Vermont History
Land was greatly valued during the period when the Vermont’s land conflict occurred. The New Hampshire Grants were now getting new families, including Ethan Allen. It was a common belief that the family with vast lands for the descendants and use had the greatest security. During this time, the elites of New York started claiming Vermont. The claim triggered sharp responses from Ethan Allen and the settlers.
The responses by Ethan Allen to the ‘Yorkers’ were right. Ethan, in his effort to solve the conflict, did not kill anybody. He only used to threaten people. If he did not threaten the Yorkers, then many would have lost their lands, meaning their security would also be lost.
For Vermont to become a state, many people played this part. The Green Mountain Boys with their leader Ethan Allen, Allen’s brother and the settlers, who had courage to raise their voices, played a great role. Their success was due to the strategies such as escaping the religious ties and scare tactic, the use of the own drafted Constitution, the government’s separation of power and paying of reparations to the New York.
Escape of Religious Ties and Scare Tactics
These were the early strategies applied by Ethan Allen at his attempt to let Vermont become a state. As a Protestant, he and other separatists used to escape the religious ties, that had been associated with many New Englanders. In addition, Ethan and his group used to scare the Yorkers. For example, he had hanged two Yorkers and later released each of them separately after lying to them that he had killed the other.
Use of own Drafted Constitution
This strategy was applied by Vermonters, including Ira Allen after his brother Ethan Allen had been captured. They wrote the Constitution from the resolutions that the Continental Congress issued and they were about the collapse of the royal authorities. This Constitution was used in the declaration of Vermont as an independent state. It also added that women over eighteen and men over twenty-one be exempted from slavery unless their consent bound them (Session, Sherman, and Potash, 104).
Government’s Power Separation
In the year 1778, Vermonters adopted the idea to separate the government’s power. They appointed Chittenden as the first governor. Chittenden was like a liaison with the officials of Britain in Canada. He was involved in the trial of how Canada would be joined by Vermont (Tucker, 980).
Paying of Reparations to the New York
For Vermont to become a state, the land was to be paid by the officials of Vermont. After the payment, Vermont was made part of the United States of America in 1971(Session, Sherman, and Potash, 126).
Relationship between Vermonters with Federalists and the Republicans
During the 1800s, the British invaded New York on the upper side. The issue made a cooperation to start between the Vermonters and the Federalists. They worked together with the Federalists for the Canadian frontier to be fortified under the command of Governor Chittenden (Frederickson 743).
The issue of war viewed differently by the Federalist and the Democratic-Republicans had divided the Vermonters. They were not in good terms with the Democratic-Republicans. The misunderstanding was because the Democratic Republicans did not support the war that was heavily backed by the Federalists.
Work Cited
Sherman, Michael, Gene Sessions, and P. Jeffrey Potash. Freedom and Unity: A History of Vermont. Vermont Historical Society, 2004. Print.
Tucker, Spencer. The Encyclopedia of the Wars of the Early American Republic, 1783-1812: A Political, Social, and Military History, 2014. Internet resource.
