Benedict Arnold’s Effigy
Benedict Arnold was a Continental Army general before he defected to the British. In response, Americans burned Arnold in effigy.
Arnold was born in Norwich, CT in 1741 and became a merchant in New Haven. After the Sugar and Stamp Acts interfered with his business, he joined the Sons of Liberty and the Connecticut militia. Fighting for the Patriot cause, his career was distinguished but often politically fraught. In 1779, he began cooperating, secretly, with the British.
On September 30, 1780, days after Arnold was exposed, residents of Philadelphia burned him in effigy. This contemporary print shows that Arnold’s likeness was made with two faces, “emblematical of his traitorous conduct.” The devil prods him with a pitchfork.
A year later, on September 6, 1781, Arnold led British troops in burning New London. There, city residents soon started an annual tradition of burning Arnold’s effigy, which continued until the Civil War, and was revived in 2013.
The print is in the collection of the Library of Congress.
Credits
The print of Benedict Arnold’s effigy is in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.