Exercise: “Spy Letters of the American Revolution”

Instructions: Navigate to the “Spy Letters of the American Revolution” online exhibition, hosted by the Clements Library of the University of Michigan, then examine the various galleries and view the letters and other visual materials included in the exhibition. Then answer the respective questions below.

Visit URL: “Spy Letters of the American Revolution”

Question 1:  From the specific letters and narratives, what can you conclude about the role played by spies and espionage activities during the Revolutionary War? Do they seem to have played a significant role in the conflict, or only in certain episodes? Which side do you think employed spies more successfully, and why?

Question 2:  What do the letters surrounding Benedict Arnold's “turning coat” reveal to us about this episode? Using the text of Arnold's letters to John André, what can you conclude about the reasons Arnold decided to go over to the British? What is your assessment of the information Arnold passed along to André—how much strategic value do you think it had

Question 3:  In your assessment, why is there relatively little information about the women (except for Lucy Revere) who spied for either side during the war? Were there particular advantages or disadvantages inherent in employing female spies? From “Miss Jenny's” and Lucy Revere's letters, what conclusions can you draw about the activities and motivations of female spies?

Question 4:  What role did spies and espionage play in the Saratoga Campaign? How did information passed by spies affect specific elements of the campaign? On a scale of one (least) to ten (most), how would you rate the importance of espionage to the ultimate outcome of the Battle of Saratoga?

Question 5:  Why do you think the people included in this exhibit chose to engage in some form of espionage activity? How were spies and espionage able to be a part of a military culture of “gentlemen” officers, where “honor” was such an important form of social capital?