What did the committees of corresponding do?

Answer 1

They secretly sent messages through out the 13 colonies against the actions of Great Britain.

Answer 2

They secretly sent messages through out the 13 colonies against the actions of Great Britain.

Answer 3

The Committees of Correspondence were secret US colonial groups that exchanged information regarding the actions of the British. They started in 1772, prior to the Revolutionary War, and continued throughout the war. By establishing coordination between the groups opposing the British, they represented an early form of a federal government.

As the American colonists became more and more unhappy with the King in England, they began to organize efforts to govern themselves. These became known as "committees of correspondence", because at first their major efforts were to send letters telling their counterparts in other colonies what was going on in theirs, and to promulgate such letters so everyone would know what was happening. In some cities, such as Boston, they had local committees as well.

When war began and separation occurred, because most men on the committees were members of their colonial parliaments, and definitely the most informed, they effectively became the colonial governments in a number of colonies. When independence was proclaimed, the committees surrendered their power to new colonial legislatures -- though since almost all of them were parts of those legislatures, the change of government was smooth.

Loyalists were excluded from the committees, and thus from the new legislatures.