USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Posing as a runaway enslaved man, Armistead quickly infiltrated British forces via Arnold’s camp. While at first he took on menial tasks, his vast knowledge of the terrain-a trait that wouldn’t seem suspicious for a local runaway-was useful to both Arnold and Cornwallis for British intelligence during the war.

Detailed explanation-2: -James successfully infiltrated Lt. Gen. Charles, Lord Cornwallis’s Virginia headquarters posing as a runaway slave who was willing to spy on American troops. As a double agent, he was tasked with gathering important details about British plans while also planting false information about the Continental Army.

Detailed explanation-3: -Two Patriots: One Slave and One Free; James Armistead Lafayette and James Forten. “It is not for their own land they fought, not even for a land which had adopted them, but for a land which had enslaved them, and whose laws, even in freedom, oftener oppressed than protected.

Detailed explanation-4: -REWARDED FOR HIS SERVICE In 1787, the Virginia Assembly granted James his freedom for his courageous contribution, while his owner, William Armistead, was compensated £250. James added Lafayette to his name to honor the French general for whom he spied.

Detailed explanation-5: -James Lafayette was a spy during the American Revolution (1775–1783). Born enslaved in about 1748, he was a body servant for his owner, William Armistead, of New Kent County, in the spring of 1781.