John André: the life and death of a young British hero

At the height of the American Revolutionary War, the British hatched a plot to turn a senior American general, Benedict Arnold. Mastermind of the plot was the Huguenot-born Major John André, Adjutant-General and effective head of Britain's secret service in North America. The plot was discovere...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ronald, D. A. B. (Author)
Format: Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Soc. 2021
In: The Huguenot Society journal
Year: 2021, Volume: 34, Pages: 33-48
RelBib Classification:KAH Church history 1648-1913; modern history
KBF British Isles
KBQ North America
ZC Politics in general
Description
Summary:At the height of the American Revolutionary War, the British hatched a plot to turn a senior American general, Benedict Arnold. Mastermind of the plot was the Huguenot-born Major John André, Adjutant-General and effective head of Britain's secret service in North America. The plot was discovered at the eleventh hour. André was captured behind American lines and executed as a spy on 2 October 1780. These events are well-known to students of the war, as are the reactions of Americans at the time. Less well-known are the reactions of the British. This article briefly revisits the events but resets them in the context of Britain's war propaganda, which, at the time, was seeking how best to represent the nation's quest for empire and had focused on the image of the "young British hero" as a centrepiece of this campaign. This article explores how André and the events of his life and, especially, his death were seen to encapsulate the new iconography.
ISSN:2053-6267
Contains:Enthalten in: Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland, The Huguenot Society journal