Traitors and Trials: Of André, Arnold and Penn Student
Revolutionary images showing crowd scenes are rare. This cartoon of a Philadelphia parade marks a crucial episode in September 1780, when Benedict Arnold was hanged in effigy after he was revealed as a British spy. The two-faced Arnold is on a cart as the devil behind him tempts him with money. The sign lists Arnold’s accomplices Joshua Smith and Major John André, the British officer who was captured, and who, after revealing the plot, was hanged.
The print suggests the role people of different ages and social classes could play. In addition to a gentleman on horseback leading the parade, figures of lower social rank surround the cart.[2] Also in the image are figures who may be adolescents, and it is tempting to imagine students taking part in this demonstration.
The scandal struck uncomfortably close to the institution. College graduate Francis Murray audaciously spoke sympathetically of André during his 1781 commencement address, leading Provost Ewing to withhold his diploma. Margaret “Peggy” Shippen, daughter of Penn Trustee Edward Shippen and cousin to William Shippen, Jr., MD, became infamous because of her marriage to Arnold.
Murray defended himself in the newpapers and printed the full text of the speech. Several later was granted his degree after apologizing to the Trustees and went on to a career in the law in addition to marryinng Timothy Matlack's daughter.
The image was reprinted, with explanatory text, in the 19th century, and a copy is also in the Hazard scrapbook: “A Representation of Figures exhibited and paraded through the Streets of Philadelphia, on Saturday, the 30th of September 1780.” Facsimile, attributed to E. Rogers, ca. 1855–60, after 1780 original by John Dunlap. Samuel Hazard scrapbook and ephemera, 1723–1876, Ms. Coll. 1257. ↑
Foner, Tom Paine and Revolutionary America, 55. ↑
The names on the sign with two hangmen are for Major John André and Joshua Smith who assisted Benedict Arnold's meeting with André . Smith tried for treason but acquitted for lack of evidence. ↑