USA > Vermont > A history of Vermont : with geological and geographical notes, bibliography, chronology, maps, and illustrations > Part 8
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will show the truth of this proposition. When the Ameri- can colonies declared themselves independent of Great Britain, the dispute between New York and the New Hampshire Grants was pending decision by the only authority which both disputants would recognize as their arbiter. The colonies were subjects of Great Britain. The king of England was their fountain of justice. The Declaration of American Independence absolved the colonies from all allegiance to Great Britain, and her fountain of justice was for them no more.
What then remained to be done? There was no longer any earthly power whose claims as a superior both disputants would admit. The settlers on the grants had been removed from the jurisdiction of New Hampshire by the king's Order in Council of 1764. They had never from that day submitted to the actual exercise of New York's sovereignty. New York was not their sovereign. The king of England was their sovereign. Now that his arbitrament was thrown aside - for even if Vermont would admit it New York would not - there was nothing for the New Hampshire Grants to do but maintain their own independence.
That meant no longer independence of New York alone, but of the world. Organization became unavoid- able for the emergencies of war and domestic govern- ment ; and organization once begun the declaration of purpose was pertinent. It was also timely, for the same sentiments were evoked and the same model fol- lowed as those which had inspired the united colonies. These colonies could hardly fail to recognize the example which they had set. Nothing could have placed Vermont
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THE GODS OF THE HILLS
in a more commanding position than this simple, strong announcement of her purpose. The logic of events was on her side. The appeal was powerful and in touch with the times, for not a state except New York could utter a protest.
NOTE. - In the history of our state the work of these conventions should never be forgotten. They were extremely simple bodies - one house, a supreme legislative and executive power, elected by the people, responsible to the people. These bodies assumed the jurisdiction of the grants, furnished them with a government, declared them to be a free and independent state, and gave that state its constitution. It is worthy of note that the constitution was modeled after that of Penn- sylvania, which in turn goes back to William Penn's frame of govern- ment of 1682.
CHAPTER VII
AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
BENNINGTON, July 25, 1780.
Sir : Vermont, being a free and independent state, have denied the authority of Congress to judge of their jurisdiction, . . . for it is utterly incompatible with the rights and prerogatives of an independent state to be under the control or arbitrament of any other power. . . . The cloud that has hovered over Vermont, since the ungenerous claims of New Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay, has been seen, and its motions carefully observed by this government ; who expected that Congress would have averted the storm: but disappointed in this, and unjustly treated as the people, over whom I preside, conceive themselves to be in this affair, yet blessed by Ileaven, with a constancy of mind, and connexions abroad, as an honest, valient and brave people, are necessi- tated to declare to your Excellency, to Congress, and to the world, that, as life, liberty and the rights of the people, intrusted to them by God, are inseparable, so they do not expect to be justified in the eye of Heaven, or that posterity would call them blessed, if they should, tamely, surrender any part. - Governor Chittenden to the President of Congress.
INTERNAL CONDITIONS
The full story of fourteen years' independent govern- ment is needed in order really to understand what Vermont was at the time of her admission into the Union. On the one hand, on the industrial side there was the multiplication of new homes which in their beginnings were very much like the homes of earlier days and of which we shall learn more presently. On the other hand there was a continued development of statecraft, which in this period revealed a capacity for
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diplomacy as striking in its way as the more constructive work which we have just been considering.
The process of home-making went on, taking a north- ward direction, until at length it penetrated nearly all sections of the state. Meantime the older settlements became more thrifty in appearance, established new industries, and prospered. Men grown well-to-do in the older communities repeated their successes in the newer, entering them now as small capitalists, building the mills and assist- ing in the work of more rapid settle- ment than that of earlier days. The arms of commerce began to reach up into the little repub- lic of the hills. While this went on, VERMONT FLAG there is that other . story, the story of a long and persistent attempt to gain for the state admission to the Union. This attempt was long frustrated by New York, who still insisted on her claim to the grants.
