Samantha Wilcoxson's Blog - Posts Tagged "benedict-arnold"

When George Washington and his men realized that General Benedict Arnold had fled in the wake of the revelation of his treasonous plot, no man present thought to question the innocence of Arnold's wife, Philadelphia socialite, Peggy Shippen. Alexander Hamilton wrote, 'All the sweetness of beauty, all the loveliness of innocence, all the tenderness of a wife and all the fondness of a mother showed themselves in her appearance and conduct. We have every reason to believe she was intirely unacquainted with the plan.' Marquis de Lafayette agreed. 'The unhappy Mrs Arnold did not know a word of this conspiracy....The horror with which her husband's conduct has inspired her, and a thousand other feelings, make her the most unhappy of women.' Even Washington claimed to have 'every reason to believe she is innocent.'

Why were they all so thoroughly convinced?

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