ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
People Videos 11 videos
John Hawkins was may have been the most interesting man in the world. He doesn’t always hijack ships, but when he does... he prefers for them to...
Betty Frieden was one of the leading influences (arguably the starting one) in women's rights. She argued for gender equality everywhere— from th...
What do the light bulb, the post office, the lightning rod, the Constitution, and the modern fire department have in common? They were all invented...
Benedict Arnold 1054 Views
Share It!
Description:
Hey man, where’s your loyalty at? This guy’s name is now synonymous with betrayal. Which is a shame, because it used to be synonymous with a really delicious plate of eggs.
Transcript
- 00:08
Benedict Arnold: The man, the myth... the traitor.
- 00:14
For someone's name to be synonymous with betrayal...
- 00:17
...Benedict Arnold must have done something pretty bad.
- 00:22
Chances are, he didn't just blab to everyone about Washington's secret Maxim subscription.
- 00:28
So who was this infamous traitor, and how did he get a reputation for such treachery?
Full Transcript
- 00:34
For a while, Arnold was your typical, fed-up American colonist.
- 00:39
He was a tradesman and member of the Sons of Liberty...
- 00:42
...who defied the Sugar Act and the Stamp Act by continuing to trade without
- 00:46
paying taxes to the monarchy.
- 00:50
He was lucky the IRS hadn't been established yet.
- 00:52
They probably would have paid him a friendly little "visit."
- 00:56
Arnold had made it clear he was pretty "anti-monarchy" in the past.
- 01:00
He had retaliated along with others in response to the Boston Massacre...
- 01:04
...and had fought as a General in Washington's Continental Army.
- 01:09
He sounds like the last guy in the world who would turn snitch...
- 01:14
...but guess it goes to show you can never really know a person.
- 01:18
Arnold felt passed over for a number of military campaigns and promotions.
- 01:22
Um... bitter much?
- 01:27
While he was a decorated officer...
- 01:32
...he still felt he wasn't getting the respect he deserved.
- 01:37
This guy was super-sensitive. He would have been a rich man if he had a nickel for every
- 01:41
time that someone "hurt his feelings."
- 01:46
Anyway, Arnold took his first steps toward the Dark Side...
- 01:52
... when he married Peggy Shippen...
- 01:53
...who was the daughter of a well-known loyalist.
- 01:58
The loyalists were totally pro-England.
- 02:02
We're talking about some real crumpet-lovers here.
- 02:06
With the business in the toilet...
- 02:09
...and his problems with Washington and the administration...
- 02:13
Arnold decided he didn't have anything to lose and became an informer!
- 02:20
And now he had a wife who could...
- 02:21
...hook him up with the right people.
- 02:23
Specifically, a British officer who would take Arnold's information and relay it to
- 02:27
the muckety-mucks in the British army. However, since Arnold was the kind of guy
- 02:31
who felt the whole world owed him something...
- 02:33
...it may not surprise you to learn that he had his problems with the British as well.
- 02:37
He felt they weren't paying him enough for the information...
- 02:40
...and he made persistent threats to start zipping his lip.
- 02:43
But the British needed him. So they caved to his demands.
- 02:50
Arnold was appointed at West Point,
- 02:53
and he told the British that he would surrender to them without a fight.
- 02:57
Well, at least no one would get any blood on their clean, white shirts.
- 03:03
He also continued to feed the British more information about Washington's movements...
- 03:11
...and took steps to move his personal assets to a London account,
- 03:16
as well as to sell his house.
- 03:20
However, before Arnold's scheme could be carried out...
- 03:23
Andre, a fellow British spy, was captured.
- 03:27
Suddenly, all the documents that detailed
- 03:29
Arnold's involvement fell into American hands.
- 03:34
Once Washington caught wind of the situation...
- 03:37
...Arnold was in deep, deep doo-doo. Arnold had found out that Andre had been arrested.
- 03:46
And since the jig was up, he made a run for it.
- 03:50
Unable to rejoin his fellow countrymen, Arnold took up a position in the British Army.
- 03:57
He got paid peanuts compared to what he was making as an informant...
- 04:00
...and didn't make a ton of friends on the British side either.
- 04:05
He was basically an outcast for the rest of his days.
- 04:08
Arnold died with a boatload of debt...
- 04:11
...and his funeral would be conducted without military honors.
- 04:19
The moral of the story?
- 04:20
Don't be a rat.
- 04:21
Because when the cheese runs out...
- 04:23
You're going to find yourself trapped.
- 04:26
We think we'll call him "Arnold"...
Related Videos
Ever heard of a "living document"? They eat and breathe just like the rest of us! They even walk around on their own two legs. Okay, fine—maybe t...
If the Puritans had gotten their way, religion would play a much larger role in lawmaking these days. Want to know more? Watch the video for all th...
What happened between the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the current U.S. Constitution? This video analyzes the...
The Modernists thought the world had a lot of problems, and they were intent on fixing them—or at least talking about fixing them. Unfortunately,...
This video explains Federalism and the quest for a fair balance between state and national power. It covers the progression and compromises of Fede...