article丨Momo
edit丨Hongbin
18th century A beautiful American socialite should have lived a life like a rich second generation, but manipulated a treason operation, but eventually became one of the most notorious women in American history. Today we are entering the life of Page Arnold. When I saw this name, I believe some netizens already looked familiar.
Pegg Arnold was born in PhiladelphiaHotel Hotel 6The richest and most famousHotel family. Her father Edward Shippen IV is also a very famous local judge and his family is quite superior. Peggy has three sisters and an older brother. As the youngest child in the family, she has been pampering her since she was born. Especially her parents, she gave Peggy all the delicious food and beautiful things, and even let her go to the best aristocratic school in the local area and receive the best aristocratic education.
In addition to basic learning subjects, Music, embroidery, dance, painting, and other skills that American upper class women must master are also inseparable from all kinds of skills. In our eyes, they are definitely white, rich and beautiful. While God opened a window for us, he quietly closed a door.
Although Peggy was from a wealthy family, she lived in the colonial war period in the United States. Since the war began when she was only five years old, she never knew when the colonial war had stopped. However, unlike some people of the same age, perhaps because she was influenced by her family, she showed a particularly strong interest in politics since she was a child. Every day when her father had time, little Peggy would pester his father to learn various national affairs and financial affairs from him.
As we grow older, Page's understanding of national affairs has gradually deepened, and he has come into contact with some topics related to and War of Independence ; Page's father cherishes everything now, so he becomes a loyal guardian and conservative of a British colonist, and opposing the War of Independence may take away his career or family.
Even though he did not disclose his views as much as possible, there was no airtight wall in the world. Their family was considered an opposition to independence, which also sowed the seeds of young people for Peggy to embark on the road of treason.
The Conservative Party’s beauty
Peggy has been very interested in national affairs since he was a child, and when he was a little older, he has been chasing the hot events in society. By the time Peggy was 17 years old, Philadelphia was under the control of the British, and she often appeared in circles that maintained British colonial rule. For example, Peggy's home became the center of exchange activities between many British officers and anti-independence people, and an important figure appeared among these people: Major John Andre .
At that time, Andre was just a new figure in the British army. Although he performed well, he was just a small officer. Because of his like-mindedness, he and Peggy often met in social occasions. The girl who had just fallen in love quickly developed feelings for the tall and handsome officer and her behavior gradually became bolder.
One day, a message broke the ambiguity between the two: France began to aid the local war of independence in the United States. When the British heard the news, they immediately gave up their stronghold in Philadelphia, and Andre had to leave with his troops, but the friendship between the two was still there. Peggy contacted Andre a few months later .
1778, with the aid of France, the Americans occupied Philadelphia, and the city began to be directed by Benedict Arnold. It was from this moment that Peggy's beautiful life began to take a turn. Although her father was still a determined British colonial defender, Page, interested in national affairs, began to approach General Arnold in private.
However, the difference in their views on the country was not the only difference between them. Arnold was 36 years old at that time, while Peggy was only 18 years old. Even so, the two fell in love over time, and soon Arnold proposed to Peggy. Because of the two different positions on the country, Peggy's father disagreed, but the girl was too old to stay. Peggy forced her to die, and her father had to agree in the end.
has chosen a good day, and Page officially married and Arnold . At this point, I believe that many netizens who understand American history have already understood it. Yes, Benedict Arnold is a famous traitor in . The story that follows is also guessed why Benedict Arnold went from being an American general with great military achievements to the road to betray his compatriots.
General's wife's spy life
Pegg and Arnold can also be considered a match. One is the local white and rich beauty, and the other is the famous general in the army. Their married life is quite nourishing. Arnold waved his hand and bought the luxury house outside the city as a wedding house, and spared a lot of money to decorate the house. However, they did not end up living there. It became a rental property.
Arnold, who was proud of his love, wanted to be equally proud in the workplace, so uses his position to make profit from his command in Philadelphia. In less than a year, Arnold was arrested for the incident, including being closer to those who maintained the British colonial ruler. This was strongly criticized by Washington himself. Unexpectedly, the generals around him were not firm in their position.
Arnold was furious about Washington's distrust, which led to the British's favorability for Page again. The fear of her husband's position as a US general also disappeared.
Peggy has been in contact with her first love Andre. Andre has obtained a lot of news from Pegg and has made countless achievements. He has been promoted to a major and the number one spy in the British army.
With the help of Page, Arnold and Andre met. As for what the two talked about, no one knows, but Arnold started contacting the British in the second year after his marriage , and shared information about the location of the troops, supply lines and other important military intelligence .
The end of betrayal
Peggy can be said to be the leader of Arnold's astray. She directly brought Arnold to the British general and helped Arnold pass some information to the British. This can be derived from the letters left by Page, which records some information about her husband and was written in invisible ink.
According to historians' research, Page also received a reward of £350 for passing certain messages. However, at this time, Page became pregnant. In order to protect the child and husband, the whole family moved to a house near West Point Military Academy. West Point Military Academy was an important military stronghold for Arnold to obtain command, and it was also Arnold's most trusted subordinates. During this period, Arnold gradually weakened the fortifications so that it could be handed over to the British more easily.
1780, the plot of the Page family collapsed. Before Arnold fled Philadelphia, Arnold and Andre met and handed all the important documents related to the West Point conspiracy to Andre.
When Andre tried to return to British territory with these files, his secret operation was discovered by American soldiers and was arrested on charges of spy. Arnold, who received the message, fled immediately, , even Peggy and his son, .
Washington and his assistant were supposed to have breakfast with the Arnolds that morning, and when they arrived, they found Arnold's treason, Washington alone found Peggy.Page became hysterical after “discovering” her husband’s defection, which might have won the time to escape. After
Page returned to her home in Philadelphia and pretended not to know anything until a letter between Andre and Page was discovered by the Americans, who had fled to New York, the British occupied land, and Andre was executed as a spy.
Life after the War of Independence
The war quickly spread to New York. The Page family knew that the British colonial situation was hopeless, so they took the family to London, England . But I was not familiar with the place in the UK. As soon as the American Revolutionary War ended, everything was in trouble. Page and Arnold took advantage of this gap to go to Canada next door to the United States, while doing some small businesses while inquiring about the trends in the United States.
After her career was successful, Peggy shamelessly planned to go back to her hometown to develop. Peggy first visited her family in Philadelphia, but she was already notorious in this city and could not stay there. The news of treason soon spread to Canada, and even thugs protested and smashed their shops. The family was forced to escape to the UK again.
The story ends here. Many people in American history remember that Arnold was an absolute traitor, but as the saying goes, "behind every successful man there is a successful woman", and vice versa.
Arnold finally embarked on the road of betrayal. Washington's distrust was just a fuse. The most direct reason was his wife's position and the "wind in the ears" every day and night. Therefore, Page Arnold is the person behind the manipulation of this treason.
