This United States intelligence community has had a long and rich history. From fur traders giving intelligence as to the movements of the native Americans to Union spies posing as confederate solders, the intelligence branch of the U.S. government has been anything but idle. The myriad of changes that the United States intelligence organizations have gone through, could and have filled volumes of academic research. However, in the following some of the general themes and shaping forces that affected the development of the US intelligence organizations will be made apparent. Specifically, some key events and people will be reviewed as to their affect on the development of the United States intelligence organizations.
Intelligence gathering or spying probably has been a vocation since the dawning of man. From a look out watching the movements of wild animals to computer hacking, spying has been part of the human experience from the start. In the history of the United States, intelligence or spying has osculated from amateurish attempts such as Nathan Hales daring but incredibly stupid foray into spying on the British, to quite well thought out spying on the Confederate States. However, there are two main driving factors that had changed the intelligence community prior to the second world war. The two main shaping factors in the development of the US intelligence organizations prior to the second world war have been technological sophistication and the need for accurate and timely information. These two factors, sum up the general themes present in the shaping forces of the American intelligence community.
During the revolutionary war, obviously there were no devices present to capture still images because of this as in the case with Nathan Hale, he drew the positions of the British solders in New York. In addition to this, during the 18th century there were no machines capable of flying outside of kites. It is for this reason, that during the civil war, intelligence gathering drastically changed. The level of technological sophistication during the civil war changed dramatically when compared to the revolutionary war, in the sense, that the intelligence organizations were able to not only utilize balloon technology for tracking enemy army movements, but also were able to use the new camera obscure to actually have physical evidence of army fortifications. It is because of these technological inventions that the intelligence organizations moved away from the impromptu amateurish antics of Nathan Hale to an organized intelligence gathering apparatus.
The second shaping force on the United States intelligence organizations, was the increasing need for accurate and timely information. Again, during the revolutionary war, it was good intelligence that said the British were coming, but the need for exact time and location was negligible, as it was known, that an army group marching from say, Boston to New York would take days to arrive, so though pressed for time, there was still time to prepare defenses. However, even as early as the civil war, the need to timely and accurate information began to change. One method of decreasing the amount of time that intelligence reports needed to be sent was the use of the telegraph. In addition to this, during the first world war, the trans Atlantic sea cables provided information in minutes, on the outcome of battles in Europe whereas if sent by ship it would have taken at minimum weeks if not months. In this sense, communication technology has been the right hand of intelligence gathering and subsequently the need to for timely and accurate intelligence increased along with the technology.
Granted, technological sophistication and the need for timely and accurate inelegance are but two factors in the shaping of the American intelligence organizations however, I would argue they are two of the most important factors. Many other factors have played important roles in changing policy and structure, which, if this were a more exhaustive review should have been included unfortunately, it is beyond the scope of this brief review to dive much deeper than these two prime examples. Keeping in mind that the shaping forces of the United States intelligence originations are as varied as reasons for conflict, it is within these two examples, that the main thrust I believe is to be found.
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