USA > Vermont > The history of Vermont, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 13
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
- [1790.
circumstances we may well imagine that the people of Vermont had ceased to feel any soli- citude to be admitted into the Union. There were still undecided questions-particularly as to land titles and jurisdictions; but a quarter of a century had accustomed them to this incon- venience, and the pause in the active proceedings of New York had rendered the evils more theo- retical than actual.
Vermont escaped the discussion, in many of the states conducted with a great deal of acrimony, which attended the adoption of the Federal con- stitution. No doubt her leading men looked on, ' and her people debated the advantages and dis- advantages of the proposed Federal Union under the new constitution, but it was as spectators and not as participants. When, by the Convention of 1787, the constitution was determined upon, and in that and the following year, eleven states came into the Union, South Carolina following in 1789, and Rhode Island in 1790, the inha- bitants of Vermont perceived, in the workings of the new system, the promise of perpetuity and the prospect of relief from the public debt. They discovered, moreover, that the Federal go- vernment possessed a strength which contrasted favourably with the inefficiency of the old Con- gress and confederation, and were now again disposed to enter the Union.
The old opponent of Vermont, New York, was
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1790.] NEW YORK DIFFICULTY ADJUSTED. -
now not only willing but anxious that Vermont should come into the confederacy. The position of things had changed, and Vermont with her two senators could do New York and the northern in- terest better service than if her territory were an integral part of any other state, and could, there- fore, add nothing to the weight of the Northern states in the Senate. The question of jurisdic- tion, long since tacitly relinquished, was now waived altogether, and the only point to be de- termined was in regard to the conflicting land- titles, and the claims of those adherents of New York who had been dispossessed and expelled from Vermont. Commissioners were appointed by the two states, who met and defined the boundary as claimed by Vermont, and agreed upon the sum of thirty thousand dollars, to be paid by Vermont to New York for the extin- guishment of the disputed titles. These con- ditions, agreed upon by the commissioners, were ratified by the legislatures of the two states in 1790, and an end was thus put to a controversy which had lasted for twenty-six years. In re- viewing the dispute, though we are compelled to admit that the Green Mountain Boys did many rude and lawless acts, we cannot but admire their sturdy resistance. They certainly were, the op- pressed party in the dispute ; and the wisdom and courage with which they contended against su- perior power, and the firm adherence which they
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HISTORY OF VERMONT. [1790.
preserved, under their ungracious treatment, to the cause of freedom and their common country, are deserving of high praise. Their services were most important in bringing the struggle with Great Britain to a successful issue. In defending their territory, whether by arms or by artifice, they were defending the confederacy, and aiding the common cause, even while the treatment which they received from the Congress was discourteous, if not oppressive. But, as we have already remarked, it is rather wonderful that Congress effected so much, than that there should have been some cause of complaint ; and it is only by closer reading than the common compendious histories of the Revolutionary pe- riod furnish, that we are enabled to do justice to that remarkable body, the Continental Con- gress.
The new Congress met in New York, in 1789, but it was not until April 6th, a month after the time appointed for assembling, that a quorum of members of the two houses came together. Their first duty was to count the votes for president and vice-president. Washington had sixty-nine votes, the whole number cast. By the constitution of the United States, as at first adopted, the candi- date receiving the next highest number was de- clared vice-president. John Adams received thirty-four votes, and was elected. The labours of the first Congress are thus summed up by
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227
1790.] REVIEW OF NEW CONGRESS.
Hildreth, in his History of the United States, and a better review of their proceedings has not been given. " It was a body, next to the convention that framed the constitution, by far the most illustrious and remarkable in our post- revolutionary annals. On coming together, the new Congress had found the expiring govern- ment of the confederation without revenue, with- out credit, without authority, influence, or re- spect, at home or abroad ; the state governments suffering under severe pecuniary embarrassments ; and a large portion of the individuals who com- posed the nation overwhelmed by private debts. Commerce and industry, without protection from foreign competition, and suffering under all the evils of a depreciated and uncertain currency, exposed also to serious embarrassments from local jealousies and rivalries, were but slowly and painfully recovering from the severe dislocations to which, first, the War of the Revolution, and then the peace had subjected them. Even the practicability of carrying the new constitution into effect, at least without making the remedy worse than the disease, was seriously doubted, and stoutly denied by a powerful party having many able men among its leaders, and, numerically con- sidered, including perhaps a majority of the people of the United States.
