Patriots! Who can you trust now?
By Joanne(4R)

Patriots, watch out! West Point leader has become a traitor! Benedict Arnold, commander of West Point, offered to give a British spy, Major John Andre, defense plans for West Point. Arnold wanted 20,000 pounds for West Point. Arnold was just giving up the fort because he needed money to pay his bills. Benedict Arnold wanted to change the Hudson River chain from metal to rope so that the British could get through. Joshua Hett Smith let the spy and the traitor meet in his house to plan the treason plot. Three militiamen captured Major Andre while he was walking through the woods in Tarrytown. They searched Andre and found the defense plans in his sock. The plans were coded in numbers. Arnold escaped.

On September 28, 1780, Major John Andre was put on trial for treason. During the trial, General George Washington stayed in the DeWint house. Andre was found guilty and he was held prisoner in the Old 1776 house. As a punishment for the treason plot, Andre was hung in Tappan, New York in 1780. Joshua Hett Smith was put on trial, too. He was innocent because he didn’t know what Arnold and Andre were planning in his house. Smith escaped in women’s clothes and moved to England. Arnold joined the British side and fought against his own countrymen. He helped attack forts in New York and Virginia. Benedict Arnold was never captured. People are still searching for him.

The fort at West Point was so important to the Americans because they could protect the Hudson River. If the British got control of the Hudson, they would own New York. Luckily, Major Andre was caught with the defense plans. If he hadn’t been captured, the British might have attacked West Point and captured the fort. Because of this treason plot, the Americans almost lost the American Revolution!

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