Committee of Safety (American Revolution)

Committee of Safety (American Revolution)

Many Committees of Safety were established throughout Colonial America at the start of the American Revolution. These committees started to appear in the 1760s as means to discuss the concerns of the time, and often consisted of every male adult in the community. The local militias were usually under the control of the committees, which in turn sent representatives to county- and colony-level assemblies to represent their local interests.

Committees of Safety formed in 1774 to keep watch on the distrusted royal government. By 1775 they had become the operating government of all the colonies, as the royal officials were expelled. Massachusetts took the lead in the appointment of a committee of safety so early as the autumn of 1774, of which John Hancock was chairman. It was given power to call out mandatory militia, with penalties for failing to respond to a call-up, and provide means of defense. It provided many of the duties of a provisional government. Other colonies appointed committees of safety. One was appointed in the city of New York, composed of the leading citizens. In the spring of 1778, the New York state legislature abolished all committees in New York in favor of "Commissioners of Conspiracy".

In North Carolina, the demand for independence came from local grassroots Committees of Safety. The First Continental Congress had urged their creation in 1774. By 1775 they had become counter-governments that gradually replaced royal authority and took control of local governments. They regulated the economy, politics, morality, and militia of their individual communities. After December 1776 they came under the control of a more powerful central authority, the Council of Safety.[1]

These Committees of Safety were in constant communication with committees of correspondence, which disseminated information among the militia units and provided a clearinghouse of information and intelligence on enemy activities.

References

  • Harper's Encyclopædia of United States History (1905)
  1. ^ Alan D. Watson, "The Committees of Safety and the Coming of the American Revolution in North Carolina, 1774-1776," North Carolina Historical Review, April 1996, Vol. 73 Issue 2, pp 131-155

See also


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Committee of Safety — may refer to: English Committee of Safety, the parliamentary body in England that oversaw the English Civil War Committee of Safety (American Revolution), established throughout the Thirteen Colonies at the start of the American Revolution… …   Wikipedia

  • Committee of Safety (Hawaii) — The Committee of Safety, formally the Citizen s Committee of Public Safety, was a 13 member council composed of American Hawaiian and European Hawaiian traitors, but a majority were aliens from foreign countries. as well as American and European… …   Wikipedia

  • American Revolution — The American Revolution refers to the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen Colonies of North America overthrew the governance of the British Empire and collectively became the nation of the United… …   Wikipedia

  • Daughters of the American Revolution — DAR Constitution Hall The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage based membership organization for women who are descended from a person involved in United States independence.[1] DAR has chapters in all fifty of the U.S. states… …   Wikipedia

  • Committee of correspondence — For other uses, see Committee of correspondence (disambiguation). The Committees of Correspondence were shadow governments organized by the Patriot leaders of the Thirteen Colonies on the eve of American Revolution. They coordinated responses to… …   Wikipedia

  • History of Maryland in the American Revolution — Painting by John Trumbull of George Washington resigning his commission as commander in chief of the Continental Army, at the Maryland State House in Annapolis in December 1783, after the end of the Revolutionary War. The Province of Maryland …   Wikipedia

  • South Carolina during the American Revolution — Prior to the American Revolution, the British began taxing American colonies to raise revenue. South Carolinia residents were outraged about the 1767 Townshend Acts that taxed tea, paper, wine, glass, and oil. To protest the earlier (1765) Stamp… …   Wikipedia

  • Tryon County Committee of Safety — Prior to the American Revolution the colonies formed Committees of Safety to represent the interests of their respective communities. They determined civil cases, officered and organized the militia, arrested and tried suspicious persons, some of …   Wikipedia

  • Révolution Américaine — La Révolution américaine est une période de changements politiques importants provoqués par l insurrection des habitants des treize colonies d Amérique du Nord contre la Grande Bretagne à la fin du XVIIIe siècle. Épisode fondateur de la… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Committee of Sixty — The Committee of Sixty was an extra legal group formed in New York City, in 1775, by rebels to enforce the Continental Association, a boycott of British goods enacted by the First Continental Congress. It was the successor to the Committee of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”