Date of Award

1995

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in History

Department

History

First Advisor

Joel Cohen

Abstract

This thesis will examine Benedict Arnold's life assessing the mercenary nature of his military career in the larger context of financial gain under the guise of military operations. Arnold's actions as a Continental officer and as a British general became overshadowed by his act of treason, and as such, there has been no serious examination of his personal and business affairs from 1779 to 1801.

Throughout the war Arnold was the object of several Congressional and military investigations for financial mismanagement and abuse of power. The accusations against Arnold would become secondary, as the priorities of the war superseded the need for justice. As Arnold's lifestyle exceeded his Continental pay rumors of theft, financial mishandling, embezzlement and war profiteering would persist. Despite heroic actions on the battlefield Arnold could not remove the stain of impropriety. Taking up the British cause, Arnold attacked specific areas of the east coast that were centers of trade and commerce.

After the war, considered to be a refugee divorced of all his holdings, Arnold arrived in England and immediately set about building a merchant fleet that would give rise to a trading empire on both sides of the Atlantic.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.