" In two short years a competent revenue had been provided, the duties imposed to produce it
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HISTORY OF VERMONT. [1791.
operating also to give to American producers a preference in the home market, and to secure to American shipping a like preference in Ameri- can ports. The public debt, not that of the confederation only, but the great bulk of the state debts, had been funded, and the interest provided for, the public credit having been thus raised from the lowest degradation to a most re- spectable position. The very funding of this debt, and the consequent steady and increasing value thus conferred upon it, had given a new character to the currency, composed as it was, in a great measure, of the public securities ; while steps had been taken to improve it still further by the establishment of a national bank. A national judiciary had been organized, vested with powers to guard the sanctity of contracts against stop laws, tender laws, and paper money. The practicability and efficiency of the new system had been as fully. established as the experience of only two years would admit, and the nation thereby raised to a respectable posi- tion in its own eyes, and in those of foreign countries."
Such was the condition of things when, in 1791, Vermont, without a dissenting vote, was admitted into the Union. The little state came in on the tenth wave, having escaped all the eight years of trouble and doubt which inter- vened between the proclamation of peace and
1791.] ADMITTED INTO THE UNION. 229
the adoption of the Federal constitution. Her membership of the confederacy commenced on the 4th of March, 1791. The first senators were Moses Robinson and Stephen R. Bradley ; repre- sentatives, Nathaniel Niles and Israel Smith. Her Congressional delegates from that time to the present have been such as to do honour to the state they represented, and to command the respect of their associates in Congress. The
number of representatives to which Vermont is entitled by the present appointment, is four. The population at the commencement of the Revolution was estimated at twenty thousand, and at the close at thirty thousand. The succes- sive decennial enumerations of the inhabitants, from the date of the admission of the state into the Union, are as follows : 1791, 85,416; 1800, 154,465; 1810, 217,713; 1820, 235,764; 1830, 280,652; 1840, 281,948; 1850, 314,120. The ratio of increase, very large at the beginning, has become much reduced. This is a necessary consequence of the fact that the state contains an agricultural community ; and of course its population must be less than where commerce and manufactures collect large bodies of inha- bitants in a limited space.
Colonel Ethan Allen died in 1779, having lived to witness the termination of the contest with New York, in which he had borne so large a part from the commencement to the close. At
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
[1791.
1
the time of his death he was aged only fifty years, and many of his eccentric movements, as leader of the "Green Mountain Boys," may be placed to the account of youthful extravagance. But he was all his life through an eccentric man, quite as remarkable for his peculiarities as praiseworthy for his services. He was, unhap- pily, a sceptic in religion, and had an un- fortunate habit of obtruding his opinions, not only in conversation but by printing them. So wild were some of his fancies, that the opinion has been maintained by many who had opportu- nity for judging, that his peculiarities were as- sumed in order to excite remark. He had the virtues and the follies which would naturally be looked for from the circumstances of his life. Colonel Graydon, who was his fellow-prisoner in New York, speaks in a kind and impartial man- ner of him. After quoting some of Allen's strangely violent language, Graydon says :
" Should this language seem too highly wrought, it should be remembered that few have ever more severely felt the hand of arbitrary power than Allen, and that he had but recently emerged from the provost guard, to which, for some alleged infringement of parole, he and Major O. H. Williams, a very gallant and dis- tinguished officer, had been committed. Allen had been brought from Halifax to New York, and was admitted to parole when we were. His
231 .
