On May 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress convened in Philadelphia in response to the start of the American Revolutionary War, which began April 19, 1775, when British Troops descended on the Massachusetts towns of Lexington and Concord. These incidents launched what would become a bloody and spirited conflict between the American Patriots and the British and those loyal to their cause. At the heart of this conflict were representation, trade, taxation, and the differing interpretation of liberty and freedom. As the Continental Congress acted to establish the Continental Army and elect George Washington as Commander-in-Chief, another Revolutionary Era figure, Benedict Arnold, led a strategic effort to secure New York when he mustered a group of soldiers to capture Fort Ticonderoga. However, despite how significant these and subsequent actions were, today, Benedict Arnold’s name is more synonymous with traitor than patriot. And likewise, the memory of another significant Idahoan, Ezra Pound—born roughly 100 years after the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War—also stands in the shadows of treason. Although Arnold never visited Idaho, and Pound never lifted a musket against a redcoat, both men’s lives teach us about America’s relationship with treason and the complexities of the human experience.  

Benedict Arnold began the American Revolution as a passionate patriot and skilled military leader. Born in Connecticut in 1741, Arnold was ambitious and driven by a deep desire to restore his family’s respectability, which had declined partly because of his father’s alcoholism and business failures. He proved himself to be a successful merchant before the Revolution, but the war offered him a chance to achieve the honor he craved. Arnold quickly distinguished himself in battle, notably at the Battle of Saratoga, where his leadership was crucial to the Patriots’ victory, and his selfless devotion and personal sacrifice earned him the nickname of George Washington’s “fighting general.” Despite his service, Arnold felt overlooked for promotions and recognition, which fueled resentment. This, combined with financial pressures and the influence of his loyalist-leaning wife, Peggy Shippen, led Arnold to negotiate with the British secretly. He agreed to hand over the strategic fort at West Point in exchange for money and a position in the British army. The Patriots learned of his plan when they captured British Major John André, but Arnold avoided capture. Arnold’s betrayal shocked the nation, galvanizing American resolve and providing a villain for patriotic propaganda. The press quickly disparaged him, and in public memory, he became the embodiment of treachery and treason. On June 1, 1801, he died in exile, convinced his country had wronged him. 

Ezra Pound was born in 1885 in Hailey, Idaho, to Isabel Weston and Homer Pound. The Pound family lived in a modest white clapboard house. Although Pound only spent his earliest years in Idaho before moving east, Hailey, Idaho, claims him as a “native son.” The Wood River Valley intentionally honors its connections to Pound and other significant figures associated with American literature. By 1908, Pound had moved to Europe, where his literary work took root. He became a central figure in modernist poetry, championing writers like T.S. Eliot and James Joyce, and producing influential works such as his epic poem, The Cantos. During World War II, Pound lived in Italy and made radio broadcasts that were a mixture of economic commentary, political diatribe, and virulent anti-Semitism. He railed against the American government, accused President Roosevelt of being manipulated by Jewish interests, and blamed Jews for both world wars and the global financial system’s ills. These speeches, delivered in a rambling, sometimes incoherent style, nonetheless clearly supported fascist ideology and urged Americans to oppose the Allied war effort, and they prompted the US government to charge him with nineteen counts of treason in 1943. After the war, American troops arrested him. However, the courts declared him mentally unfit to stand trial. Pound spent twelve years in Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Washington, DC, where, despite his imprisonment, he continued to write The Cantos. In 1958, the US dropped the charges against him and released him from the psychiatric hospital. He lived the rest of his life in Europe, continuing to write. 

Although both men’s treasonous acts landed differently, and impacted different international conflicts, the illegality of these actions is based on the same section of the US Constitution: Article III, Section 3, which defines treason as “levying war against [the United States], or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.” Conviction requires a confession in an open court or testimony from two witnesses to the same overt act. Treason is the only crime specifically defined in the Constitution, reflecting the gravity with which the founders viewed betrayal of the nation. Idaho, like most states, follows the federal definition of treason.  

Both Arnold’s and Pound’s lives illustrate how the label of “traitor” can overshadow even the most significant achievements. History sometimes forgets Arnold’s military brilliance because of his betrayal, while Pound’s wartime actions complicate acceptance of his literary genius. Their stories, rooted in different places and eras in American history, remind us of the influence of public memory on the boundaries of loyalty and treason. Although Arnold never stood trial, the court of public opinion passed judgment. In September 1780, just days after the public learned of his actions, residents of Philadelphia paraded through the streets with an Arnold-inspired puppet being offered money by the devil, illustrating his fate of damnation to hell for his actions. Additionally, the Continental Congress’s Board of War removed Arnold’s name from the army’s rolls in a more final acknowledgment of his duplicity. Meanwhile, Pound’s case remains a flashpoint in American cultural history. Some defenders argue that his mental state or artistic genius should mitigate his actions. In contrast, others insist that his broadcasts—deliberate, repeated, and explicitly supportive of fascist enemies—constituted a clear betrayal of his country. The legal and moral debates surrounding his indictment reflect broader American anxieties about the boundaries of free speech, dissent, and loyalty in times of war. The stories of Benedict Arnold, Ezra Pound, and others accused of treason illuminate the profound tensions between personal conviction, political loyalty, and public judgment in American history and remind us that it is the compilation of individual moments and experiences that shaped American history.  

Written by HannaLore Hein 

Bibliography  

“Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations – Office of the Historian.” Accessed May 7, 2025. https://history.state.gov/milestones/1776-1783/declaration. 

Pearlman, Daniel. “The Anti-Semitism of Ezra Pound.” Edited by Leonard W. Doob and Ezra Pound. Contemporary Literature 22, no. 1 (1981): 104–15. https://doi.org/10.2307/1208225. 

Shalhope, Robert E. “Benedict Arnold as Hero.” Edited by James Kirby Martin. Reviews in American History 26, no. 4 (1998): 668–73. 

Photographs 

Ezra and Isabel Pound, May 3, 1898, Harry Ransom Center, University of Austin, Texas, via Wikimedia Commons. 

Ezra Pound, 1963, Mondadori Publishers, Getty Images, via Wikimedia Commons, http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/american-poet-ezra-pound-standing-on-a-pavement-nearby-a-news-photo/141554902  

Benedict Arnold, Thomas Hart, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benedict_Arnold_1color_(crop).jpg  

• Caption: Colonel Arnold, who commanded the Provincial Troops sent against Quebec, through the wilderness of Canada, and was wounded in that city, under General Montgomery. London. Published as the Act directs, 26 March 1776 by Thos. Hart. 

Benedict Arnold Illustration, 1879. Engraving by Henry Bryan Hall, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benedict_arnold_illustration.jpg