COMMITTEES OF SAFETY AND CORRESPONDENCE. Committees of Safety and Correspondence similar to those in the American Revolution were organized in Texas as early as 1832. At first these bodies were not hostile to the Mexican government. Their purpose was to secure the organization of the militia for defense against Indians. Later, they kept people in touch with developments and made possible organized, effective resistance in the Texas Revolution. On May 8, 1835, Mina (Bastrop) appointed its committee of safety and correspondence for the general diffusion of information. A few days later organizations at Gonzales and Viesca were formed. A committee for the jurisdiction of Columbia met on August 15, 1835. Other communities established similar committees, and before the end of that summer apparently all precincts had such organizations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hans Peter Nielsen Gammel, comp., Laws of Texas, 1822-1897 (10 vols., Austin: Gammel, 1898). Rupert N. Richardson, Texas: The Lone Star State (New York: Prentice-Hall, 1943; 4th ed., with Ernest Wallace and Adrian N. Anderson, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1981). Forrest T. Ward, "Pre-Revolutionary Activity in Brazoria County," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 64 (October 1960).
