The Evolution of Espionage in America Essay Example For Students

The Evolution of Espionage in America Essay The Evolution of Espionage in AmericaKnowledge is power. It is as simple as that. Espionage is the secret gathering of information or intelligence. Intelligence refers to the processed information needed to make any decision. This could be used for business, military, economic, or political decisions. More often than not, this term refers to domestic or foreign policy of a country. Espionage is illegal in all countries, yet all countries have some form of espionage organization. The first espionage act was recorded 2500 years ago. The first book on espionage, The Art of War was written by a Chinese emperor/general Sun Tzu in about 500 BC. There is another type of espionage, counter-espionage. This is the collection of information of any espionage (Ransom 1). American espionage is particularly important. It has got us where we are today. Without it, we wouldn’t have got passed the Revolutionary War, and our independence. From the Revolutionary War to the highly technical world of today, espionage in America has always played a role in shaping Jaynes 2The Revolutionary War was the war for American independence. The intelligence gathering ability of the Americans was not very good. Foley, the author of the book Famous American Spies, says that the Americans were very disorganized. They were not very secret either. They held open meetings in public taverns for the community to see. They relied mainly on the infiltration of enemy lines and by word of mouth (Foley 17-18). The most famous tavern was the Green Dragon tavern. Foley mentions that some of the members were Sam and John Adams, John Hancock, James Otis, Dr. James Warren, Ben Churchill, and Paul Revere. Paul Revere was probably the most important pre-Revolutionary spy. Revere participated in the Boston Tea Party raid, along side John Hancock and John Adams. After this, Revere became a messenger from town to town delivering intelligence. His usual ride was a ten-day trek from Philadelphia to Boston. His greatest accomplishment is his famous â€Å"Midnight Ride.† His trip was not all on horseback though. Before he could start his ride, Revere had to cross the Charles River. He had to be deathly quiet, so as not to alert the British ship ever so close. When he reached shore, he rode to his girlfriend’s house, and she threw him a warm, freshly sewn coat. Then he began his ride to Lexington, awaking everyone in his path to alert the coming of British forces. For the early Revolutionar y War this action was critical. If not for Paul Revere, there would be no Battle of Jaynes 3 Lexington, and the war would have began somewhere else, if ever (Foley 15-30)Nathan Hale is also another Revolutionary War spy. Hale became a martyr to the war cause. Hale was the captain in the colonial army. Word was sent from George Washington to Hale’s commander expressing his need for intelligence. No one would volunteer for the job. Hale decided it was his duty as an officer and to his country to take on the responsibility. He volunteered in front of his squad, which soon lead to his downfall. Hale had previously been a schoolteacher, and had very strong legs because of it. In turn he was a very athletic and handsome. But looks couldn’t save Hale from his fate. Washington himself instructed Hale of his orders. Today, still, no one knows what Hale learned. After three days into his mission, Hale was captured and eventually killed for treason. This led to the super secret development of the Culper Ring by George Washington (Foley 49-56)After the death of Hale, Washington vowed that an intelligence failure of this proportion would never happen again. Washington had a great need for spies. He decided to form the Culper Ring. The Culper Ring was a super-secret organization formed in New York. A man by the name of Benjamin Tallmadge started the ring. He used the alias â€Å"Culper† to gather Jaynes 4 information. The ring’s best accomplishment was the discovery of Benedict Arnold (Foley 57-72). Benedict Arnold could have been an American intelligence disaster, if not for the Culper Ring. Arnold was a distinguished military general for America at the beginning of the war. Arnold’s ambitions however became distorted. Arnold planned to surrender his forces to the British and defect to them. Fortunately, the Culper Ring discovered him and prevented it (Ameringer 25-26). The best spy of the Revolutionary War however was Enoch Crosby. Crosby was known as â€Å"The Spy.