It is a point worth remembering that, in spite of the dangers and uncertainties of settling in the state during the Revolution, Vermont was by comparison not the worst place in which to live. There were greater dan- gers and uncertainties elsewhere. She was free from
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HISTORY OF VERMONT
many of the burdens which the colonies had taken upon themselves in this great war. Her support to the war was purely voluntary ; her taxes were light ; she never had hung about her neck the financial millstone of irredeemable paper money ; her lands were cheap and inducements were strong to incoming settlers.
It was a point of self-interest for Vermont to promote as rapid a settlement as possible in this period. The more settlers she obtained, the stronger she would be to maintain a position that while unique among the commonwealths of America was at the same time some- what precarious. As the armies of Washington melted away by desertion, not a few of the self-retired veterans found their search for quiet homes leading them into the woods of Vermont. The families established here throve prodigiously, and there were few drones. Men, muscle, and courage were all that were needed to trans- form the wooded state into a thrifty commonwealth of husbandmen and freeholders. The transformation went on during the years of the Revolution and those which followed. In this way, too, Vermont was getting more out of the war than she put into it.
In 1771 a rough census showed that about seven thousand people inhabited the state. Forty-six hundred were east of the mountains and twenty-five hundred west. Ten years later the population was thirty thou- sand. In 1791 it was, in round numbers, eighty-five thousand. It is probable that at least ten thousand people came into the state during the war.
After her declaration of independence the state assumed the proprietorship of lands. In 1779 the
Lake
Memframagoc
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N -T
CHAMP
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M
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R
Y
Y
Marble Quarry,
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Y
Y
Y
Y
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Half Way Hill
Y
from Crown Pt Buys to No 4
Y
Y
S
Y
Y
VERMONT AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION
Y
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legislature formulated plans for the making of grants. They were not unlike the plan of Benning Wentworth. Townships were to be six miles square, with seventy rights or lots in each. Five of these were for public uses, - one for the support of a college, one for a county grammar school, one for an English school, one for the support of preaching, and one for the first settled minister. To set- tlers the prices of lots were made low, -- what would be equivalent to from seven to ten cents an acre for the three hundred and thirty acres or thereabouts in a lot.
These inducements, the vigor of state administration, the assurance of protection for private rights, the light burdens of taxation, the economy in state management, - the revenues from the sale of lands were nearly enough to pay expenses, - all tended to attract settlers and build up the state.
And yet conditions were far from peaceful and orderly. There were many conflicting interests, and the inhabit- ants were by no means all of one mind. We must remember that in all the states during and after the Revolution conditions were very disorderly. Social and political and economic disturbances, due in large part to the war itself, wrought havoc with the normal order of development and made turbulence and lawlessness rampant. In Vermont there were a few causes of dis- turbance which did not exist elsewhere. Those settlers who still held land under New York grants remained in favor of New York jurisdiction, and they conse- quently opposed the independence of Vermont.
Such men, especially . in the southeastern part of the state, in the vicinity of Guilford and Brattleboro,
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took occasion to resist the authority of Vermont. The governor of New York encouraged them, and they organized in opposition to the state and proposed to resist by force the collection of taxes and drafting of men for military service. In Guilford and some other towns the differences were so intense that each party had a town organization of its own, with its own set of officers. There were thus two civil organ- izations in such towns, one rendering allegiance to New York, the other to Vermont. Excitement rose to such a pitch that there were skirmishes between the two factions, and social order came to an end. Relatives and neighbors were arrayed against each other, and even physicians could not visit the sick without passes and permits from various committees. Finally Ethan Allen was directed to call out the militia to enforce laws and suppress disturbances in Windham County, which he set about to do with his characteristic vigor.
Notwithstanding his energetic measures, disturb- ances became so serious that in the winter of 1783- 1784 radical measures had to be taken against the New York element. Before the close of that year the " Yorkers " found most of their property confiscated and themselves so harshly handled by civil and military authorities that they went in large numbers to New York. The minority that remained took oath of alle- giance to this state. The years following saw even more serious disturbances across the line in the neighboring state of Massachusetts, disturbances which culminated in Shays's rebellion. Neither the disturbances nor the
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conditions in Vermont were exceptionally bad. The times were such as to foster discontent and breed riotous and disorderly conduct, especially among the debtor and more thriftless classes.
