Land of the Brave

Committee of Correspondence

Colonial America - Land of the Brave

The Committee of Correspondence
Committee of Correspondence Definition: A Committee of Correspondence consisted of a group of leading patriots providing leadership and communication networks amongst the colonists at town and colony level.

Their objectives were to warn each other about British actions and future plans that were detrimental to colonial America and to plan colonial resistance and counter measures.  The Committees of Correspondence were at first temporary but they evolved into permanent features of colonial America.

Committee of Correspondence - Town Committees and the Colonial Committees
There were two types of Committee of Correspondence.

  • The first type were temporary Committees of Correspondence appointed by towns. These were invented by Samuel Adams in 1764 when a committee was first appointed in Boston  Massachusetts. These first, formal, Committees of Correspondence were established on a temporary basis to address specific problems and were then disbanded.
  • The second type were the permanent Committees of Correspondence whose members were selected to document the views of the towns and the whole colony. The first of the permanent colonial Committees of Correspondence was appointed by Virginia
  • By 1775 all the colonies were united by a complete system of Committees of Correspondence
  • The communication network of the Committees of Correspondence reached across all of the colonies
  • Over 7000 patriots served on the Committees of Correspondence at the town and colony level

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Updated 2018-01-01

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