† Enoch was a simple shoemaker in his hometown of Danbury, Connecticut. He was the first person in Danbury to enlist after the news of Lexington. Soon after, Crosby fell ill, and spent time in the hospital. After his recovery he moved to Carmel, New York to enlist again. He soon befriended a Tory, or Loyalist in secret. Crosby soon realized that he could help the colonial army by joining Tory ranks and exposing them. After Crosby got the information he needed he turned to a friend who was on the Committee of Safety. John Jay, a prominent leader, hired Crosby to keep turning in British regiments. Crosby joined these groups, gathered information on battle plans etc. and then was â€Å"caught† by his American Jaynes5friends. Crosby helped this country so much James Fenimore Cooper wrote a play about him entitled â€Å"The Spy† (Foley 31-48). The Crucible Essay IntroductionCryptology was again used in World War II. MAGIC and the â€Å"purple machine† were used by the Japanese. ULTRA and the â€Å"Enigma† was used by Germany. Once again America used COMINT (Ameringer 141-142). After WWII, President Truman disbanded the OSS. Many wanted him to keep it, and in a way he did. Truman formed the CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency. The purpose of the CIA was to protect U.S. national security. The CIA gathers information and reports it directly to the president. The president is the highest official in the CIA. The Communists in Russia already had their own organization called the Komitet Gosndarstrennoy Bezoposnostier or KGB. The CIA was very effective both inside and outside the U.S., while the KGB was only effective in Russia (Jeffreys-Jones, Rhodrl 1-6). Jaynes 10The CIA played an important part to the United States after it’s founding. In April 1961, the CIA trained force of Cuban exiles to land at the â€Å"Bay of Pigs.† Even though the operation in whole was a failure, it showed that the CIA had room to improve (Ameringer 271-296). The CIA also was used in Korea and Vietnam. The Korean War established the CIA as an intelligence force to be reckoned with (Ameringer 271-296). There is not a lot of information about these CIA operations; most is still classified. The Vietnam War helped the CIA, but showed again it was still flawed (Ameringer 311-329). A misuse of the CIA and other government offices caused Richard Nixon to almost be impeached. The Watergate scandal helped fuel another intelligence debate. Nixon later resigns because of this incident (Ameringer 305). 1985 was known as the â€Å"Year of the Spy.† Between late November and early December three major spy arrests were made. One was a CIA employee who revealed secrets to the KGB. Another was with a Navy spy ring that did disastrous damage. This year was also riddled with the defection of KGB agents (Richelson 388). In the early part of the 1990’s, the Cold War finally came to an end. Not much is known about the operations of the CIA. After the fall of Communist Russia, many wanted to dissolve the CIA. President George Bush, Jaynes 11a former CIA director, wasn’t going to do that. Instead the CIA power was limited to just the U.S. and its job was the war on drugs and national security (Ameringer 391). America and espionage, unfortunately, have become synonymous. Secrets are abound and conspiracy theories fly in our country. Espionage, one way or the other, has always played a major role in American History. Jaynes12Foley, Rae. Famous American Spies. New York:Ransom, Howe. â€Å"Espionage.† Encarta. Jeffreys-Jones, Rhodrl. â€Å"CIA.† Encarta. Ameringer, Charles D. U.S. Foreign Intelligence: The Secret Side of American History. Lexington:Richelson, Jeffrey T. A Century of Spies: Intelligencein the Twentieth Century. New York: OxfordBibliography:Works CitedFoley, Rae. Famous American Spies. New York:Dodd, Meard, and Company. 1964. Ransom, Howe. â€Å"Espionage.† Encarta. CD-ROM. IBM ed.2000. Seattle, WA: Microsoft, 1987-2000Jeffreys-Jones, Rhodrl. â€Å"CIA.† Encarta. CD-ROM. IBM ed.2000. Seattle, WA: Microsoft, 1987-2000Ameringer, Charles D. U.S. Foreign Intelligence: The Secret Side of American History. Lexington:Lexington Books, 1990. Richelson, Jeffrey T. A Century of Spies: Intelligencein the Twentieth Century. New York: OxfordUniversity Press, 1955.