"THE REPUBLIC OF THE GREEN MOUNTAINS."
For all its relinquishment of the unions, without which, according to
the representations of some internal enemies, it had not the capacity to
maintain inhabitants enough to support the "charges, honor, power, and
dignity of an inland State," the commonwealth was constantly gaining
strength by the rapid incoming of settlers from other States. These were
chiefly from Connecticut, which had furnished so many of the founders
and defenders of the State, and those who came now, being for the most
part of the same mould and metal, gave a hearty support to the
government under which they had chosen to live.
However, some disturbances occurred in the southeastern part of the
State, where certain persons, encouraged to resistance by Governor
Clinton, opposed the raising of troops by Vermont for the defense of the
frontiers.
The town of Guilford was at that time the most populous in the State. A
majority of the inhabitants were adherents of New York, and, having
renounced the New Hampshire charter, had, while there was no actual
government exercised in the Grants, formed a little republic, not
ill-governed by the decisions of town meetings. Here was the most active
opposition to the levy of troops. The adherents of New York who were
drafted refused to serve, and the sheriff of Windham County was directed
to seize their goods and chattels to the amount expended by the State in
hiring their substitutes. When the officer attempted to execute his
warrant, a cow which he had seized was taken from him by a mob acting
under a captain commissioned by New York. In levying on the property of
Timothy Church, of Brattleboro, the sheriff was resisted by Church, and,
when he attempted to arrest him, was prevented by three of Church's
friends. Being unable to execute his warrants, the sheriff asked for a
military force to assist him, whereupon, by the advice of the council,
Governor Chittenden ordered Brigadier-General Ethan Allen to raise two
hundred and fifty men, and march them into Windham County to support the
civil authority.
Not many days passed before Allen led 200 mounted Green Mountain Boys
into the rebellious region, making several arrests, and meeting with
little opposition but from the tongue of a termagant, whose husband they
were seeking, till they came to Guilford. Even here, where disaffection
most rankly flourished, there was no serious resistance to the arrests,
but when marching thence toward Brattleboro they were fired on by about
fifty of the Guilford men, who ambuscaded the highway. Allen at once
marched his force back to Guilford, and made proclamation that if the
people of that town did not peacefully submit to the authority of
Vermont he would "lay it as desolate as Sodom and Gomorrah." Then,
without further molestation, for the Yorkers "feared Ethan Allen more
than the Devil," the prisoners, twenty in all, were conveyed to
Westminster and lodged in jail. When brought to trial, fines were
imposed on the lesser offenders, while four of the principal ones were
sentenced to be forever banished from Vermont, not to return under pain
of death, and their estates were forfeited to the State. Two had made
themselves particularly odious by accepting commissions under New York
after having sworn allegiance to Vermont. Timothy Church, who had borne
a colonel's commission under New York, was one of them. He returned to
the State, was taken, imprisoned for five months, and released upon
taking the oath of fidelity to Vermont, but the faithless creature was
presently as busily as ever plotting against the government which he had
twice sworn to support. The banished men appealed to Governor Clinton,
but he, always lavish of promises, yet niggardly of fulfillment, gave
them no present comfort, but forwarded a representation of their case to
Congress. The New York delegates, aided by Charles Phelps, the most
active of the Vermont refugees, succeeded in bringing Congress into a
certain degree of hostility to Vermont.
There were other reasons than the claims of New York, or the right of
Vermont to independence, or the obligations of Congress to acknowledge
it, that influenced the action of the different States. Those of New
England, with the exception of New Hampshire, were inclined to favor
Vermont from kinship and intimate relations with its people, "but
principally," said Madison, "from the accession of weight they would
derive from it in Congress." This "accession of weight" was as potent a
reason for the opposition of the Southern States; and another reason was
the effect which a decision in favor of Vermont might have on the claims
of Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia to the vast tracts
stretching westward to the Mississippi. For the same reason,
Pennsylvania and Maryland inclined to favor Vermont, as did Delaware and
New Jersey, from a desire to strengthen the interests of the small
States.
On the 5th of December resolutions quite hostile to Vermont were adopted
by a vote of seven States, among whom were New Hampshire and New York,
though, by a previous resolution of Congress, both were forbidden to
vote on any question relative to the decision of this matter. The action
of Vermont toward her rebellious inhabitants was denounced, and "the
people inhabiting said district, claiming to be independent," were
required to make full restitution to the persons who had been condemned
to banishment, or deprived of their property by confiscation or
otherwise, since the first of September, and that they be not molested
on returning to their homes. It was declared that the United States
would take effectual measures to enforce these resolutions in case they
were disobeyed. Persons holding commissions under New York or the
"district claiming to be independent" were forbidden to exercise
authority over any inhabitants of said district, contrary to the
resolutions of September 24, 1779, and June 2, 1780. A copy of these
resolutions was transmitted to "Thomas Chittenden, Esq., of Bennington,
in the district aforesaid, to be communicated to the people
thereof."[91] A month later Governor Chittenden returned a forcible and
spirited answer, reminding Congress of its solemn engagements to
Vermont, and giving an extract from Washington's letter to him advising
the restriction of the limits of Vermont, which advice had been complied
with, in full reliance on the faith and honor of Congress to fulfill its
agreement. The right of Congress to control the internal police of the
State, from which it had never received any delegated power, was denied.