In respect to public finances the conditions in Ver- mont were better than in almost any other state. As has been said before, the state paid her own troops during the war and had no private debt, while she was free from the great burden of public debt which so handicapped the other states, because she had never been a member of the confederation. But many of her inhabitants were extremely poor, not a few involved in personal debt, and hard cash was a rare thing to see. Consequently collection of debts bore with severity on the people, and lawyers and sheriffs were in Vermont as elsewhere an unpopular class.
The prevalent hostility toward them is revealed in a burst of polemic song which appeared in the Vermont Gazette Feb. 28, 1784.
Whereas the Assembly of the State Have dar'd audaciously of late, With purpose vile, the constitution To break, or make a wicked use on, By making laws and raising taxes, And viler still (so truth of fact is) By keeping up that smooth tongu'd clan, For ages curs'd by God and man, Attornies, whose eternal gabble Confounds the unexperienced rabble.
. Then lawyers from the courts expell, Cancel our debts and all is well --
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HISTORY OF VERMONT
But should they finally neglect To take the measures we direct, Still fond of their own power and wisdom, We'll find effectual means to twist 'em.
Some disturbances occurred in what are now Windsor and Rutland counties. But the Assembly did all that could be honorably asked, even by poor debtors. It provided for payment " in kind" when creditors were insistent upon immediate payment of debts. The follow- ing act is self-explanatory.
Whereas, through a scarcity of a circulating medium, it is very difficult to satisfy all debts in specie. Therefore, Be it enacted, &c that neat cattle, beef, pork, sheep, wheat, rye, and indian corn, shall be a lawful tender, if turned out by the debtor, on any execution.
In such cases the creditor must receive at its value the tender of goods appraised by men under oath. Similar remedial legislation was applied for some years when the stress of collections was really oppressive. This relieved the situation temporarily ; in time industry and business brought general prosperity and permanent relief.
GREEN MOUNTAIN DIPLOMACY
In the condition of affairs which has been very briefly and imperfectly described in the foregoing section it became a task requiring no small skill on the part of political leaders to steer such a course in maintaining the independence of Vermont as not to wreck their ship of state on the shoals of national politics or the reefs of domestic woes. While Vermont was pleading for admis- sion to the Union, the action of Congress and the
I27
AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
neighboring states was such as to promote her internal troubles and bring her independence into jeopardy.
After the king's order of 1764 limiting New Hamp- shire's jurisdiction to the western bank of the Connecti- cut River that state had made no attempt to interfere with Vermont's affairs until such interference was in- duced by Vermont herself through a very unfortunate complication. The interest of certain towns lying in New Hampshire just east of the Connecticut River caused them to desire union with Vermont rather than continue longer under the government of New Hampshire. The request came at a time when Vermont politics were in such a state that the Assembly felt compelled to grant it. Consequently these New Hampshire towns were adopted like foster children by the state of Vermont.
No sooner was this done than New Hampshire natu- rally enough began strenuous protests and brought about still further complications by reviving her old claim to the jurisdiction of the grants. So the matter, when pre- sented to the Continental Congress, took a form which was decidedly unfavorable to Vermont. New Hampshire and New York were again contending for the same terri- tory, and it began to look as though Congress would like to dispose of the case in the easiest way, by dividing the state between the two claimants along the line of the Green Mountain range.
Vermont statesmen then saw the mistake which had been made in attempting to incorporate part of New Hampshire, and sought to retrace their steps. Very evidently policy dictated a separation from the New Hampshire towns. But states and nations as well as
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HISTORY OF VERMONT
individuals often find that it is not so easy to get out of a bad situation as it is to get into one. So it proved in this case; for when these towns were separated from Vermont along with them went neighboring towns on the Vermont side of the river. Vermont was dis- membered. As if this were not trouble enough, Mas- sachusetts presently entered the contest by asserting claims to territory north of the boundary line, which, it must be confessed, was somewhat uncertain. This, then, was the situation in 1779. Four states were claimants of the same territory. Vermont, troubled within and without, but determined to maintain her integrity, was pleading for admission to the Union, while on all sides her neighbors were making the situation worse, and Congress was doing nothing to make it better.
