Silas Deane was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, and then became the first foreign diplomat from the United States to France, where he helped negotiate the 1778 Treaty of Alliance that allied France with the United States during the American Revolutionary War.
Silas Deane, 1781
Deane in a 1766 painting by William Johnston
Baron de Kalb Introducing Lafayette to Silas Deane (1879 Print)
Silas Deane House in Wethersfield, Connecticut
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 in Philadelphia on October 20, 1774. It was a result of the escalating American Revolution and called for a trade boycott against British merchants by the colonies. Congress hoped that placing economic sanctions on British imports and exports would pressure Parliament into addressing the colonies' grievances, especially repealing the Intolerable Acts, which were strongly opposed by the colonies.
The First Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, published and signed the Continental Association on October 20, 1774; Thomas Jefferson, who was not yet a delegate to the Congress, signed this copy (on lower left)
Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, where the First Continental Congress passed the Continental Association on October 20, 1774
Original Articles of Association, p. 1 See also: Pages 2 and 3 For printed text of the entire document see: WikiSource
Page 3, the signatory page of the Association