A total of about seven thousand to eight thousand Patriots serve on "Committees of Correspondence" at the colonial and local levels, comprising most of the leadership in their communities.

Loyalists are excluded.

The committees become the leaders of the American resistance to British actions, and largely determine the war effort at the state and local level.

When the First Continental Congress decides to boycott British products, the colonial and local Committees take charge, examining merchant records and publishing the names of merchants who attempt to defy the boycott by importing British goods.