Jim Regan - Site Reviews
Spy Letters of the American Revolution
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The American Revolution is also one of history's earliest conflicts from which substantial physical evidence of the espionage still exists, (thanks in part to one British General's obsessive need to save and duplicate paperwork). That evidence -- presumably now declassified -- can now be viewed at Spy Letters of the American Revolution.
Created by the Clements Library, largely from the collected papers of Sir Henry Clinton, the Spy Letters project was designed with admirable flexibility. Not only is the visitor offered four viewing options (high- or low-resolution, with Frames or without) but the contents of the exhibition are also available through their own categories or via abundant links from other areas of the site. For the sake of this review, we'll list by category, which include:
The Gallery of Letters - Photographic images -- thumbnails and larger, readable, copies- of letters from such figures as Clinton, Mrs. Paul Revere, George Washington and Benedict Arnold (including his offer to sell West Point for 20,000 pounds). Each letter's image is also accompanied by a text version -- to compensate for poor penmanship.
Stories - Details and circumstances behind each letter. (Mrs. Revere gave her letter, along with 125 pounds, to a friend to take to her husband. The friend turned out to be a spy who gave the letter to the British and the money to himself.)
Methods - From Invisible Ink, written between the lines of innocuous correspondence, to Ciphers, to the elegant simplicity of the Mask Letter, Methods covers the techniques used to conceal the true intent of a letter - or even the letter itself. (The dedication of one spy, carrying a message concealed in a bullet-sized silver ball, was admirable if not inspirational.)
People - Presents images and biographies of characters featured at the site.
Also available are a clickable map of the routes taken by each letter, and a Timeline of events -- from the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763, to Washington's resignation as commander-in chief, twenty years later. Designed as an educational site, Spy Letters also includes a Teacher's Lounge, with Classroom Activities and Study Questions.
With correspondences covering everything from troop movements to George Washington's false teeth, Spy Letters illustrates that even two hundred years ago, espionage involved collecting both the compelling and the mundane. It also reveals how times have changed though -- how 'simple' spying was before the days of microfilm, hidden microphones, and Aston Martins.
Spy Letters of the American Revolution can be found at http://www.clements.umich.edu/spies/index.html.
(Please note: This is now the coorect url for the site.))
Jim Regan provides 'Today's Links' to the e-Monitor. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.