The claim of New Hampshire stimulated New York to stir up further dissension in Vermont and advise her partisans to resist the authority of the state. They accordingly refused to recognize Vermont's authority to draft troops or raise taxes, held a convention at Brattle- boro, and formed a military association in Cumberland County. Congress, meantime, only tried to pacify the three litigious members of her own body, without paying much attention to the needs of Vermont.
Such proceedings taught the people that they must work out their own salvation if they were going to be saved. They accordingly stood ready to seize any opportunity to strengthen their position. A chance soon came. The New Hampshire towns which had once been represented in the Assembly of Vermont again desired to renew that relation. A convention of
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AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
129
thirty-five towns which was held at Charlestown, New Hampshire, in 178 1, revealed that a majority of them were in favor of a union with Vermont.
About the same time a similar application came from a smaller number of towns across the New York border in
VERMONT
FREEDOM
AND UNITY
VERMONT COAT OF ARMS
the eastern part of that state. Here was an opportunity for Vermont to increase her strength and resources in two directions. Both applications were favorably considered, and Vermont assumed jurisdictional rights
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HISTORY OF VERMONT
over the petitioning towns. Their representatives were admitted to seats in her Assembly, and the annexa- tions became known as the East and West unions. This step was bold and unequivocal, but Vermont had become accustomed to burning her bridges behind her. The measure doubled the extent of her jurisdiction, added to her numbers and resources, quieted disaffection at home, and invited further immigration from abroad.
The next step was to secure herself from the dangers of British invasion ; for the war was not over, and another British campaign was contemplated in the Champlain Valley. The British came up the lake, and Vermont was defenseless. Congress was devoting its attention and all the supplies it could get out of an unwilling con- stituency to campaigns in other parts of the country. But the British were still possessed of the notion that had once deceived Burgoyne, - that the people of this state would turn to the crown. In consequence of this they were misled by their hopes in a manner that proved as effective a defense for Vermont as a military equipment would have been.
The peculiar situation of Vermont gave the British some grounds for supposing that her allegiance might be transferred to them. They were familiar with the rebuffs which the state had met in trying to associate herself with the other states, and they conjectured that they might turn her failure to their advantage. The first intimation that came of this desire was in the summer of 1780, when a stranger, apparently a Ver- mont farmer, met Ethan Allen in the streets of Arling- ton and handed him a letter. The stranger was not a
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AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
Vermont farmer but a British soldier, and the letter was from an officer of the British army in Canada.
The letter invited Allen to give information about the sentiments of the people on the subject of forming a British alliance. Allen took the letter to Governor Chittenden and it was discussed among a few confiden- tial friends. No answer was returned to the British officer, and he, thinking that his first letter might have miscarried, sent another of similar purport in the follow- ing February. To this also Allen made no reply, but he sent both letters to Congress, with a characteristic one of his own. He wrote :
I am fully grounded in opinion that Vermont has an indubita- ble right to agree on Terms of Cessation of Hostilities with Great Britain, providing the United States persist in rejecting her Appli- cation for a Union with them : for Vermont, of all people, would be the most miserable, were she obliged to defend the Independ- ence of the United claiming States, and they at the same time at full liberty to overturn and ruin the Independence of Vermont. I am persuaded when Congress considers the circumstances of this State, they will be more surprised that I have transmitted them the enclosed letters than that I have kept them in custody so long, for I am as resolutely determined to defend the Independence of Vermont as Congress are that of the United States, and rather than fail will retire with the hardy Green Mountain Boys into the desolate Cav- erns of the Mountains and wage war with Human nature at large.
Congress remained inactive.
