Mrs. Benedict Arnold and Daughter, c. 1783—89

Mrs. Benedict Arnold and Daughter, c. 1783—89
by
Thomas Lawrence (1769—1830)

Pastel on gouache paper. Historical Society of Pennsylvania Collection, Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, Philadelphia, PA.

Peggy Shippen (1760 - 1804), daughter of Edward Shippen — a moderate Loyalist who later became Chief Justice of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1805 — married Benedict Arnold, 20 years her senior, when she was 18.

Pictured with her is either their only daughter, Sophia Matilda Arnold (b. 1785), or, since young boys also wore dresses at that time, possiblly it is their son, Edwin Shippen Arnold (b. 1780).

The issue of taxation had immense symbolic importance on both sides of the Atlantic. Like most of his fellow members of Parliament, [Lord Frederick] North regarded the right of Britain to tax America as integral to the absolute and indivisible supremacy of Parliament over America. The concept of parliamentary sovereignty was more than an abstract doctrine. It had emotional resonance as a constitutional victory won against the monarchy in the Glorious Revolution, following the deposition of James II in 1688. It was regarded as essential for the protection of liberty in general. For Britain, the right to tax the colonies was fundamental to its authority to govern America. At the same time, taxation united colonial opposition more than any other grievance.

— Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy
The Men Who Lost America: British Leadership, the American Revolution, and the Fate of the Empire (2013)