Boston Non-Importation Agreement

Yankee Ingenuity and Patriot Smugglers

Other American cities also implemented similar non-importation agreements to resist unpopular British policies. The use of raw materials, goods produced in the colonies, and Yankee ingenuity were the order of the day. It was during this time the American colonies experimented with the notion of being self-sufficient and not relying on the mother country. This experience would prove invaluable for in a few short years during the Revolution the British Royal Navy would blockade the American coast and shut down many of the major port cities. During the Boston Non-Importation Agreement, merchants and traders agreed to boycott goods that were subject to the Townshend Revenue Act until the taxes on those goods were repealed. Some critical goods were exempt from the boycott such as salt, and hemp and duck canvases. Smuggling was widespread. This was in direct violation of the Navigation Acts. Almost every American community benefited from or participated in the smuggling of illegal goods obtained from Dutch, French, and Spanish merchants. Smuggling was not only a cheaper alternative to taxed British goods, but also served as an effective means to resist and undermine British policies. Boston was rife with smuggled goods and smugglers. The Sons of Liberty secured funding for their organization by running lucrative smuggling operations. Smuggling funded much of their resistance to British authority. Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere were all known as notorious Boston Patriot smugglers.

The impact of the Boston Non-Importation Agreement, and all similar agreements, were significant. Approximately sixty merchants and traders signed the agreement on August 1, 1768, and within two weeks, all but sixteen of Boston’s merchants, traders, and business owners had joined the boycott. Boston tradesmen, artisans, and other business owners happily signed the agreement in hopes the boycott would generate business for them. Within weeks and months, almost every port and region within the Thirteen Colonies adopted similar boycotts to protest and undermine the Townshend Revenue Act, although many Southern merchants and traders with Loyalist leanings refused to cooperate. Smuggling was rampant throughout the colonies. The effects felt by British merchants who traded with the American colonies were alarming. Merchants lost money shipping their goods to the colonies where they would not be received. More often than not the goods were never allowed ashore. If they were, they rotted on docks or in warehouses or were looted by the colonists. The situation was a nightmare for customs officials who could not collect taxes on goods that were either not allowed ashore or were never sold.