Subscribe to the Patreon here! You'll have access to 37 mini fix episodes, 3 History Fix Trivia episodes, plus a fun new segment I have up my sleeve! Otherwise, I'll catch you all in September!

Shoot me a message!

Support the show

Listen to this full mini fix episode on Patreon!

Benedict Arnold is remembered as a notorious turncoat, a traitor who secretly switched sides during the Revolutionary War. His legacy is one of betrayal, selfishness, and greed. But how did it happen? How did a man who once exclaimed “Good God, are the Americans all asleep and tamely giving up their glorious liberties?” upon hearing news of the Boston Massacre end up fighting alongside the enemy? Like with most villains from history, there has to be more to the story. Nathaniel Philbrick writes in a Smithsonian magazine article “Although it later became convenient to portray Arnold as a conniving Satan from the start, the truth is more complex and, ultimately, more disturbing. Without the discovery of his treason in the fall of 1780, the American people might never have been forced to realize that the real threat to their liberties came not from without, but from within.” Let’s fix that.

Sources:

• Smithsonian Magazine “Why Benedict Arnold Turned Traitor Against the American Revolution”
• Mountvernon.org “Benedict Arnold”

Shoot me a message!

Support the show

Everyone knows about General George Washington and the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781. But, very few people know the circumstances surrounding that surrender. Very few people know about the involvement of an enslaved Black man named James who worked as a double agent during the war, secretly passing information to the Americans while feeding the British false leads. Few people know the risks James took, risks that eventually led to an American victory, risks that stood to gain him nothing in return. Let's fix that.

Support the show!

• Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)
• Buy some merch
• Buy Me a Coffee
• Venmo @Shea-LaFountaine

Sources:

• American Battlefield Trust "James Armistead Lafayette"
• Library of Virginia "James Lafayette Petition for Freedom, 1786"
• United States Army National Museum "James Armistead Lafayette"
• Wikipedia "James Armistead Lafayette"
• Wikipedia "Benedict Arnold"
• Wikipedia "Marquis de Lafayette"

Shoot me a message!

Support the show