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Benedict Arnold

Prior to his act of treason, Benedict Arnold was highly regarded as America's greatest Revolutionary general. Due to his high rank and excellent performance on the battlefield it seemed most unlikely that Arnold would defect to the other side. "Arnold has betrayed us. Whom can we trust now?" asked George Washington who now felt that no one could be trusted once Arnold had betrayed his country of which he had shown so much love for beforehand. Arnold had been a die-hard patriot who at the Boston Massacre asked if the Americans were asleep, waiting tamely to be robbed of their liberty. Yet he has gone down in history books as a villain of America, a despised turncoat instead of the hero he was for both America and England in the same war. His name has become a synonym for traitor. He was America's first traitor. Despite the criticism that Arnold has received, he was, in his own eyes and to a few others, justified in his traitorous actions. As immoral as he was perceived, he did feel that he must justify his actions to himself if not to his country. However historians look at it, Benedict Arnold was actually justified to betray his fellow comrades. It must be kept into account that Arnold's pride had been injured in his many defensive court appearances, his contributions and accomplishments had been overlooked on the battlefield, and his financial status had been destabilized through numerous fines and helped none by the overlooking of Congress to pay him his salary.
Benedict had made quite a few enemies during his American Revolution staging. Many of them who were very interested and determined in seeking his disgrace brought charges against him. For instance, Major John Brown charged Arnold with thirteen military crimes (one of the thirteen crimes being that Arnold had seized captured goods at Montreal for his own use) and Lieutenant Colonel Moses Hazen charged Arnold with insulting his character. Although Arnold was not punished by Congress as they were convinced...