Many Committees of Safety were established throughout Colonial America at the start of the American Revolution. These committees started to appear in the 1760s as means to discuss the concerns of the time, and often consisted of every male adult in the community. The local militias were usually under the control of the committees, which in turn sent representatives to county and colony-level assemblies to represent their local interests.

Harper's Encyclopædia of United States History (1905) contains the following entry:

Committees of Safety, formed before and during the Revolutionary War, to keep watch of and act upon events pertaining to the public welfare, were really committees of vigilance. They were of incalculable service during that period in detecting conspiracies against the interests of the people and restraining evil disposed persons. They were sometimes possessed of almost supreme executive power, delegated to them by the people. Massachusetts took the lead in the appointment of a committee of safety so early as the autumn of 1774, of which John Hancock was chairman. It was given power to call out the militia, provide means of defence — in a word, provide many of the duties of a provisional government. Other colonies appointed committees of safety. One was appointed in the city of New York, composed of the leading citizens. These committees were in constant communication with the committees of correspondence.