Committees of Safety

As the situation in the American colonies continued to deteriorate leading up to the American Revolution, many communities established Committees of Safety to coordinate and monitor certain rebellious activities. These Committees began as a means to ensure all citizens followed non-importation agreements against British trade, but eventually they took on more and more governmental roles.

Structure

Committees of Safety were authorized by the First Continental Congress in 1774, when it created the Continental Association. Most Committees were made of a small group of men who were elected by the community (that is, the white property-owning men in the community).

Public Agenda

The main purpose of the Committees of Safety was to ensure that communities followed the non-importation agreements being used to object to British control. These were boycotts (a word that did not exist until the 1880s) of all British goods, done in an attempt to damage the British economy in objection to the so-called Coercive Acts imposed as a consequence of the Boston Tea Party. As time went on, these Committees became the main government entity in some communities. As such, they oversaw the organization of laws, the supply of militias, and administered justice. They also put out public service announcements to keep citizens aware of important information regarding these topics.

Disbandment

Shortly after the The Declaration of Independence in July of 1776, states and local communities began establishing more formally-defined types of governments, often removing the enforcement of laws and rules from the same group that created the regulations to begin with. The restructuring led to the eventual replacement of Committees of Safety within a few years of their establishment. Most did not last through the war.

DISBANDED/DISSOLVED

Type

Illicit, Rebel

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