In 1738, a cooper named Benedict Arnold petitioned the Rhode Island General Assembly for a divorce from his wife Mary Ward Arnold. Benedict claimed that Mary had taken a lover and together they had attempted to murder him with poison.

How did this story of love, divorce, and attempted murder unfold? What does it reveal about the larger world of colonial America and the experiences of colonial American men and women?

Elaine Forman Crane, a Distinguished Professor of History at Fordham University, takes us through the Arnolds’ story with details from her book, The Poison Plot: A Tale of Adultery and Murder in Colonial Newport.

Show Notes: https://www.benfranklinsworld.com/225

 

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Complementary Episodes

• Episode 110: Joshua Taylor, How Genealogists Research
• Episode 114: Karin Wulf, The History of Genealogy
• Episode 118: Christy Clark-Pujara, The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island
• Episode 208: Nathaniel Philbrick, Turning Points of the American Revolution
• Episode 209: Considering Biography
• Episode 212: Researching Biography

 

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