1791.] CHARACTER OF ETHAN ALLEN.
figure was that of a robust, large-framed man, worn down by confinement and hard fare; but he was now recovering his flesh and spirits, and a suit of blue clothes, with a gold-laced hat that had been presented to him by the gentlemen of Cork, enabled him to make a very passable ap- pearance for a rebel colonel. He used to show a fracture in one of his teeth occasioned by his twisting off with it, in a fit of anger, the nail which fastened the bar of his hand-cuffs. I had become well acquainted with him, and have more than once heard him relate his adventures while a prisoner before being brought to New York, exactly corresponding in substance and language with the narrative he gave the public in 1779. I have seldom met with a man possessing a stronger mind, or whose mode of expression was more vehement and oratorical. His style was a singular compound of local barbarisms, scriptural phrases, and oriental wildness; and though un- classic, and sometimes ungrammatical, it was highly animated and forcible.
* Not- withstanding that Allen might have had some- thing of the insubordinate, lawless, frontier spirit in his composition, having been in a state of hostility with the government of New York be- fore the Revolution, he appeared to me to be a man of generosity and honour, several instances of which occur in his publication, and one, not equivocal, came under my own observation.
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
[1791.
General Washington, speaking of him in an of- ficial letter, of May 12th, 1788, observes, with a just discrimination, that there was an original something in him which commanded admiration."
The incident referred to by Colonel Graydon is the following. Certain American officers, prisoners on parole, had been committed tem- porarily to close confinement. On their re- lease, without the exaction of a new parole, they submitted the question to a board of officers whether they would not be justified in going away. "I forget," says Graydon, " who composed the board. I only recollect that Colo- nel Ethan Allen was one, and that his opinion was that of a man of honour, and a sound casuist. He admitted that they had a right to escape from their actual confinement, but that now the case was altered; and that, although no new parole had been given, yet the obligation of the former one should be considered as re- turning on their enlargement, and that they were under the same restraint, in point of honour, that they had been before their commitment to the provost. This was also the opinion of the board, and unanimously approved, as well by the gentlemen immediately interested as by others. I have mentioned this circumstance principally to show that Allen, however turbulent a citizen under the old regime, was not the vulgar ruffian that the New York royalists represented him."
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1791.] ALLEN AND THE LAWYER.
We may add another anecdote illustrative of Allen's sense of honour. A suit had been com- menced against him on a note of hand. Allen employed a lawyer to procure a postponement of the judgment. The lawyer, as the easiest method to procure delay, denied his client's sig- nature, that the difficulty of proving it might make the other party consent to a postponement. "Sir," shouted Allen, who happened to be in court,, and came striding forward in a great passion-" Sir, I did not employ you to come here and lie ! The note is good, the signature is mine! I only want time." The court and spectators were much amused at the quaint pro- ceeding, and the plaintiff at once consented to a continuance.
Perfection is not to be looked for in humanity. But while we admire the virtues of those who have been distinguished benefactors of their country, we must not take license from their ad- mitted good qualities to imitate their faults and follies. The troublous times which bring out strong men in a good point of view, give occa- sion also to irregularities, which in a quiet and peaceful era would not be tolerated. War is no school of the virtues; and we must weigh well the circumstances with which a man is surrounded, before we make up an opinion on his character.
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HISTORY OF VERMONT.
[1791.
CHAPTER XVI.
Vermont from 1791 to 1814-Reservation of lands for religious and educational purposes-Foundation of Vermont school fund-University of Vermont-Donation from the state- Endowment by individual subscription-Liberality of Ira Allen-College buildings and library-Middlebury and Nor- wich colleges-Medical schools-Academies and common schools-Care of the early settlers for the education of their children-Its practical direction-Remarks of Dr. Williams -Ira Allen-Notices of his life-His History of Vermont -Governor Chittenden's quiet policy-Election of Governor Tichenor-Introduction of gubernatorial messages and re- plies by the legislature-Decided Federal majority-The Democrats elect their governor in 1807-Tichenor re-elected in 1808-The Democrats again successful in 1809-Their candidate re-elected for five years-Party excitement in- creases-Declaration of war with Great Britain-Strong measures of the Democratic majority-Political revolution- Displacement of the Democrats-Election of Martin Chit- tenden-Repeal of the Democratic war measures-Capitula- tion of Hull-Destruction of stores at Plattsburg-Abortive attempt to invade Canada-Governor Chittenden recalls the Vermont militia-Battle of Lake Erie-Chippewa and Lundy's Lane-Battle of Plattsburg-Defeat and death of Captain Downie, and retreat of Sir George Prevost.
