Independence Day

Tag Archive for Independence Day

RB | July 2, 2016

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Independence Day 2016

Independence Day is the time when Americans celebrate freedom from a tyrannical government in the 18th century. While gaining that freedom, the founding fathers used encryption. They used encryption while risking their lives to gain the freedom we celebrate on July 4th. The EFF documents how many of the Founding Fathers of the United States used encryption to secure our freedoms.

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and the country’s third president. He is known to be one of the most prolific users of secret communications methods. He even invented his own cipher system—the “wheel cipher” or the “Jefferson disk” as it is now commonly referred to. Mr. Jefferson also presented a special cipher to Meriwether Lewis for use in the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

George Washington was the first president of the United States. He frequently dealt with encryption and espionage issues as the commander of the Continental Army. He gave his intelligence officers detailed instructions on methods for maintaining the secrecy and for using decryption to uncover British spies.

John Adams was the second U.S. president. He used a cipher provided by James Lovell—a member of the Continental Congress Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was an early advocate of cipher systems—for correspondence with his wife, Abigail Adams while traveling.

Benjamin Franklin invented ciphers used by the Continental Congress. In 1748, he published a book that spoke of encryption written by George Fisher, The American Instructor.

James Madison was the author of the Bill of Rights and the country’s fourth president. He was a big user of enciphered communications. Numerous examples from his correspondence prove that. The text of one letter from Madison to Joseph Jones, a member of the Continental Congress from Virginia, dated May 2, 1782, was almost completely encrypted via cipher. And on May 27, 1789, Madison sent a partially encrypted letter to Thomas Jefferson describing his plan to introduce a Bill of Rights.

John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, used ciphers for all diplomatic correspondence made while outside the United States. And John Jay’s brother, Sir James Jay, invited a special invisible ink, also known as sympathetic ink, and sent a supply from London to both his brother and then General Washington.

TechDirt correctly concludes that If encryption was good enough for the Founding Fathers to use in the 18th Century … it’s pretty ridiculous that we’re still having this debate now in this age of constant government monitoring, warrantless searches, corporate data aggregation, data sharing, and tools like IBM’s Non-Obvious Relationship Awareness software (NORA). The time is now to fight shortsighted “going dark” claims by the FBI and efforts by clueless politicians like Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) who have plans to ban encryption.

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Seems to me that the biggest threat to America this Independence Day is the political ambitions of technically illiterate know-nothings in the gooberment. Be like the Founding Fathers and encrypt something start with HTTPS Anywhere from the EFF.

How to Drink Like the Founding Fathers this 4th of July (coolmaterial.com)

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Category: Holidays | Tags: 2016, American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, Bill of Rights, Constitution, Continental Army, Continental Congress, Declaration of Independence, EFF, Encryption, Founding Fathers, Fourth of July, Freedom, George Washington, HTTPS, Independence Day, John Adams, John Jay, Lewis and Clark Expedition, POTUS, SCOTUS, Thomas Jefferson

RB | July 3, 2015

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Ordinary People Did Extraordinary Things to Aid the American Revolution

The men who declared American Independence in 1776 get their due respect in the history books. But often, many of the men and women who helped earn that independence are forgotten. Mental Floss pays tribute to 11 of the unsung heroes who made huge contributions to the American Revolution.

This is the story of Joseph Plumb Martin the original Yankee Doodle. Martin was a typical soldier in the American Revolution. He joined the Connecticut state militia at just 15 years old. Martin served almost seven years in the Continental Army of General George Washington.

What set Martin apart is that he kept a detailed diary during the American Revolution. Many years after the war his diary was published as an anonymous account of the war. The book is titled A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier, Interspersed with Anecdotes of Incidents that Occurred Within His Own Observation. It sold poorly during his lifetime. However, it was republished over 100 years later under the title Private Yankee Doodle and shed new light on the daily life of the men who made independence possible.

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Between the hot dogs, mosquitoes, and shopping, do something important. Turn off the TV, read a book, Thank a veteran, Get smarter about how politicians are destroying the country.