COMMITTEES OF CORRESPOND ENCE, in American Revolutionary history, public functionaries of a type first appearing in England, created by the parliainentary party of the 17th century in their struggles with the Stuarts. In 1763, when the English gov ernment attempted to enforce the trade and navigation acts in America after the Peace of Paris, the colonial leaders advised the merchants to hold meetings and appoint committees to memorialize the legislature and correspond with each other to forward a union of interests. This was done in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York 1763-64. On 13 June 1764 the Massachusetts General Court appointed a com mittee to communicate to other colonial govern ments its instructions to its agent in London, to protest against the Sugar Act and the proposed Stamp Act. When the latter was passed in 1765, the Sons of Liberty formed committees of correspondence to organize resistance. Samuel Adams, during the decade 1764-74, constantly urged the adoption of this plan by the patriots of every town and county in each colony, and moved the general court to that effect in 1770 71. A few public bodies in the country ap pointed such committees, but there was no general concert. The payment of judges' salaries by the royal government in 1772 was seized upon by Adams as a fresh incitement. at first with scant effect, but on 21 November a slender town meeting at Faneuil Hall, Boston, appointed a correspondence committee of 21 to communicate with other Massachusetts towns concerning infringements of popular rights. It consisted of the foremost popular leaders — Adams, Otis, Warren, Quincy, etc.— and until late in 1774 (see CosisurrEEs OF SAFETY) re mained the real executive of the town and largely of the province. A report of its first meeting was printed and sent to all the towns and to other provinces, and in a few weeks 80 Massachusetts towns had appointed similar committees, many more doing so in a short time. No fresh places in other colonies joined, though the report was printed in their news papers. But the royal commission to investi gate the burning of the Gaspee in Rhode Is land and send the culprits to England for trial effected Adams' purpose—curiously, not in Rhode Island itself, but in Virginia, where the House of Burgesses, on 12 March 1773, ap pointed a committee of 11 to communicate with other colonies on the doings of the administra tion, especially in Rhode Island, and report. The plans were characteristically different, the Massachusetts being by the town voters, the Virginia by the legislature, but the latter was immediately effective in eliciting response.
Committees were appointed by Rhode Island 7 May, Connecticut 21 May, New Hampshire 27 May, Massachusetts 28 May, South Carolina 8 July, This threat of united oppo,sition daunted the government; the Gaspie prosecu tions were not pressed, and the commission found adversely to its commander. There be in$ nothing more to do, the legislative com mittees stopped for the ume, after exchanging proceedings. The Boston committee alone con tinued its political activities, and the tea ques tion (see BOSTON TFA PARTY) soon revived the others. The Boston committee, followed by that of Connecticut, sent out circulars urging the defeat of British purposes; and the former, by legal town-meeting, was made the executive of Boston. It called the committees of five surrounding towns into consultation, and 'sat ((like a little Senate,)) Hutchinson said. Under its direction the tea was thrown into the harbor. The Tea Act roused the remaining colonies; Georgia in September, Maryland and Delaware in October, North Carolina in December, New York and New Jersey in February, chose legis tive committees of correspondence; and new municipalities joined the movement — several in New Hampshire and Rhode Island and the city of New York. After the Boston Port Bill came into effect the Boston committee invited those of eight other towns to meet in Faneuil Hall, and the meeting sent circulars to the other colonies recommending suspension of trade with Great Britain, while the legislative committee was directed by the House to send copies of the Port Bill to other colonies and call attention to it as an attempt to suppress American lib erty. The organization of the committees was at once enormously extended; almost every town, city or county had one, though a few dismissed theirs in fear of the coming storm. The Boston opposition attempted this, but were crushingly defeated. In the middle and south ern colonies the committees were empowered, by the terms of their appointment, to elect dep uties to meet with those of other committees, to consult on measures for the public good. The history of the committees from this time on is the history of the preliminaries of the Revolu tion. Consult Frothingham, (Rise of the Re public> (1872) • Howard, (Preliminaries of the Revolution> (1'905).