When Thomas Hickey is charged, there is no mention made of the plot against Washington. Why do you suppose this was? Do you agree that secrecy was warranted?

When Thomas Hickey is charged, it's for sedition, and no mention is made of the plot against Washington. Why do you suppose this was?

Do you agree that secrecy was warranted? If the conspiracy was more widely known, what impact would it have had, in your opinion?

There seemed to have been rumors about the assassination plan but I don't think the Continental Congress wanted to give it credence. Doing so might have produced fear in the people. Washington was revered and a symbol of strength and they didn't want him to appear fallible.

Giving credence to the plot, which was rumored, ran the risk of damaging Washington’s image and giving a boost to the image of the Loyalist’s within their own ranks.

Washington had such a ragtag bunch of men, any more blows to the self esteem of the collective army would have been disastrous. Keeping his cards close to his vest seems wise.

Secrecy was warranted. The morale of the soldiers was not good, to say the least, and a even a hint of insurrection may have caused an exodus.

I'm actually kind of surprised the decision was made to keep the whole affair secret. It may have fired people up, rather than demoralized them.

I agree with most above. There is some news that should be shared and other news you need to make a point of not sharing if it will cause a general panic, or you could be in danger of losing the support you have (which is hanging in the balance at all times). In an upheaval people could change their support in the blink of an eye and the information had to be managed to meet that possibility. It was a pretty volatile environment at the time.