Now On View: Copy of the Articles of Association and Henry Middleton Portrait

Two new objects related to the First Continental Congress are on display in the gallery American Liberties 1765-1775.

The Association of the Continental Congress

The First Continental Congress issued this statement, often known as the Articles of Association or the Continental Association, in response to Parliament's Coercive Acts. Congress called for a more unified economic boycott to sway British policies and "encourage frugality, economy, and industry, and promote agriculture, arts and the manufactures of this country." Alongside the printed signatures of the congressional delegates such as George Washington and John Adams, individual colonists signed their own names to show their support for the boycott. Several people from Amherst County, Virginia, signed this Williamsburg-printed version of the Continental Association.

Henry Middleton

Pennsylvania-born artist Benjamin West painted this portrait of Henry Middleton in England a few years before Middleton represented South Carolina at the First Continental Congress. Middleton, one of the most powerful men in South Carolina, had economic and political ties in both Britain and America. As Parliament levied more taxes on the colonies, Middleton's attitude toward the British government changed. He served as president during the final days of the First Continental Congress and signed the Continental Association, a more unified boycott of British goods.