Item

Access and use

Location of collection:
Library of Virginia
The Library of Virginia
800 East Broad Street
Richmond, VA 23219
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Archives Reference Services
Phone: (804) 692-3888
Restrictions:

Please use microfilm (Misc. Reels 301, 619-620).

Terms of access:

There are no restrictions.

Preferred citation:

Virginia. Committee of Safety. Records, 1775-1776. Accession 30003a, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
1.6 cu. ft. (4 boxes)
Creator:
Virginia. Committee of Safety.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Virginia. Committee of Safety. Records, 1775-1776. Accession 30003a, State government records collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

Records of the Committee of Safety, 1775-1776, include correspondence, minute books, and an account book. These records document the activities of the Committee of Safety.

The correspondence has been digitized and is available online at Virginia Committee of Safety, 1774-1776, Digitial Collection

Biographical / historical:

Between August 1, 1774, and July 5, 1776, five extralegal conventions directed the political and military affairs of Virginia. These bodies gradually assumed legislative, executive, and judicial functions as the royal government disintegrated. By the time of the adjournment of the fifth convention, troops had been raised and armed at public expense, a constitution adopted, and Patrick Henry elected the first governor of the Commonwealth. The Virginia Revolutionary Convention Records consist of minutes, journals and papers such as letters, petitions, drafts of both resolutions and ordinances, committee reports and Tory and British intercepted letters. Each convention's records are filed separately and papers are arranged by the date of consideration.

On August 16, 1775, the third convention created a Committee of Safety, charging it with "carying into complete and full execution all....ordinances and resolutions of the convention." In December, the committee was authorized to imprison Tories, seize their property, and to act as an appellate court. Initially the committee was to function only during the convention's recess. However, in December 1775, the fourth convention authorized the committee to act during the session and ordered it to maintain records and place them before the convention.

Acquisition information:
Acquisition information unavailable.
Processing information:

The collection was mostly processed years before a finding aid was created. The encoding archivist maintained the order in which the items were originally arranged by the processing archivist.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into four series:

  • Series I: General Correspondence, 1775-1776;
  • Series II: Accounts, 1775-1776;
  • Series III: Journal, 1776;
  • Series IV: Minutes, 1776;