When the British came up the lake in the fall of 1780 Governor Chittenden opened communications with them, and with the help of the Allens and a few others, without committing the state to any pledges, so kept the British fed with hopes of an alliance that they
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HISTORY OF VERMONT
refrained from beginning hostilities. Presently news came of the surrender of Cornwallis. It was then too late to fight. The British embarked, returned to Canada, and the border was again free from the dangers of invasion.
Thus far Congress had manifested little inclination to consider the case of Vermont at all ; but presently, in addition to the letters which Ethan Allen had trans- mitted, came the following one, sent by Franklin across the water.
WHITEHALL (LONDON) Feb. 7, 1781.
The return of the people of Vermont to their allegiance is an event of the utmost importance to the king's affairs ; and at this time if the French and Washington really meditate an irruption into Canada, may be considered as opposing an insurmountable bar to the attempt. General Haldimand who has the same instruc- tions with you to draw over these people and give them support, will, I doubt not, push up a body of troops, to act in conjunction with them, to secure all the avenues through their country into Canada : and when the season admits take possession of the upper parts of the Hudson and Connecticut rivers, and cut off communi- cation between Albany and the Mohawk country.
The letter, it seems, was written by Lord George Germaine to Sir Henry Clinton, but had been inter- cepted by the French and taken to Paris. There Ben- jamin Franklin was informed of it, secured it, and sent it to Congress. The evidence of this letter unmistak- ably corroborated the two which Allen had sent to Congress. They showed how important a place Ver- mont occupied in the British mind, and they elevated the state rather suddenly to a place of corresponding importance in the considerations of Congress. Ira Allen, who gives the fullest account of these Haldimand
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AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
negotiations of any one who was in the secret, says that this Germaine letter "had greater influence on the wisdom and virtue of Congress than all the exer- tions of Vermont in taking Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and the two divisions from General Burgoyne's army, or their petition to be admitted as a state in the general confederation, and offers to pay their proportion of the expenses of the war."
Certain it is that the tone of Congress changed after the receipt of the Germaine letter. The problem of what could be done in case Vermont responded favor- ably to the offers of the British began to be seriously considered. Washington wrote from Newburg Feb. II, 1783, as follows :
It is not a trifling force that will subdue them, even supposing they derived no aid from the enemy in Canada. . .. The country is very mountainous, full of defiles and exceedingly strong. The inhabitants for the most part are a hardy race, composed of that kind of people who are best calculated for soldiers; in truth who are soldiers, for many, many hundreds of them are deserters from this army ; who having acquired property there would be desperate in defense of it, well knowing that they were fighting with halters about their necks.1
Congress at length conceded for the first time the possibility of admitting Vermont, although it did so indirectly by stating that if such a step were taken it would be necessary for the state to relinquish the East and West unions. General Washington sent a verbal message to Governor Chittenden asking what the real
1 It should be noted in passing that although Vermont was a very desirable refuge for deserters who did not wish to go to Canada, Ver- mont authorities assisted in making arrests when their aid was invoked.
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HISTORY OF VERMONT
feeling of the people was, and later advised the gover- nor that the state would better be reduced to its former limits for the sake of ending the Congrefs of the United States: trouble. Encour- AT THE THIRD SESSION. aged to think that Begun and held at the City of Philadelphia, on if this were done Monday The fixth of December, one thou- Vermont would fand feven hundred and ninety. be promptly An ACT for the ADMISSION of the STATE of VERMONT into admitted, the this UNION. 3 THE Stateof Vermont having petitioned the Congress to be ad- mitted a member of the United States, Be it enafted by the SENATE Assembly com- plied with the and HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES of the United States of America in Congedo afimbled, and it is hereby enacted and declared, That on the fourth day of March, one Viouland' feven hundred and ninety-one, the tải State, by má (hunie Ind nite of " the Sine of Vermont," thall he received and admitted into this Union,, as a new and entire member of the United States of America. suggestion ; on Feb. 22, 1782, Vermont was for the last time reduced to its FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG, Speaker of the House of Representatives. present territorial form.
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