The Virginia Association was a series of non-importation agreements adopted by

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

ns in 1769 as a way of speeding economic recovery and opposing the

Townshend Acts The Townshend Acts () or Townshend Duties, were a series of British acts of Parliament passed during 1767 and 1768 introducing a series of taxes and regulations to fund administration of the British colonies in America. They are named after the ...

. Drafted by

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including s ...

and passed by the

Virginia House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...

in May 1769, the Virginia Association was a way for Virginians to stand united against continued British taxation and trade control. The Virginia Association served as the framework and precursor to the larger more powerful 1774

Continental Association The Continental Association, also known as the Articles of Association or simply the Association, was an agreement among the American colonies adopted by the First Continental Congress on October 20, 1774. It called for a trade boycott against ...

Background

The adoption of the Virginia Association resolutions was preceded by a push from northern Virginians for expanded domestic industry. Starting in the mid-1760s, most Virginians were heavily impacted by a minor economic recession. The economic downturn was a result of the severe costs of the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

in addition to local climate difficulties, which had led to a series of poor crop yields. The economic struggles for many Virginians were exacerbated by the passage of the Stamp Act. The colonist reaction in Virginia was to encourage domestic manufacturing growth and economic diversification. After the passage of the Townshend Acts in 1767, general sentiment in Virginia pushed eagerly for some action.

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, at the time, a plantation owner in northern Virginia, promoted the implementation of some sort of non-importation scheme and conveyed his thoughts to his neighbor,

. Washington contended that if the scheme was adopted on a large scale, the benefits would outweigh the costs of the loss of British imports. Mason, along with Washington and

Richard Henry Lee Richard Henry Lee (January 20, 1732June 19, 1794) was an American statesman and Founding Father from Virginia, best known for the June 1776 Lee Resolution, the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies' independence from ...

, spent several weeks formulating the language of a non-importation association that would ultimately help strengthen the state's economy. Gathered at the

Raleigh Tavern The Raleigh Tavern was a tavern in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was one of the largest taverns in colonial Virginia. It gained some fame in the pre-American Revolutionary War Colony of Virginia as a gathering place for legislators after several R ...

(run by Anthony Hay) in Williamsburg, VA, the House of Burgesses, on May 17, began discussing the Mason draft. After amending some of the articles and the preamble, the House of Burgesses, which was made up two representatives from each of the countries, proceeded to pass the Virginia Association resolutions.

Content and effects

In the preamble of the Virginia Association resolutions, it was declared that the "Townshend Acts were unconstitutional and destructive to the cause of liberty." The preamble also emphasized the hard times faced by Virginian plantation owners. As part of the agreement, colonists were prohibited from purchasing, after September 1, 1769, any article on a long list of enumerated goods. However, because there were some goods that could not be replaced by Virginia manufacturers, the signers made exceptions for coarse and cheap goods. The association was also given the power to call future meetings. A meeting of one hundred signers was necessary to revise the terms of the agreement unless the British Parliament met the specific demands that were detailed in the Association resolutions. The Association was not as successful as initially intended because there were many merchants who did not follow the boycott. British exports to the colonies declined by 38% in 1769, but British producers remained profitable because certain merchants failed to adhere to the conditions. After Britain lifted the Townshend duties from all items except tea, the Association gradually weakened, and finally collapsed in 1771.

Notes

{{Historical American Documents 1769 documents Documents of the American Revolution Virginia in the American Revolution George Mason 1769 in Virginia