If Congress attempted to carry out its threat of coercion, Vermont would
probably appeal to General Washington, who, with most of the inhabitants
of the contiguous States, favored the independence of the State. "Would
it not, then," he asked, "be more prudent to refer this dispute to New
York and Vermont than to embroil the confederacy of the United States
therewith?" The course pursued toward the rebellious persons was
justified on the ground that nearly all of those banished or fined had
taken the oath of allegiance to Vermont, and were, according to the
resolutions of Congress itself, amenable to no laws or regulations but
those of Vermont. The remonstrance closed by earnestly soliciting the
admission of Vermont to the Union, "agreeable to the before cited
preliminary agreement, which the committee of Congress have reported has
become absolute and necessary on their part to be performed, and from
which this State will not recede."
When the legislature met in February, Governor Chittenden laid before it
the resolutions of Congress, which called forth a remonstrance quite as
spirited as his own. It declared the willingness of Vermont to comply
with every reasonable requirement of Congress; "but when Congress
require us," it continues, "to abrogate our laws and reverse the solemn
decisions of our courts of justice in favor of insurgents and disturbers
of the public peace, we think ourselves justified to God and the world
when we say we cannot comply with such their requisitions." "It would be
licensing factious subjects to oppose government with impunity." "As we
have, from the commencement of the war, braved every danger and hardship
against the usurpations of Britain in common with the United States, as
our inherent right of sovereignty and jurisdiction stands confessed upon
the principles of the Revolution, and implied by the solemn transactions
of Congress, we cannot but express our surprise at the reception of the
late resolutions of Congress."
The remonstrance of Governor Chittenden was printed and extensively
circulated, especially among the officers of the Continental army, to
inform them of the merits of a controversy in which they might soon be
called upon to take part. General Washington's letter being referred to
in it, he laid it and the one to which it was an answer before Congress,
and at the same time wrote to Mr. Jones, a member of that body,
reminding him that the committee on these affairs, of which he was a
member, had approved of the reply to Governor Chittenden. He was sure
that Vermont had a powerful interest in the New England States, and with
regard to the enforcement of the resolutions of Congress by the army he
wrote: "Let me ask by whom that district of country is principally
settled? And of whom is your present army (I do not confine the question
to this part of it, but will extend it to the whole) composed? The
answers are evident,--New England men. It has been the opinion of some
that the appearance of force would awe those people into submission. If
the General Assembly ratify and confirm what Mr. Chittenden and his
council have done, I shall be of a very different sentiment, and,
moreover, that it is not a trifling force that will subdue them, even
supposing they derive no aid from the enemy in Canada; and that it would
be a very arduous task indeed if they should, to say nothing of a
diversion which may and doubtless would be made in their favor from New
York if the war with Great Britain should continue." He could not say
that there "would be any difficulty with the army if it were to be
ordered on this service," but "should be exceedingly unhappy to see the
experiment." There would be "a general unwillingness to imbrue their
hands in the blood of their brethren."
The threat of Congress certainly had not the effect of awing Vermont
into any compliance with its behests, and if more than a threat was ever
intended, nothing beyond it was ever attempted.
No reparation was made to the offenders who had been so summarily dealt
with; and when two of the banished men ventured to return, they were
seized and imprisoned, but were released on their promise of submission
to the laws of the State. When opposition was offered serious enough to
require it, the militia was properly called out to enforce the civil
authority; and the sturdy little commonwealth continued to exercise its
jurisdiction unmolested by Congress, though the legislature of New York
seethed with wrath and boiled over in protests and complaints.
Constable Oliver Waters had made himself particularly obnoxious to the
New York party by his activity in making arrests, and while he was
lodging at an inn in Brattleboro the house was attacked by twenty or
thirty men. After firing through the doors and windows and wounding two
of the inmates, they made forcible entry, and, seizing Waters, carried
him into Massachusetts, intending to deliver him to Governor Clinton at
Poughkeepsie, but he was taken from them by a rescue party and brought
safely to Vermont. This affair was the cause of vigorous action against
the insurgents, several hundred of the militia turning out to aid the
state troops. Several of the ring-leaders were taken, and several fled
into Massachusetts, whither they were not pursued.
