Benedict Arnold Biography

An Autobiography of an Infamous traitor: Benedict Arnold

Benjamin Franklin once said “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”(ushistory.org) He said this during the American Revolution when the Founders were preparing to rebel during the First Continental Congress meeting. This was important, because the Colonists who won our independence, were planning the revolts that began the American Revolution. The American Revolution wasn’t all about snazzy quotes and cool names though. The American Revolution was also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence (history.com) fought between the British Empire and the North American colonies. This war was caused by growing tensions between Great

He was born into somewhat of a rich family, but when three of his siblings died, his father began to drink and fell into difficult financial problems (Biography.com). As a result, Benedict left school. Later in 1757 he enlisted in the militia, and traveled to upstate New York to fight the French. Arnold settled in New Haven later, and formed a partnership with merchant Adam Babcock, and together they bought three trading ships and established trade connections with the West Indies (Biography.com). The Sugar Act of 1764 and the Stamp Act the following year restricted mercantile trade in the colonies, infuriating Arnold and his ship partner (Biography.com). As an act of rebellion, Arnold joined the Sons of Liberty, a secret society that was formed to protect the rights of the colonists and to fight taxation by the British government. The revolutionary war began in 1775 and Arnold began the war as a militia captain. Arnold proposed and participated in a maneuver to seize New York’s Fort Ticonderoga, and an invasion of Quebec (Biography.com). When the Continental Congress excluded him from the primary missions, Arnold convinced George Washington to lead a second expedition to attack using the woods (Biography.com). Despite his military successes, Arnold proved to be a divisive figure. He fought heroically in conflicts, including the Battle of Saratoga, but made many enemies. Therefore, not too many were

He played a major role in the American revolution, including his participation in the capture of the British garrison of Fort Ticonderoga (History.com), intervening in a British invasion of New York at the Battle of Lake Champlain (History.com), and his crucial role in bringing about the surrender of British General John Burgoyne’s army at Saratoga (History.com). Benedict Arnold was a good man who made a huge mistake in 1780. In my opinion Benedict Arnold was a great General, but he surrendered to the British and joined their side, and that’s where he went wrong. He was always a tough general who dove right in and fought for what was right. He was even a part of the Sons of Liberty. But I believe he should have died fighting for his country; defending his country. He deserves to be known as the Infamous traitor, because he was willing to fight, but not willing to die. As a General, your job is to defend your country and order other soldiers to fight to do so as well. If you’re willing to switch sides, because you don’t want to die, you don’t deserve to live if you’re not living for your country. Overall, Benedict Arnold was a good guy who made a bad mistake. Benedict Arnold left the legacy of a traitor, and he taught us all that we should fight hard. Even if he did make mistakes, even a huge one like switching allegiance to the opposing force, he taught us that we should fight until the