Agents, double-agents, spies, secret messages, codes, cyphers are the words that evoke the world of intelligence gathering, a necessary tool for the success of any army. George Washington knew better than anyone the value of knowing what your enemy's plans were and to prevent them, if at all possible, from learning your own plans. Amazingly there are still many sites associated with the Culper Spy Ring that you can visit. Bill Bleyer, journalist and historian, tells us about his book, George Washington's Long Island Spy Ring: A History and Tour Guide.

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"Listen my children, and you shall hear, of the midnight ride of Paul Revere." With this one line, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ensured the legacy of 18th-century Boston silversmith, mechanic and entrepreneur, Paul Revere. The poem, published in January of 1861 in the Atlantic Monthly magazine was simply entitled "Paul Revere's Ride," and purports to detail the ride of Paul Revere to warn Middlesex county farmers and minute men about the approach of Regular Army soldiers to capture a cache of weapons and supplies hidden in Concord, Massachusetts. However, that dramatic ride was just one of dozens of rides that Paul Revere was hired to do on behalf of the people of Massachusetts. Join Professor Bob Allison in conversation with Tegan Kehoe, the Research and Adult Programs Director of the historic Paul Revere House on the many rides of Paul Revere.

https://www.paulreverehouse.org/

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The "Whiskey Rebellion," as Alexander Hamilton called it, was the first major test of the new government's power to control its territory. The Whiskey Tax of 1791 taxed smaller producers of whiskey, and required all stills to be registered. The response of farmers in the west--many of them veterans of the Revolution--was at times violent, and President Washington responded by leading an army of 13,000 men--mocked at the "watermelon army"-- to subdue the rebellion. We talk about this story with Brady Crytzer, author of The Whiskey Rebellion; A Distilled History of an American Crisis.

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