Talk:Vigilance committee

Untitled
I don't understand enough to comment on the page, but either that the page is totally US-centric without merit; or that the links to other Wikipedias are wrong. The German version talks about a German phenomenon, the Swedish (I think) about the phenomenon in general (but it is stub) and here it is only about "vigilance committees" in the United States. So I am not sure what is right: is it a universal term (and therefore this article is wrong to focus only on the US), or is it a specific term in American history (and therefore this article is wrong to link to other articles about similar subjects). --89.197.144.12 (talk) 07:23, 9 June 2008 (UTC)


 * This article is closely related to the "vigilante" one because a vigilante was the term for somebody who serves on a vigilante committee. I believe the origin actually comes from the French Revolution's Committee of Surveillance (Comité de Surveillance) see here:
 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_General_Security#Origins_and_evolution
 * An alternate translation of that word "Surveillance" would be "Vigilance" in the same sense of being watchful, and so that's the term used here in related letters from 1793:
 * https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Collection_of_State_Papers_Relative_to/VHrYZHwM9ooC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Vigilance%20committee
 * Here's proof the term means the same:
 * https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Chronological_Epitome_of_the_most_rema/JQMu45zLW-gC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Committee+of+Surveillance+vigilance&pg=PA19&printsec=frontcover
 * So after that the term "vigilance committee" comes to mean setting up an ad-hoc investigation:
 * https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Parliamentary_History_of_England_fro/EVk6AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22committee+of+vigilance%22+investigate&pg=PA427&printsec=frontcover
 * And in War of 1812 the cities of Baltimore and Alexandria set up emergency citizen groups for town defence that they called "Vigilance Committees". see:
 * https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Examiner/Y38tAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Vigilance+Committee&pg=PA303&printsec=frontcover
 * The term gets used by both abolitionists and slaveholders for their activities. So term seems to have had a lot of use long before 1850's when the San Francisco Vigilance Committee was set up.
 * Should some of this information be added to the article? Enri999 (talk) 21:14, 4 November 2023 (UTC)
 * I don't think so, as this isn't based on any reliable sources, just googling around and original research. Andre🚐 23:16, 4 November 2023 (UTC)
 * No those are original sources. Enri999 (talk) 04:56, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
 * See WP:PRIMARY Andre🚐 06:01, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
 * lol Enri999 (talk) 04:04, 13 November 2023 (UTC)
 * The authoritative secondary source here is Eric Foner's history of the underground railroad in the 1850s in the USA, and that is what the page should primarily be about. Andre🚐 04:19, 13 November 2023 (UTC)

Edit article
The only reference has to do with the West and inline citations are not used. None of the article is properly sourced, so it appears to be POV to classify the KKK or the Black Panthers as vigilance committees, for instance. I deleted all references to the South during Reconstruction, as recognized historians classify the KKK and later groups as vigilante terrorist and insurgent paramilitary groups. I also deleted unsupported references to the North. The whole article could be deleted as unsourced. Parkwells (talk) 14:57, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

removing POV tag with no active discussion per Template:POV
I've removed an old neutrality tag from this page that appears to have no active discussion per the instructions at Template:POV:
 * This template is not meant to be a permanent resident on any article. Remove this template whenever:
 * There is consensus on the talkpage or the NPOV Noticeboard that the issue has been resolved
 * It is not clear what the neutrality issue is, and no satisfactory explanation has been given
 * In the absence of any discussion, or if the discussion has become dormant.

Since there's no evidence of ongoing discussion, I'm removing the tag for now. If discussion is continuing and I've failed to see it, however, please feel free to restore the template and continue to address the issues. Thanks to everybody working on this one! -- Khazar2 (talk) 13:26, 9 July 2013 (UTC)

Removing "Disbandment" Section
There is no citation for this statement, and it is contradicted by reputable sources (see for example "The Captive's Quest for Freedom" by R.J.M. Blackett). Therefore I am removing it. Edit: I rethought the step of removal. There needs to be an introduction clarifying what is meant by vigilance committee. An anti-slavery vigilance committee is entirely different from a group of vigilantes. --O.M. Nash (talk) 21:54, 8 January 2023 (UTC)

Removal of Eric Foner
Please read the sources. This is relevant to the history of the underground railroad. Andre🚐 14:14, 11 November 2023 (UTC)