Benedict Arnold Essays (Examples)

Benedict Arnold

American History

orking Thesis

Throughout the American history there have been many intriguing characters, courageous and intellectual men that fuel inspiration in the later generations preceded by those who will go down in the history unnoticed and overshadowed due to the bravery, intellect and achievements of others and finally there are those who became famous not for their acts of valor but for the wrong reasons. Benedict Arnold was born to a successful business man in 1741 at Norwich Connecticut[footnoteRef:1]; he earned himself the position of an army general in American Revolutionary war after achieving great victories for the Continental Army and exhibited great leadership, valor and warfare expertise. However, later in 1780 he switched sides and joined the British Army as the brigadier general. The success in battle of Saratoga is accredited to Arnold serving as the turning point in the war and earning him the status…

Benedict Arnold

As Van Doren notes, "there is seldom any simple truth in treason."[footnoteRef:1] Thus it is permissible to expect that the story of Benedict Arnold, known to Americans today as the ultimate traitor, is far from having a simple narrative. While the facts show that Arnold went from being an American hero to being an American villain, it is important to understand how and why this happened. Pertinent questions focus on his own personal life, his own history, his environment, what was happening in his own day. This paper examines the case of Benedict Arnold in order to better understand the man behind the label and the causes that led to his leaving the "Rebels" to join the side of the Crown. [1: Lori Ducharme, Gary Alan Fine, "The Construction of Nonpersonhood and Demonization: Commemorating the Traitorous Reputation of Benedict Arnold." Social Forces, vol. 73, no. 4 (June, 1995),…

Alexander Hamilton carried on an affair with the wife of "a notorious political schemer," Maria Reynolds. Andrew Jackson married Rachel Jackson before her divorce from Lewis Robards was finalized and therefore was accused of marrying a married woman. Jackson's opponent in 1828, John Quincy Adams, was in turn accused of "corrupt bargaining" during his term. Jackson also championed Margaret O'Neill Timberlake, who married his secretary of war, John Eaton. "Peggy O'Neill" was considered a woman of "questionable virtue," and as a result Martin Van Buren became Jackson's successor in the presidency. After the death of Jackson and Eaton, Peggy married a 19-year-old dance teacher (which raised eyebrows, as she was 59), who embezzled her money and ran off to Europe with her 17-year-old granddaughter.

Other scandals concerned Richard Mentor Johnson, who ran for vice president in 1836 with Martin Van Buren. He supposedly shot Tecumseh during the ar of 1812,…

Naval History

When we think of the defining battles of American history the image that comes to mind is likely to be battles like Lexington or Antietam - conflicts in which land soldiers played the most important roles. But the history of the United States would have been very different indeed had not the U.S. military proved to be as effective - and as innovative - as it was. Jack Sweetman, in his. American Naval History: 1775 to Present (2nd edition) discusses the key role that the U.S. Navy has played from the War of Independence through the current conflicts in the Gulf, listing the key events of in which the U.S. seagoing forces have been engaged in chronological order. The first edition was published in 1984; this current edition includes information from the naval engagements (including both the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps) that have occurred since that…

The man who first devised
the present mode of governing colleges in this country has done us more
injury than Benedict Arnold." (172) ayside's view would begin to reorient
Brown toward the prospect of staffing itself with professional educators
rather than clergy and men of influence.
The motive would be clear here, as the rising prominence in influence
and impulse of young students themselves would drive ayside and his
contemporaries to scrutinize college governance and administration as
processes separate from the priorities of education itself. The impact of
ayside's recognition would be the newfound scrutiny of decisions which
placed those unqualified in the areas of education in positions of power
and determination where education was concerned. Perhaps most troubling
amongst the outcomes of this orientation at America's universities was its
perpetuation of a class system. Those who had been elevated to places of
administrative oversight were typically wealthy elites whose…

Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier

In Martin's (2001) narrative, he addresses many aspects of soldiering in the Revolutionary War. There were many deserters during that time, but Martin chose to stay. That makes him somewhat unusual, but he had a different outlook about American officers, ritish regulars, soldier morale, and the physical discomforts that came with soldiering. He talks of how he could have easily killed enedict Arnold, but did not realize at the time the significance that would have come along with that act (Martin, 2001). He was fiercely loyal to his cause, even though many of the American officers under whom he fought were not well-liked. According to Martin (2001), the largest risk that the American officers were taking in battle was from being killed by their own men. The conditions were bad and many of the men were mistreated by the officers, but most of the men…

Hell

Aligheiri Dante's "Inferno" is the first of three books in Dante's classical work "The Divine Comedy." The "Inferno" pursues Dante's journey through Hell on his path to discovering God. He begins at the bottom Hell in sin, and must fight his way to the top through a variety of adventures, where lovely Beatrice awaits him in Paradise. In modern times, Dante's work is still quite applicable, because there are many people who deserve to reside in Hell. Instead of nine circles, today there are three -- High Hell, Middle Hell, and Deepest Hell. High Hell is reserved for those who have sinned, but not critically.