AMONG the excellent provisions of the Ver- mont constitution was one requiring public schools to be maintained in every town at the public expense. In every township grant made by the state of Vermont, one right was reserved for town, and one for county schools. In the
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PROVISION FOR EDUCATION.
1794.]
grants made by Benning Wentworth, governor of New Hampshire, three rights were reserved, one for the Venerable Society for Propagating the Gospel, an English missionary association, one for a glebe for the Episcopal clergy, and one for the first settled clergyman, of whatever denomination he might be, as his private pro- perty, the design being to encourage the settle- ment of clergymen. By an act of the Vermont legislature, in 1794, the right of the Venerable Society, that body never having improved their grants, was applied to school purposes. From the proceeds of the school lands, and the lands added by the legislature as above mentioned, originated the Vermont school fund, which now amounts to between two and three hundred thousand dollars. The state of Vermont also reserved two rights in her grants of townships for the support of the clergy, one for a parsonage, the other as a pre- sent to the first clergyman.
In addition to the common school provision, the people of Vermont, immediately after their admission into the Union, made provision for a university. The University of Vermont, at Burlington, was chartered in 1791, and went into operation in 1800. It had a donation of land from the state, amounting to fifty thousand acres, and was endowed by private subscription to the mount of $33,333. Nearly one-half sum was contributed by Ira Allen. The original
236
HISTORY OF VERMONT. [1794,
college building, a large structure completed in 1801, was destroyed by fire in 1824, and finer buildings have been erected in its place. It has seven instructors and about one hundred and thirty students, and a library of about ten thou- sand volumes. The rental from its leased lands amounts to about $3,000 annually. Middlebury College, founded in 1800, is situated in the town from which it takes its name. It has the same number of professors as the University, a library of eight thousand volumes, and three college edifices. About one-third of its graduates have
been clergymen. The Norwich College, char- tered in 1834, makes the third large institution for education in the state. This is also a flour- ishing institution.
It grew out of Captain Partridge's school, originally established in 1820. Its professorships are the same in number as the others, and it has the peculiarity of establishing no term for its collegiate course, the candidates for degrees being examined as to their qualifica- tions. Besides these institutions there are in Vermont two medical schools, one at Castleton and one at Woodstock. The average attendance at these five institutions is about five hundred. There are fifty academies in the state, and about twenty-five hundred common schools.
From these statements it will appear that the wise forethought of the early settlers of Vermont has been well exhibited in its results. Dr. Wil-
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1794.] REMARKS OF DR. WILLIAMS.
liams, writing in 1794, while these educational advantages were as yet in the future, thus speaks of the character of the people, and their care of their children. " Among the customs which are universal among the people in all parts of the state, one that seems worthy of remark is the at- tention that is paid to the education of children. The aim of the parent is not so much to have his children acquainted with the liberal arts and sciences, but to have them all taught to read with ease and propriety, to write a plain and legible hand, and to have them acquainted with the rules of arithmetic so far as shall be neces- sary to carry on any of the most common and useful occupations of life. All the children are trained up to this kind of knowledge. They are accustomed from their earliest years to read the Holy Scriptures, the periodical publications, newspapers, and political pamphlets ; to form some general acquaintance with the laws of their country, the proceedings of the courts of justice, of the general assembly of the state, and of Congress. Such a kind of education is common and universal in every part of the state. And nothing would be more dishonourable to the pa- rents or to the children than to be without it. One of the first things the new settlers attend to is to procure a schoolmaster to instruct their children in the arts of reading, writing, and arithmetic. And where they are not able to
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HISTORY OF VERMONT. [1794.
procure an instructor, the parents attend to it themselves. No greater misfortune could attend a child than to arrive at manhood unable to read, write, and keep small accounts. He is viewed as unfit for the common business of the towns and plantations, and in a state greatly inferior to his neighbours. Every consideration joins to pre- vent so degraded and mortifying a state, by giving to every one the customary education and advantages. This custom was derived from the people of New England, and it has acquired greater force in the new settlements, where the people are apprehensive their children will have ยท less advantages, and, of course, not appear equal to the children in the older towns."
