At 02:08 PM 7/17/95 -0400, Jim Ray wrote: [ Crypto timeline and discussion omitted ]

Careful thought reveals a atrong suspicion that the "3/5ths people" [slaves] had more use for crypto at the time than free white males did, but I doubt much, if any, evidence of that activity was preserved, and I'm sure it was _forcefully_ discouraged if ever discovered...My point is, slaves, or those who live in fear of eventual slavery, for whatever reason, have a strong affinity for cryptography. Note, for example, early use [mentioned in the timeline above] by the Jewish people.

Or, more precisely, they have a strong affinity for private in-group communications. Cryptography's a bit tough in an environment where it was often illegal to teach slaves to read. On the other hand, oral cultures are often good at using metaphor and in-jokes and shared knowledge to express things that the speaker doesn't want the oppressive group to understand. I've seen commentaries talking about that in North American black culture, and there are other examples like Cockney rhyming slang. And then, of course, there are totally incomprehensible communication systems like Gaelic :-), which the Brits tried hard to stamp out. # Thanks; Bill # Bill Stewart, Freelance Information Architect, stewarts@ix.netcom.com