Why Is General Benedict Arnold Considered A Traitor

The American Revolution was a pivotal time in the making of the United States of America. The British wanted to maintain control of the Colonies. The people wanted freedom and release from the taxation England had imposed on the Colonies. During this battle for independence several heroes emerged. One of those heroes was General Benedict Arnold. An unexpected twist and turn of events would take Major General from hero to traitor in a short matter of time. General Benedict Arnold fought many important battles, rose quickly into leadership and became a major general, felt treated unfairly, conspired with the enemy, and became a traitor. The impact of the decisions of Benedict Arnold would cause his name to live on in infamy and ultimately

Sir Harry Clinton established in letters that General Benedict Arnold had been secretly corresponding with Sir Clinton since around February of 1779. In July of 1780, the Rebel Forts in the Highlands stronghold was commandeered by General Arnold, which contained approximately four thousand men (Clinton). The knowledge Sir Clinton received from General Arnold, reinforced to Sir Clinton that the British Army needed to continue the correspondence with Arnold. The information that was able to be exchanged between Arnold and Clinton provided an advantage to Sir Clinton and the British Army. The plans contrived between Clinton and Arnold would have certainly provided Britain with the upper hand and negated all of the other military campaigns for the Continental Army to gain strength. The plan for West Point to be handed over to the British Army and General Arnold surrender could have cost the Continental Army thousands of lives and ultimately lost the Revolutionary War between the Colonists and Great Britain. Lord Cornwallis had recently defeated Gate´s army in South Carolina, General Washington was at Kingsbridge, the French were supporting Washington there, and Sir Rodney was in New York with a fleet at the time that Sir Clinton was planning his attack on General Arnold at West Point. Sir Clinton had planned to name Benedict Arnold, Brigadier General of Provincial Forces (Clinton). If all had gone as Arnold and Clinton had planned the defeat would have been crushing and potentially irreversible for the Colonists. However, what occurred was not what Clinton and Arnold had anticipated, the actual occurrence was that the British officer that was to meet with Arnold was captured and Arnold barely escaped to the British lines. Since the plan was discovered the West Point