What document did the First Continental Congress adopt in 1774 to organize a boycott of British goods?

The First Continental Congress adopted the Continental Association in 1774 to organize a boycott of British goods.

The agreement was approved in Philadelphia on October 20, 1774, after delegates responded to the Intolerable Acts. It called for nonimportation of British goods beginning December 1 and planned to halt exports to Britain if Parliament failed to repeal the punitive laws. Local committees were established to monitor compliance, turning colonial resistance into a coordinated system.

The Continental Association was an important step toward intercolonial cooperation, but it did not declare independence. Its strategy relied on economic pressure while the Congress still claimed to seek restoration of colonial rights within the British Empire. The boycott became increasingly difficult to maintain as fighting began in 1775.

It is often confused with the Articles of Confederation, which served as the United States' first constitutional framework after independence. The Continental Association was earlier and narrower: it was a trade agreement and enforcement network created by the First Continental Congress.