During the American Revolutionary War, the Patriots in Boston formed a Committee of Safety to organize the campaign against the Crown. The Committee was known to Thomas Gage. The Boston Committee of Safety is the most notable.
To my modern eyes the use of the word Safety leaves me somewhat bemused. Today it is more of an afterthought, a feature to be added to an automobile to help prevent casualties on the road. Perhaps a special type of razor to avoid injury while shaving. To give the committee running a war the name of safety seems incongruous.
It turns out that during the English Civil War, some 130 years before, the War was also being organised by a Committee of Safety! The English Civil War resulted in the “English Commonwealth” (aka Common-Wealth). Massachusetts became a Commonwealth. Based upon not very much I believe that the English Commonwealth was very much the inspiration for American independence movement. Though I’ve not really done enough research to confirm the connection, others have made the same linkage.
It is interesting to see if there are any other usages of the term Safety. I had come across a Committee of Safety in the context of the Great Fire of London. So it was not used just for organising Civil War. To name the committee that is organising the campaign to fight the Great Fire of London does seem appropriate and even on its way to the “modern” usage.
Perhaps it is also interesting to find out if it has some modern usages fitting with the 17th/18th Century. It turns out it possibly does! Many Police organisations in the US are called a Department of Safety. The term is common in the US though virtually unknown in England in this context.
The author is always looking for connections so to see a link that runs from the 17th Century through to the modern US is always appealing. Just because the pattern fits it doesn’t mean it is right. It is possible that a Committee of Safety was the correct term to use and there is no connection?
Perhaps in the 17th and 18th Century it had a different meaning. A chance tweet by an expert in the Stuart Period in England has indicated it may well have a completely different meaning or at least emphasis. The latin expression: “salus populi suprema lex” roughly translates as: “Let the safety of the people be the supreme (or highest) law”. Suddenly the term Safety takes on a whole new meaning.
The latin expression is still in use in legal circle. Some colleges use it as a motto. Some more right wing organisations use the term Salus Populii
Particularly with the link above the connection between the term Safety and War no longer seems unusual.