t off their
usual supplies of provisions.

Such were the relations existing between Great Britain and the colonies,
and between the colonies themselves, when the Bostonians cast the tea
overboard. This act of resistance to law, was followed by the passage,
through Parliament, of the Boston Port Bill, closing Boston Harbor to
all commerce whatsoever. The North American colonies, conscious of their
power over the commerce of Great Britain, at once obeyed the call of the
citizens of Boston, and united in the adoption of peaceful measures, to
force the repeal of the obnoxious act. Meetings of the people were held
throughout the country, generally, and resolutions passed, recommending
the non-importation and non-consumption of all British manufactures and
West India products; and resolving, also, that they would not export any
provisions, lumber, or other products, whatever, to Great Britain or any
of her colonies. These resolutions were accompanied by another, in many
of the counties of Virginia, in some of the State conventions, and,
finally, in those of the Continental Congress, in which the slave trade,
and the purchase of additional slaves, were specially referred to as
measures to be at once discontinued. These resolutions, in substance,
declare, as the sentiment of the people: That the African trade is
injurious to the colonies; that it obstructs the population of them by
freemen; that it prevents the immigration of manufacturers and other
useful emigrants from Europe from settling among them; that it is
dangerous to virtue and the welfare of the population; that it occasions
an annual increase of the balance of trade against them; that they most
earnestly wished to see an entire stop put to such a wicked, cruel, and
unlawful traffic; that they would not purchase any slaves hereafter to
be imported, nor hire their vessels, nor sell their commodities or
manufactures to those who are concerned in their importation.

From these facts it appears evident, that the primary object of all the
resolutions was to cripple the commerce of England. Those in relation to
the slave trade, especially, were expected, at once, when taken in
connection with the determination to withhold all supplies of provisions
from the West India planters--to stop the slave trade, and deprive the
British merchants of all further profits from that traffic. But it would
do more than this, as it would compel the West India planters, in a
great degree, t