It began as a slow fade: stealing supplies from troops at Valley Forge so that he could sell them to make a little bit of cash on the side. Once he lacerated his mind from his morals, it became easy to meet with General Andre, a British officer, to sell classified documents describing the defense system at West Point Naval Base.
Through a series of "coincidences" his plan was discovered, and his reputation was ruined forever. What if the young militia men hadn't stopped Andre? What if Andre hadn't let it slip that he was a British officer? What if Tallmadge, the only American who suspected Arnold was a traitor, had not been passing through the area? The British would have attacked, and West Point would have fallen. The American army would have been divided and conquered. The Revolutionary War would have been an unsuccessful colonial revolt against the most powerful empire in the world. The colonial leaders would be hung as traitors. Arnold would be known around the world as a great British war hero who had single-handedly turned the course of the war! He could well be living in luxury as a governor of the once-again-peaceful American colonies instead of in an English hovel, despised by both Americans and Englishmen.
Choosing to sacrifice integrity for personal gain never works.
I pray that I can live a life of sincerest integrity, never compromising myself for flashes of worldliness.
