The course of history was changed on September 17, 1787——the day the U.S. Constitution was signed by 39 men. Fifty-five delegates attended the Constitutional Convention, but only 39 dared to sign. They risked a great deal, their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor, for our freedoms.

"We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." – Preamble to the U.S. Constitution

There are so many fascinating stories that led to this fateful date. Yet there is also the unknown, secret history of the history for the War of Independence——intelligence, counterintelligence, and espionage. In a word: spies.

A great deal of risk was incurred by Patriot spies. Twenty-one-year-old Nathaniel Hale’s famous statement before his execution for his patriotic spying was, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country!

Thomas Jefferson had successful privateering enterprises. Spies learned the semaphore code which helped them to falsely identify themselves as British ships and smuggle in weapons, munitions, and other important goods—frequently from the Dutch Republic. They listened to secret Tory war plans.

Spies risked all.

The Commission for Detecting and Defeating Conspiracies was a counterintelligence organization and the forerunner of the secret service. Their mission was to uncover enemy spies and discover traitors to the Patriot cause. The 1776 Articles of War gave them their rules of operation.

Covert operations like blockade running were imperative to the struggling government waiting to operate freely. Spy saboteurs targeted munitions factories, shipyards, and weapons storage facilities. Some were caught and executed; others continued this dangerous work.

Goods contaminated with small pox and other dangerous diseases were traded back and forth between Tories and Patriots with the goal of infecting the other side.

Complex codes, ciphers, secret writing, invisible inks, and cryptology were used. Tory and Patriot spies worked hard to capture the code books of their opponents, so many committed these codes to memory.

In British-occupied Philadelphia, Lydia Darragh, like Betsy Ross, supported the American war effort.

General Howe was quartered in the home of her neighbor, John Cadwalader, and sent a soldier to tell Quaker Lydia Darragh she had to move out of her home so British officers could use it. She informed him that she had two children to care for and had no place to go. Her two youngest children were already living with relatives.

Captain Barrington, her cousin from Ireland, intervened with Lord Howe on her behalf. Lydia would be allowed to stay in her home if she kept a room available for British officers to hold meetings.

Darragh risked everything to overhear the ultra-secret plans of Lord Howe to attack and, hopefully, capture Washington at Whitemarsh by hiding in a linen closet in another room. If all went well, the British held, the war would soon be over.

Through extraordinary courage, Lydia Darragh warned Washington of his impending danger.

Many today do not realize that a secret list of spies, Patriot and Tory, existed in the city of divided loyalties, Philadelphia. Both sides wanted this list destroyed. We know it exists, but we do not know what happened to it.

British General Sir William Howe astonished all when he occupied the city. Washington was baffled at Howe'’s move and relocated to Valley Forge. Seemingly, confusion reigned on the Patriot side. Intrigue was everywhere——I spy, you spy, he spies, she spies, they spy, we all spy.

Learn about this mysterious time in C.D. Baker'’s The List, a riveting, meticulously researched story that integrates historical facts in an interesting and easy-to-follow plot.