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Espionage In The American Revolution

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Espionage, the use of spies and spying to gain inside information, is often referred to the second oldest occupation. The act of spying is an ancient form of using deception, lies, special tools and misdirection. Today, it is evident we continue to use this craft which has evolved overtime, especially in governments for the benefit of one's own country. Where has espionage been a key success for a county before? When the Patriots were fighting for their freedom from Britain during the American Revolution from 1765-1783 and won. At the start of the American Revolution, George Washington’s army was weak when compared to their enemy, the British. His army was labelled as, “ under-trained, under-staffed, under-equipped, and underfunded. Also, that in order to win, Washington needed to outmaneuver and outsmart the enemy (“George Washington, Spymaster”).” So, what did he do? He saw the need of an intellectual group to help aid in the fight.
It started off with a few men and military officials who would dress in disguise and cross over into the enemy's lines to gain information on their opponent’s next moves. This was so Washington could lead his army in the right direction and get ahead of the British. These men became …show more content…

Most of these tactics and tool were revolutionary for that time period. As already seen, those involved often took on code names and false identities. On top of that, they used propaganda, “dead drop” places, and exaggeration of information to trick the other side. Washington, with the help of James Jay, is credited with the advancement of invisible ink to react with different elements to display a message. Similarly, codes and ciphers were used and constantly changed to prevent the British from catching onto them to reveal the news. These are just a few of the methods used by the Culper Spy Ring and other intelligence gathering

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