Revolutionary Heroism and Betrayal: Benedict Arnold

Rebecca Stephens, Eagle Hill Middle School (Fayetteville-Manlius School District), Manlius, New York

DESIGN LEVEL: Middle School-High School

 

Overview

This lesson will address one of the major challenges that faced the young republic: a traitor. Betrayal calls into question honor, integrity, and the highest ideals of our country.   Does a traitor deserve to get credit for successes prior to their betrayal?  Does heroism outweigh betrayal? Using primary and secondary sources, students will participate in a multi-day, inquiry-based activity which will culminate in deciding whether or not Benedict Arnold has earned his place on the Saratoga Monument, and if he should be named on the boot monument.

Objectives

Students will answer the compelling question: Should a traitor be erased from history?

Materials

Recommended Time 

Two 50-minute class periods.

Activity 

CLASSROOM SET UP:
  • Set up the classroom with table groups of three to four students.
  • At each table provide at least one printed copy of the documents (laminated copies with dry-erase markers for marking up the text work well).
  • Print out question sheet packets and boot and monument images for each student.
ANTICIPATORY ACTIVITY (10 minutes):

1. Distribute the images of the two different monuments.

2. Begin the activity by introducing the following websites with the following instruction:

   a. Visit the attached website to read the background on the famous monument to Arnold’s leg: http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/popup_arnoldsleg.html

   b. Visit the attached website to read the background on the Saratoga Monument: http://www.nps.gov/sara/learn/photosmultimedia/saratoga-monument-virtual-tour-part-3.htm

3. Engage students in a discussion using this prompt: Betrayal calls into question honor, integrity, and the highest ideals of our country.   Does a traitor deserve to get credit for successes prior to their betrayal?  Does heroism outweigh betrayal?

INQUIRY-BASED ACTIVTY (90 minutes):

Introduce the inquiry-based questions packet and explain the directions.

Choose what works best for students—either pace the class step by step through the documents and questions, or set them to work at their own pace, and monitor and check-in with them.

Alternatively, a stations activity where students work their way around the room could be set up. Each of the different documents could be a station, but keep in mind that stations featuring differing source content and media will take different amounts of time.

Present students with the following “mission:”

The year is 2035, you are a recent college graduate and you have been hired by the National Park Service as a part of a committee to decide what to do about the aging monuments in the Saratoga National Historic Park.  There is much debate emerging as to what to do about the unnamed hero of the boot and the missing statue on the monument.

Your task is to reach your own conclusion about which side to take in this debate.

Students will examine twelve sources and answer the questions relative to each.
 

SOURCE 1: Timeline of Benedict Arnold’s Life

  1. What events from the timeline show Arnold as a brave soldier/hero? Choose two and explain them in detail.
  2. Are there any events that hint as to why Arnold might have been upset with the Continental Congress?
  3. How does the end of the timeline differ from the beginning?

 

SOURCE 2: Benedict Arnold Background Information [transcribed encyclopedia article]

  1. List four things that Arnold did that were considered brave/heroic.
  2. Describe two things that happened to Arnold that might have made him decide to turn traitor.

 

SOURCE 3: “Declaration of Principles” [transcribed]

  1. According to the first line of the “Declaration,” what are the people fighting for?
  2. What do the men who signed this document say they are associating under?  What are they adopting?  (HINT: look toward the middle of the document.)
  3. What can we learn about Benedict Arnold’s feelings at the start of the war from this document?

 

SOURCE 4: Battle of Valcour Island, October 1776, Video Clip & Map [PDF summary]

  1. Where does Arnold position his troops on Lake Champlain?  (HINT: The map will help.)
  2. Why does he choose this location?  Based on what you see in the video and on the map, is this a good choice?
  3. How does Arnold get his men out of this location?

 

SOURCE 5: Painting of Arnold Wounded at Saratoga

  1. How is Arnold depicted in this painting?
  2. What has happened to him in the battle?
  3. After the battle General Gates is given credit for the victory.  If you were Arnold, how would you feel about that?

 

SOURCE 6: Oath of Allegiance

  1. What is the date of this document?
  2. What is Arnold pledging in the document? Pick out five key words from the document to support your answer.

 

SOURCE 7: George Washington letter to Benedict Arnold, 20 January 1778 [transcribed]

  1. What is the date of this letter?
  2. In the first line of the letter, what is Washington doing for Arnold?
  3. What is Washington’s excuse for the delay in his actions?
  4. What is Washington commenting on in the second paragraph? How might this influence Washington?

 

SOURCE 8:  Benedict Arnold’s response to George Washington, 12 March 1778

  1. What is the date of this letter?
  2. Why might Arnold have waited so long to reply?
  3. What excuse does he give for his delay?
  4. In the last lines of the first paragraph, how is Arnold referring to the United States?
  5. What is significant about this?

 

SOURCE 9: Benedict Arnold to John André (decoded), July 12, 1780

  1. In the opening paragraph what does Arnold say about the colonial feelings about the war?
  2. What is Arnold asking for in exchange for West Point?
  3. How does this letter reflect a change in Arnold?

 

SOURCE 10: William Popham Orderly Book on Arnold’s Treason, 7 October 1780

  1. How does William Popham describe Arnold’s actions?
  2. Choose four words that Popham uses to show his opinion of Arnold’s actions and explain what they show.

 

SOURCE 11: Letter from Benedict Arnold to Inhabitants of America (1780)

[In this letter, Benedict Arnold is explaining to the “Inhabitants of America” his reasoning for joining with the British.  In particular, he points out the Second Commission, also known as the Carlisle Peace Commission. This Commission, a British delegation to America arriving after after the Battle of Saratoga, was authorized to offer a form of self-rule to America, and to negotiate with the Continental Congress—something they had not done before.]

  1.  Why, according to the third paragraph, did Arnold join in fighting the American Revolution?
  2. In the fifth paragraph, what did the Second Commission offer to the American people?
  3. In the sixth and seventh paragraphs, what does Arnold say about an alliance with France?

 

SOURCE 12:  Letter to George Washington from Benedict Arnold, 1 October 1780

  1. What is Arnold attempting to do in writing this letter?
  2. In the second paragraph, what word does he use to describe the “Attachment to the true interest of my country?” What do you think he means?

 

OPTIONAL SOURCE 13: A Political Concert, the Vocal Parts

[Print shows a Native woman representing America and Britannia standing in the center holding a pole topped with a liberty cap. They are joined by Benjamin Franklin, Charles James Fox, Augustus Keppel, Lord Shelburne, John Dunning, and a rattlesnake as Benedict Arnold standing beneath a picture of a gallows representing Major André.]
 

OPTIONAL SOURCE 14: The Two Faces of Benedict Arnold

[A representation of the figures exhibited and paraded through the streets of Philadelphia on Saturday, the 30th of September, 1780]
 

OPTIONAL SOURCE 15: Saratoga Bicentennial Poster depicting Benedict Arnold in the center

Assessment 

When students finish working their way through the content, have them complete the following summative assessment as a homework assignment or as a follow-up activity the next class day.
 

Craft a persuasive speech of no more than ninety seconds to be delivered to the National Park Service answering the following prompt: Should Benedict Arnold be named on the boot, have a statue on the monument, both, or neither?  In the speech, be sure to include at least three specific facts learned from this activity.  Submit a written copy of the speech for review.

As an extension, this activity could be followed up with an in-class debate, letters written to Saratoga, or a poster campaign.

Standards Addressed

COMMON CORE: English Language Arts Standards—History/Social Studies
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.3
Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.3
Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.8
Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.9
Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.