HISTORICAL IMPACT
The Committees of Correspondence were a hugely influential but overlooked part of early American history. The brainchild of Sam Adams, committees of patriots were set up in hundreds of towns to share patriotic ideas with one another. They were ingeniously simple to set up: any group of patriots in a town could quickly create a committee and join the vast Committees of Correspondence network, keeping all Thirteen Colonies quite literally on the same page.
LEGACY
The Committees were the driving force behind the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, and the Continental Congress. Once their mission was fulfilled, they disbanded and were largely forgotten by the general public.
Today, patriots and conservative grassroots organizations need to coordinate their efforts again to have greater reach, efficiency and influence.
RESOURCES
History: learn about the influence this had on our country.
Mission: learn about issuing Proclamations to the public, and communicating with other Committees.
Operating an individual Committee: read about running a Committee and see a sample Proclamation.
The Committees of Correspondence network: see the entire plan in action and how it can help save the country.
The three main components
A COMMITTEE
A Committee is a group of patriots that represent patriot interests in their town or city, which meets regularly to issue Proclamations. The Committee members are required to be citizens living in that Committee’s city who are loyal to U.S. Constitution.
A PROCLAMATION
The Proclamation is the unit of work of a Committee. A Proclamation is simply a well-written public statement on a topic the Committee wants to weigh in on that reflects the values of the patriots they represent.
THE COMMITTEES NETWORK
These are the other Committees that each Committee distributes Proclamations to. Fundamentally Committees exist at the town/city level, but groups of them in a county can elect a county committee, groups of counties can elect a state committee, and states can form a national committee.
Building the network in your area
STEP 1: START A COMMITTEE IN YOUR CITY
Meet with local patriots and elect a Committee to meet regularly.
STEP 2: PUBLISH PROCLAMATIONS
Publish common-sense Proclamations on topics of your choice and disseminate to your area via flyers, email, social media, ads, etc.
STEP 2: HELP NEIGHBORING CITIES START COMMITTEES
Assist neighboring cities in forming their own Committees. Each Committee can vote to adopt another Committee’s proclamation and distribute it in their area.
STEP 3: CITY COMMITTEES ELECT A COUNTY COMMITTEE
Committees in an area can work together to create a County Committee that exists one level above the city Committee. County-level Committees work just like the city-level ones, issuing their own Proclamations and/or adopting ones from other city or county-level Committees.
STEP 4: COUNTY COMMITTEES ELECT A STATE COMMITTEE
Similarly, several county-level Committees can elect a state-level committee.
It is expected and desirable that the most gifted city and county Committee members rise to higher levels.
STEP 5: STATE COMMITTEES ELECT A NATIONAL COMMITTEE
Finally, multiple state Committees elect a National Committee, in effect repeating the process the Founders used when creating the Continental Congress.
Spreading Proclamations in the network
1
A COMMITTEE DISTRIBUTES A PROCLAMATION
A Committee drafts and publishes a Proclamation to the people in its area. It also sends it to nearby Committees.
2
OTHER COMMITTEES VOTE TO ADOPT THE PROCLAMATION
The other Committees vote to adopt the Proclamation. If adopted, each Committee passes along the Proclamation through its network, with City Committees distributing it to the people in its area.
3
THE PROCLAMATION MOVES UP (OR DOWN) THE CHAIN
City Committees share worthy Proclamation with higher Committees, i.e. the county Committees, which then share it with State Commmittees, which then share it with the national committee.
Proclamations can move the other way too, for example, the national Committee can send a Proclamation to State committees for consideration, who can send it to county Committees, who send it to city Committees, who then send it to the people.
How a Committee adopts a Proclamation
Committees can save time by adopting other Committee’s Proclamations if it’s in agreement on a topic it wishes to advance.
1
MOTION TO ADOPT
At a meeting, a Committee member makes a motion to adopt another Committee’s Proclamation. (See below for creating new Proclamations).
2
SECOND THE MOTION
Another Committe member must second the motion for it to proceed.
3
DISCUSS
Discuss the merits of the Proclamation. Should it be passed as is? Should it be modified? Should it be rejected?
4
VOTE
With a majority vote, the Committee has made its decision.
5
PUBLISH
Disseminate the adopted Proclamation to the people in your local area, by whatever means the Committee chooses (email, flyer, website, social media, etc.)
6
NOTIFY RELATED COMMITTEES
A city-level Committee should notify any county-level Committee. A county-level Committe should notify the cities, etc.
How a Committee creates a new Proclamation
If a pressing issue is not covered by existing Proclamations, a Committee should create its own.
1
MOTION TO CREATE A PROCLAMATION
At a meeting, a Committee member makes a motion to create a Proclamation.
2
SECOND THE MOTION
Another Committe member must second the motion for it to proceed.
3
DISCUSS
Discuss what items should be included in the Proclamation.
4
VOTE
Vote on whether it should be created with those items. A majority passes it.
5
APPOINT DRAFTING SUBCOMMITTEE
A subcommittee should draft the Proclamation. At the next meeting, it can be considered for adoption.
6
SEE STEP 1 IN THE SECTION ABOVE
See Step 1 in How a Committee adopts a Proclamation above.
Illustration of a local Proclamation going national
Local issues can quickly go viral using this system.
1
COMMITTEE PUBLISHES PROCLAMATION
A Committee in the city of Springfield publishes a particularly well-written Proclamation condemning a local school board that approved inappropriate materials to be taught to students.
2
COMMITTEE SENDS IT TO OTHER COMMITTEES
The Committee notifies neighboring Committees that it published the Proclamation, inviting them to join the sentiment.
3
OTHER COMMITTEES ADOPT IT
Finding it persuasive and articulate, the neighboring Committees vote to adopt it as well.
4
COUNTY-LEVEL COMMITTEE ADOPTS IT
The county-level Committee also adopts it. It invites its sister county-level Committees to join in adopting it. They do, and each of them invites the cities in the County to also join and spread it.
5
STATE COMMITTEE ADOPTS IT
The county-level Committees invite the state-level Committee to adopt the Proclamation. The state-level Committee adopts it, and invites the other state-level Committees to do so. They do, and each state invites its counties, which invites their cities to join.
6
NATIONAL COMMITTEE ADOPTS IT
Having been invited by multiple states, the National Committee learns of the Proclamation and adopts it. It receives national coverage. The originating city-level Committee is esteemed.
Illustration of a National issue becoming localized
The entire country can be united on the same issue, using the Committees of Correspondence system.
1
NATIONAL COMMITTEE ISSUES A PROCLAMATION
The national-level Committee, on which sits the most esteemed-and highest profile delegates, issues a Proclamation urging Committees to support a national fast-food chain that is resisting an unconstitutional mandate.
2
NATIONAL COMMITTEE SENDS IT TO STATE COMMITTEES
The National Committee invites the various state-level Committees to adopt the Proclamation. They do, and each state-level Committee passes it to each county-level Committee.
3
COUNTY-LEVEL COMMITTEES ADOPT AND SEND TO CITY-LEVEL COMMITTEES
Each county-level Committee send it to each city-level Committee in that county.
1
CITY-LEVEL COMMITTEES ALERT THE PUBLIC
Each city-level Committee that adopts it alerts the people in its area to support those restaurants in its area. With the widepsread grassroots support of the people, the fast-food chain maintains its resolve.