Final answer:
The Committees of Correspondence were networks that facilitated the flow of information and united opposition to British rule among the American colonies, initiated by Samuel Adams and instrumental in stoking the flames of the American Revolution.
Step-by-step explanation:
The network of committees that sped information through the colonies were called Committees of Correspondence. These committees played a pivotal role in the American Revolution by facilitating the exchange of ideas and coordinating colonial opposition to British policies. Initiated by Samuel Adams in Boston, these committees quickly spread to other towns in Massachusetts and across the other colonies, eventually becoming a unified network that communicated colonial grievances, coordinated responses to British authority, and ultimately, helped organize the path toward revolution. The Massachusetts Government Act shut down the colonial government, further fueling the importance of the Committees of Correspondence to act as a shadow government and preserve colonial resistance to British laws and taxes, such as the Tea Act of 1773. The Committees represented an organized form of inter-colony cooperation, identifying enemies of the movement and promoting a narrative that sometimes contested the royal governments' interpretations, thereby sowing the seeds of an incipient rebellion and the formation of a new, independent government.