American Memory: James Madison's Ciphers

Never let it be said that the founding fathers of America were overly trusting to kind fate. They took any number of precautions, including the use of code. The Library of Congress has an American Memory article (with links to other articles) that focuses on James Madison's use of codes, etc.:

As a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress, while secretary of state, and in his personal correspondence with Thomas Jefferson, James Madison feared constantly that unauthorized people would seek to read his private and public correspondence. To deter such intrusions, he resorted to a variety of codes and ciphers....

For a somewhat-related book, there's Spies of the Revolution by Katherine and John Bakeless, Scholastic, 1966. It's aimed at school-age kids, and is based on Turncoats, Traitors and Heroes by John Bakeless, c. 1959. I read Spies of the Revolution several years ago and haven't seen the early days of our country in the same light since. Interesting stuff.

Turncoats, Traitors and Heroes: Espionage in the American Revolution, Da Capo Press, 408 pages, ISBN 0306808439, is still available new.


Turncoats, Traitors, and Heroes: Espionage in the American Revolution

Spies of the Revolution is out of print, but it's easy to find a good copy today for less than $4 on the Internet.