The punishment in High Hell would be similar to Dante's labyrinth, but a great beast would not guard it. Howard Stern would guard it, and his continual and never-ending comments would be audible throughout the labyrinth. There is no exit from this labyrinth, and…

Ichabod Crane

Tim urton's 1999 film adaptation of Washington Irving's 1819 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is hardly a faithful or literal adaptation. R.. Palmer, in his introduction to Nineteenth-Century American Literature on Screen, is rather chilly in his dismissal of urton's adaptation; he claims that a simple survey of Hollywood adaptations overall reveals that a number of major figures, most prominently Washington Irving…had never or rarely (and then generally unsatisfactorily) been adapted for the screen. ecause it has been so dedicated to marketing modernity, broadly conceived, Hollywood production offers only a narrow view of nineteenth-century literature. Hollywood's most extensive engagement with nineteenth-century politics and culture is in fact through an essentially twentieth-century form: the western…(Palmer 6).

Of course, Irving's original tale makes a very poor western, despite Irving's own note that the town of Sleepy Hollow was once "infested with…cow-boys" (Irving 288). ut in order to refashion…

American Revolution happened between 1775 and 1783 and to others it is known as the U.S. War of Independence while others call it the American Revolutionary War. It was not until the Seven Years' of War ended in 1783 that few colonists in the Northern Part of America gave objections to their position in the ritish Empire. The imperial system of the ritish people saw it reap many benefits and the costs linked to the system were few. Indeed, the American colonies had been left alone all along but in the early 1760s, the eruption of the Seven Years' War changed everything. Many Americans referred to this War as the War between the French and Indians, and the winning team was ritain, which had come at a great cost since the Empire had a staggering war debt that influenced many of its policies over the decade. The Americans tried to…

Beirne, Logan. Blood of Tyrants: George Washington & the Forging of the Presidency. New York: Encounter Books, 2014.
Book Review

The book explores the beliefs and specific actions undertaken by George Washington as he spearheaded the distinct meaning of the United States Constitution in the midst of the battle for independence. Blood of Tyrants delineates the manner in which the role of being President of the United States was fused and amalgamated with that of Commander in Chief, owing to the course of the American Revolution. In particular, subsequent to independence, when determining the role of America's first ever President, the public revered and had a high regard for the excellent leadership demonstrated by George Washington, who was a recognized and sure success. Washington was deemed to be a lively motivating commander, valiant and courageous; he endeavored to ensure the protection of all Americans for the benefit of the new…

Legend' is a sci-fi thriller about a New York scientist who is abandoned in Manhattan in the year 2012. This one hour 40 minutes movie stars Will Smith and Alice Braga with Francis Lawrence as its director the movie is rated at PG-13 for violence. The movie offers a stunning view of how the city as the world knows it today, might look in 2012 if in the event it were abandoned in 2009.

Going back in trivia, this is the third adaption of the ichard Matheson's 1954 novel, originally in the film it was vampires instead of zombies. Such movies are always inspired by our fears and hence hold special interest, especially if it's a scientist abandoned in New York struggling to survive a virus that turns humans into flesh-eating mechanical looking zombies.

If we go through its adaptations, the first time the novel was turned into a movie…

Commonplace: "You Always Admire hat You Really Don't Understand"

There are a great many things that arouse admiration in this world of ours. Some of these things such as a creation of nature, a work of breathtaking art, scientific breakthroughs that benefit human kind, and acts of bravery are, without doubt, worthy of the admiration and the sentiment that they inspire. Unfortunately, however, human beings also fruitlessly admire a great many more things that are illusory in nature and, therefore, not really worthy of respect. Take, for instance, the human desire to be good looking, rich, successful and powerful. These qualities seem desirable purely because people who possess these attributes appear to be better off in life. But, are they really? Or, do these qualities give rise to admiration only because we don't really understand what being beautiful, wealthy, successful or powerful entails?

Perhaps, it is precisely the recognition that…