at the First Continental Congress, no longer saw petitioning as a useful tool in changing Parliament’s ways.
Many delegates felt that using the Continental Association as leverage would be impractical without explicit demands and a plan of redress. However, Congress struggled to come up with a list of rights, grievances, and demands.
The document was signed on October 20, 1774 by 53 delegates, including George Washington, John Adams, and Peyton Rudolph, who was President of the First Congress. The boycott was relatively successful while it lasted, and succeeded in damaging the British economy. The Crown responded in 1775 with the New England Restraining Act which failed to rein in the colonists and facilitated the start of the Revolutionary War.
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This broadsheet is dedicated to the 250th Anniversary Celebration of the Declaration of Independence for more information visit the National Society Sons of the American Revolution website at: https://america250sar.org/
Presented by: The Hawaii Society Sons of the American Revolution https://hawaiisar.org/
For more information on the Continental Association (also known as the Articles of Association) see: https://bit.ly/3LDyhmU
The complete text of the document: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Continental_Association
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