We have mentioned Ira Allen as one of the most munificent benefactors of the Vermont University. This gentleman, the youngest of a family of eight, was the brother of the famous Ethan Allen, and, though less celebrated in ro- mantic legends, was a most active and useful citizen. He was, with his brothers, among the earliest explorers of the territory of Vermont, and by judicious purchase became wealthy, when the lands which he had selected acquired value by the growth of tl He was a distin- guished actor in the events of the Revolution, as has already been recorded in these pages, and was connected with the affairs of the public through his life. He filled the offices of trea-
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POLICY OF CHITTENDEN.
1797.]
surer, member of the council, and major-general of the militia ; and in the latter capacity had a trial, like his brother, of foreign imprisonment. Having purchased arms in England, in 1795, for the use of the state of Vermont, he was cap- tured on his return, by a British vessel, and carried to England on a charge of supplying the Irish, who were then in rebellion, with arms. After a litigation of eight years he obtained a verdict for damages, and returned to America. He wrote an historical memoif of Vermont, which, without quite the extravagance of his brother's style, has still some of its peculiarities. Other brothers of this family have been also prominent in the affairs of the state. Ira Allen died in Philadelphia, in 1814, in the sixty-third year of his age.
The affairs of the state of Vermont, from her admission into the Union to the death of Chit- tenden, in 1797, ran on in their quiet and even tenor. Governor Chittenden remained in office from 1778 to 1797, with the exception of one year. He was a man of moderate views in party politics as the line became drawn between the Federalist and Democratic parties, but inclined in his opinions to the latter or opposition side. But he sent no messages to the legislature at their annual assembly ; and during the whole term which he held the office preserved the sim- plicity which had marked the commencement of
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HISTORY OF VERMONT. [1812.
his administration. His successor, Isaac Tiche- nor, elected by the legislature in 1797, (the people failing to elect,) introduced into Vermont the custom of the other states, and opened the le- gislature with a message, which was decided in its tone of approval of the administration of the elder Adams, then president, and, of course, dis- tinctly placed the governor, and the large ma- jority of the legislature which supported him, in the ranks of the Federal party. Mr. Tichenor continued in office until 1807, when the demo- cratic party succeeded in electing their candi- date, Israel Smith, but Governor Tichenor was again elected in 1808. In 1809 the Democrats again succeeded, and their candidate, Jonas Galusha, was re-elected annually, until 1813.
The proceedings of the legislature of Vermont were usually despatched in three to five weeks, and still remain shorter than those of the other states in the Union. There is less of private or special legislation ; and the code of laws is brief yet comprehensive. But for the election of judges and other civil officers, which is part of the duty of the Vermont legislature, there would be scarce an opportunity for excitement ; and- even on this subject there is not much, as the emoluments of office are not such as to tempt cupidity. The annual message, introduced by Governor Tichenor, and the reply which it was the early custom of the assembly to make, were,
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PATRIOTIC RESOLUTION. 241
in the early days of the state, sometimes the occasion of some heat. This custom was dis- continued in 1816. At the end of one of these stormy debates a member gravely proposed a re- solution, seriously recommending that the governor should not thereafter make a formal address. The resolution was not carried, but had its effect in making some succeeding gubernatorial addresses less political and more practical. Addresses to the president of the United States were another theme of dispute. One was voted to the elder Adams, two to Jefferson, and one to Monroe.
The declaration of war against Great Britain found the Democratic or war party in the as- cendent in the Vermont legislature, with a go- vernor, Jonas Galusha, of the same political opinions. In his annual message, Governor Ga- lusha urged the assembly to second the measures of the general government and the assembly re- sponded in the same spirit. A resolution was passed in the following strong language. " We pledge ourselves to each other and to our go- vernment, that with our individual exertions, our example and influence, we will support our go- vernment and country in the present contest, and rely upon the great Arbiter of events for a fa- vourable result." The vote upon this resolution was one hundred and twenty-eight to seventy- nine; and in the same spirit, the minority pro- testing, the legislature proceeded to enact some
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