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by Erin E. Thompson, USAICoE Staff Historian
CONGRESS ESTABLISHES COMMITTEE ON SPIES
On 5 June 1776, a five-person Committee on Spies was created by the Continental Congress to address the definition of treason and the punishment for those found guilty of espionage. The committee’s work influenced the first espionage act passed by Congress in August 1776.
In late May 1776, Gen. George Washington took his fears of British and civilian spies and the necessity for new laws to deal with them before the Continental Congress. At the time, treason was defined as disobedience to the British monarchy. The question was posed: “[W]hat is proper to be done with persons giving intelligence to the enemy, or supplying them with provisions,” when the enemy was of British origin?
The Continental Congress established two committees to address the issues of sovereignty of the colonies and the consequences of acting against them. First, the Committee of Five was established to draft an address to the colonies about the necessity to “save their country, their freedom, and their property.” Then, on 5 June 1776, the Committee on Spies was created to address the legal framework of dealing with treason and spies. The Continental Congress appointed John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Wilson, Robert L. Livingston, and Edward Rutledge to this committee. The inclusion of the first two men in both committees intertwined the creation of the new nation with the resolutions to protect it from foreign and domestic threats.
The Committee on Spies quickly produced a new definition of treason and courses of action for dealing with spies and saboteurs. On 24 June 1776, the work of the committee was approved by a congressional resolution that asserted all citizens of the new United Colonies owed their allegiance to the Colonies themselves. Furthermore, the Congress resolved:
"[A]ll persons, members of, or owing allegiance to any of the United Colonies, as before described, who shall levy war against any of the said colonies…or be adherent to the king of Great Britain, or others [who are] the enemies of the said colonies…giving to him or them aid and comfort, are guilty of treason against such colony."
Just two days after passage of this resolution, Thomas Hickey, an enlisted officer in General Washington’s personal guard accused of recruiting soldiers and colonists for the impending British invasion, was convicted under this new definition of treason. He was sentenced to death under the Articles of War. The resolution did not allow for judicial action against his civilian co-conspirators, however, nor did it address spying by foreign military agents.
The Committee on Spies proposed additional language to the June resolution regarding the punishment of those foreign agents found guilty of treason. This became the nation’s first espionage act in August 1776:
"[A]ll persons not members of, nor owing allegiance to, any of the United States of America…who shall be found lurking as spies in or about the fortification or encampments of the armies of the United States, or of any of [the states], shall suffer death…by sentence of a court martial, or such other punishment as such court martial may direct."
The Continental Army was permitted to try non-citizen soldiers and civilians by court-martial, and treason remained punishable by death under the Articles of War for soldiers, whether citizens or non-citizens. This espionage act also afforded civil trials to any colonists found giving aid to the enemy. In the months following these congressional resolutions, many of the new states adopted similar laws regarding treason, with articles derived specifically from the work of the Committee on Spies. These very first espionage laws have continued to influence American statutes on the meaning and punishment of treason, spying, and sabotage to the present day.
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| Date Taken: | 05.31.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.31.2024 17:14 |
| Story ID: | 472786 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 173 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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