Why did Benedict Arnold turn to the other side?

Answer 1

Several factors contributed to it:
1. Despite his seniority and tremendous military accomplishments (he had been the military hero of both the Battles of Ticonderoga and Saratago), the Continental Congress passed him over for promotion...instead choosing to promote less worthy individuals who had political ties to the Congress.
2. He had incurred large personal debt through his military service...he had personally paid almost the entire expense of his Continental military expedition in Canada, which the Continental Congress refused to reimburse.
3. Arnold's wife was a British loyalists, and she put pressure on him at home.
4. Certain civilian officials in Pennsylvania had accused him of corruption...at the urging of a man whom Arnold had stripped of command at the Battle of Ticonderoga because of military incompetence.


Arnold was undoubtedly one of the greatest military leaders in the Continental Army...there are monuments to him at both the Saratoga battlefiedl and at West Point, despite his attempted treason. But like Patton in WWII, he did not "suffer fools gladly"...and felt that his accomplishments should be recognized and that incompetent generals should NOT be rewarded...no matter how well connected they might be politically.

Answer 2

He was one of the best generals in the colonial army but felt he was shunned by Washington and underappreciated. If he had not turned traitor he would had been the ideal first commandant of the military academy at West Point. Benedict Arnold was as professional soldier as could be found in his day but the love for his wife who was a British sympathizer to some degree may have aided Arnold's decision but the ultimate blame still falls on Arnold.

Answer 3

Arnold was one of our greatest generals during the first few years of the war. However he was not getting any rightly deserved credit. That was going to his less qualified superiors. His wife had British sympathies but more importantly needed to spend allot of money. She incurred huge debts for Arnold. Between not getting the credit he wanted and his debts he turned to the British side for money. Something he always regretted.

Answer 4

Benedict ArnoldBenedict Arnold (January 14, 1741 – June 14, 1801) was a general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is best known for plotting to surrender the American fort at West Point, New York, to the British during the American Revolution.

Arnold had distinguished himself as a hero of the revolution early in the war through acts of cunning and bravery at Fort Ticonderoga in 1775, the march to Canada, attack on Montreal and besieging of Quebec in 1775, the Battle of Valcour Island on Lake Champlain in 1776, the Battles of Danbury and Ridgefield in Connecticut (after which he was promoted to Major General) and at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. However, Arnold strongly opposed the decision by the Continental Congress to form an alliance with France.

Disaffected because of grievances with the Continental Congress (despite his seniority and accomplishments, Congress had passed Arnold over for promotion - instead choosing to promote brigadier generals with political ties to the Congress), suffering from mounting personal debt (he had personally paid for nearly all of the expenditures of his Continental forces while in Canada), and facing corruption charges filed by the Pennsylvania civil authorities (at the instigation of a man Arnold had stripped of command at Ticonderoga), Arnold also faced pressure at home from his young second wife Peggy Shippen, herself a British Loyalist.

In September 1780, he formulated his scheme, which, if successful, would have given British forces control of the Hudson River valley and split the colonies in half. The plot was thwarted, but Arnold managed to flee to British forces in New York, where he was rewarded with a commission as a Brigadier General in the British Army, along with a reduced reward of £6,000.

Answer 5

His wife was a British Tory and he was disgruntled because George Washington was winning all of the acclaim, and for a lesser degree the money and commission in the British Army.

Answer 6

He felt as though he had been unfairly passed over for a promotion after his invasion of Canada.

Answer 7

supposedly, the benefit package

Answer 8

It must be the money

Answer 9

they paid him t2

Answer 10

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