| The Articles of Association was a petition of grievances against Great Britain by the American colonies, and a
compact among them to collectively impose economic sanctions to pressure a resolution. The Articles were drafted by the First
Continental Congress in 1774 and were an important formative document in the history of the United States that perhaps hastened the American Revolution, though it was intended to alter Britain's policies towards the colonies without
severing allegiance.
Background
The Articles of Association was one of the major accomplishments of the First Continental Congress, which convened on September 5, 1774 in Philadelphia; the Articles were dated on October 20 of that year. Peyton
Randolph, as President of the Congress, was the lead signer.
The main impetus for both the formation of the Continental Congress and the drafting of the Articles was the passage in 1774
of the so-called "Intolerable Acts". These were a series of Acts
passed by the British Parliament to secure greater control over
the colonies and to punish them (the Massachusetts Bay
Colony in particular) for rebellious behavior.
Though there had been previous "articles of association" circulated within some colonies prohibiting trade with Britain, the
1774 Articles were an expression of the growing union among the Colonies against Britain and were the immediate precursor to the
Declaration of
Independence. The Articles served as much as a pact between the colonies themselves to recognize common problems and adhere
to a common course of action as a petition against British policies. Of the 13
colonies, all were represented by the Articles except for the Province of Georgia, which did not send delegates to the Congress until 1775. The Articles refer collectively to the colonies as "America" (only once as "British-America"), and their people
as "American subjects."
As a sign of the desire still prevalent at the time to avoid open revolution, the Articles notably opened with a profession of
allegiance to the King, and placed the blame for "a ruinous system of colony administration" upon lower British officials rather
than the King directly. The Articles alleged that this system was "evidently calculated for enslaving these colonies, and, with
them, the British Empire."
Grievances
The specific grievances set forth by the Articles were: the deprivation of the right to a jury trial; the prosecution in England for crimes committed in America; and the various penalizing Acts
specifically targeted upon the citizens of Boston and
the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a whole, the most egregious of which was the Massachusetts Government Act, which removed all local control over governance and the
courts.
The Articles also complained of the effects of the Quebec Act of 1774, which
extended the province of Quebec. This limited the westward expansion of the colonies
and discouraged further British settlement in those lands. The Act also restored French civil law to Quebec and allowed the
Roman Catholic faith to be practiced. The Articles interpreted the Act
as creating an "arbitrary government", and disposing "the inhabitants to act with hostility against the free Protestant colonies,
whenever a wicked ministry shall chuse so to direct them."
Sanctions
The Articles of Association imposed an immediate ban on British tea, and a ban on importing or consuming any goods from
Britain, Ireland, and the British West Indies (including the ending of the slave
trade) to take effect on December 1, 1774. It also threatened an export ban
on any products from the American colonies to Britain, Ireland, or the West
Indies, to be enacted only if the complained of Acts were not repealed by September 10, 1775; the Articles stated that the export ban was being
suspended until this date because of an "earnest desire we have not to injure our fellow-subjects in Great-Britain, Ireland, or
the West-Indies," a recognition of the need and demand for American goods abroad, though likely deferred because of the profit to
American merchants. All American colonists were to direct their agents abroad to also comply with these restrictions, as would
all ship owners.
Enforcement
The Articles set forth policies by which the colonists would endure the scarcity of goods. Merchants were restricted from
price gouging. Local committees were to be established in the colonies by which compliance would be monitored, such as through
inspection of local businesses. Any individual observed to violate the pledges in the Articles would be condemned in print and
ostracised in society "as the enemies of American liberty". Colonies would also cease all trade and dealings with any other
colony that failed to comply with the bans.
The colonies also pledged that they would "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 extravagance and
dissipation," such as gambling, stageplays and other frivolous entertainment. Specific instructions were even set forth on
properly frugal funeral observations, pledging that no one "will go into any further mourning-dress, than a black crepe or ribbon
on the arm or hat, for gentlemen, and a black ribbon and necklace for ladies, and we will discontinue the giving of gloves and
scarves at funerals."
Effect of the Association
The collective agreement set forth in the Articles established what was called the "Continental Association", or simply "the
Association" among the colonies. Only one colony failed to establish local enforcement committees; in the others, the
restrictions were dutifully enforced, by violent measures on some occasions. Trade with Britain subsequently plummeted.
Parliament responded by passing the New England Restraining Act, which prohibited the northeastern colonies from trading with
anyone but Britain and the British West Indies, and barred colonial ships from the North Atlantic fisheries. These punitive
measures were later extended to most of the other colonies as well.
The outbreak of open fighting between the colonists and British soldiers in April of 1775 rendered moot any attempt to
indirectly change British policies. In this regard, the Association failed to determine events in the way that it was
designed—Britain did not cave to American demands but instead tried to tighten its grip, and the conflict escalated to war.
However, the true long-term success of the Association was in its effective direction of collective action among the colonies,
and expression of their common interests. This recognition of union by the Articles, and its firm stance that the colonies and
their people had rights that were being infringed by Britain, made it a direct precursor to the 1776 Declaration of Independence, which by contrast repudiated the authority of the King once it was clear that no
other solution would preserve the asserted rights of the colonies.
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