Read the excerpt from "Tools of the Spymaster." The numbers that Major Tallmadge assigned to members of the Culper Ring were from a secret writing system he invented. He substituted digits for words that would be used in messages. "Long Island,"for example, was 728, "arms'was 7, and "city"was 88. There was a number for each month , such as 341 for "January." He made four copies of his codes. He kept one and gave the others to Woodhull Townsend, and General Washington. For words that did not have a number code. Tallmadge gave his agents a cipher. In a cipher, each letter in a message is replaced by another letter or a number. The author's purpose in this excerpt is to teach readers about a code system used during the American Revolution. persuade readers that ciphers are the greatest American invention. argue that Major Tallmadge made a mistake in sharing copies of his codes. compare the American codes for secret letters to the British odes

## Step 1<br />The first step in solving this problem is to understand the context of the excerpt. The excerpt discusses Major Tallmadge's secret code system, which he used during the American Revolution. The code system involved substituting numbers for words and using a cipher for words that did not have a number code.<br /><br />## Step 2<br />Next, we need to analyze the author's purpose in writing this excerpt. The author provides detailed information about the code system, including how it was created and how it was used. The author does not seem to be trying to persuade readers that ciphers are the greatest American invention, nor does he argue that Major Tallmadge made a mistake in sharing copies of his codes. The author also does not compare the American codes for secret letters to the British codes.<br /><br />## Step 3<br />Based on the analysis, the author's purpose seems to be to teach readers about a code system used during the American Revolution. The author provides detailed information about the code system, which suggests that the purpose is to educate the reader about this historical method of communication.