If Benedict Arnold Succeeds, Does the American Revolution Collapse?

If Benedict Arnold Succeeds, Does the American Revolution Collapse?

  • Yes, if George Washington is also captured or killed

    Votes: 12 27.9%
  • Yes

    Votes: 10 23.3%
  • No

    Votes: 21 48.8%

  • Total voters
    43

Anaxagoras

Banned
Suppose that Benedict Arnold's treasonous plan to betray West Point to the British had succeeded. Does this mean that the British win the Revolutionary War?
 

Anaxagoras

Banned
I am surprised at the strong majority of votes in favor of the "No" option, as my opinion is that the American cause would have suffered a crippling blow with the loss of West Point.

Any "No" voters care to explain their point of view?
 
I voted no, because it wouldn't change things at the higher levels of war, the grand- strategic or cultural, the strategic or logistic.

A major victory for the British Army isn't going to change the fact that much of the British governing class have realised they are now effectively having to conquer America, to all intents and purposes, and are deeply doubtful both about whether it could be done and whether it can be afforded;

or the French determination to get some measure of revenge for 1759, and their support for the Revolution- carried through to an economically suicidal extent in itself, see; 1789-

or the fact that most of the Revolutionary leadership have nailed their colours to the mast, metaphorically speaking, and cannot afford to surrender and compound for their treason.

A cripple can still limp on, and by this stage, with so much bad blood in the water, what is more likely to happen is that the contest becomes increasingly global, French and British forces clashing on a world scale, with surviving American guerrillas becoming the earlier, sides reversed analogue of the peninsular ulcer.
 
I might point out that, from a Loyalist point of view, far from being treacherous, Arnold was doing his duty to King and Country. Loyalists felt just as patriotic and American as the rebels.
 
I might point out that, from a Loyalist point of view, far from being treacherous, Arnold was doing his duty to King and Country. Loyalists felt just as patriotic and American as the rebels.

From a loyalist point of view, Arnold was being treacherous. He would have been "doing his duty" if he hadn't fought with the colonials in the first place, or had then switched allegiances back in a straightforward way, without being paid to do it.
 
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