In February a new act was passed making punishable by death the levying
of war against the State by any citizen thereof. At the same time the
governor and council were given discretionary power to grant pardons,
during the recess of the legislature, to offenders "who should appear
penitent and desirous of returning to their duty." In the following
month all active opposition to the jurisdiction of Vermont ceased, and
the troops were gradually withdrawn from Windham County. Many of the
disaffected persons were granted pardons and the restoration of their
confiscated property on taking the oath of allegiance. Among these was
Charles Phelps, who had been one of the most inveterate opponents of
Vermont, but who now became a peaceable citizen of the State, and so
continued during the remainder of his life. Many of the adherents of New
York removed to lands on the Susquehanna, granted them by that State.
New York made complaint to Congress of the employment of troops by
Vermont to reduce residents thereof who professed allegiance to New
York, and again urged the intervention of Congress. Being apprised of
this, Governor Chittenden wrote a pungent letter to the president of
Congress. "It seems they are willing Congress should settle this
dispute," he says of New York, "as they have a mind, but not otherwise."
Referring to the desire expressed by New York that she might not be
blamed if blood was shed in the assertion of her authority: "As to this
bloody proposition, the council of this State have only to remark that
Vermont does not wish to enter into a war with the State of New York,
but she will act on the defensive, and expect that Congress and the
twelve States will observe strict neutrality, and let the two contending
States settle their own controversy." Referring to the suppression of
the malcontents, he wrote: "This matter has been managed by the wisdom
of the legislature of this State, who consider themselves herein
amenable to no earthly tribunal." Congress was reminded of the
impropriety of permitting New York and New Hampshire to vote on any
motion which came before it respecting Vermont, contrary to the express
resolution of September, 1779, though it appeared they had ever since
done so. In conclusion, the desire of Vermont for a confederation with
the United States was reiterated. This letter was referred to the same
committee to which the representation of New York, and other papers
relating to Vermont, had been committed. On the 29th of May, 1783, it
reported in favor of Vermont, reciting the resolutions of August, 1781,
and offering one recognizing the independence of the State, and
admitting it into the Union. A few days later the New York delegates
moved the postponement of another matter that this report might be taken
up, but only New York and New Hampshire voted in favor of the motion.
This was the last action taken by the Continental Congress in relation
to Vermont, with whose affairs it thenceforth offered no interference.
By the treaty of peace with Great Britain signed at Paris on the 3d of
September, 1783, Vermont was included in the territory belonging to the
United States. But she was in fact thenceforth, till her admission to
the Union, what the legend[92] on her copper coins declared her to be,
"The Republic of the Green Mountains," and independent of every other
government.
A standard of weights and measures was prescribed, the value of coins
regulated, and a postal service established, the rates of postage being
the same as those of the United States, for the superintendence of which
a postmaster-general was appointed, and the post-riders were given the
exclusive right of carrying letters and packages. The mails were carried
on horseback, and in their long and lonely routes the riders encountered
much discomfort of storm and cold on roads always bad, often worse with
blockades of snow or bottomless quagmires. The post-offices were for
the most part a shelf in the great tavern bar, inconspicuous among the
array of bottles and decanters that were in more frequent demand; or a
drawer in the village store, into which the infrequent letters and few
newspapers were promiscuously tumbled, to be searched through on demand
of each inquirer. The furniture of one central office is still
preserved,--a great chest of three drawers, each bearing in large
letters the name of a town.
Being out of the Confederation, Vermont could not be called on to bear
any part of the debt incurred by the war, by such general government as
existed, and having made the taxes for the support of her own troops
payable in provisions, which were always furnished, she herself owed no
considerable debt, and this was in course of speedy liquidation by the
sale of her lands, now in great demand by people of the neighboring
States. Her bills of credit, issued in 1781, had suffered no
depreciation, and were faithfully redeemed.
Under these circumstances, the people of the prosperous commonwealth
were quite lukewarm concerning its admission to the Union, though they
cultivated friendly relations with the neighboring States, and the
legislature of the State enacted that all citizens of the United States
should be equally entitled to all the privileges of law and justice with
those of Vermont, and an annual election of delegates to Congress was
provided for, though none had occasion to attend.
Contrasting their condition with that of the pioneers, these people
might well be content with that which was now enjoyed. Those brave
invaders of the wilderness had been opposed by all unkindly forces of
nature,--unpropitious seasons, floods, the bitterness of almost arctic
winters endured in miserable shelter with meagre fare, and by more cruel
man, the prowling, murderous savage and his as relentless Christian
allies; and withal had borne the heavy loneliness of isolation,
lightened only by toil save when Nature changed her mood and conversed
in songs of familiar birds, voices of wind-swept trees and babble of
streams whose torrential rage was spent, or smiled in sunshine from the
little patch of sky, and in the bloom of innumerable flowers out of the
border of the grim forest. The dangers and privations of pioneer life
had now been passed through, and there were peace and abundance of all
that simple lives required.
The "plumping-mill"--the rude device for pounding corn in a huge mortar,
with a pestle hung from a spring-pole--went out of use, and the long
journeys on foot or on horseback to the gristmill forty miles away were
no longer necessary. The wild streams were tamed to the turning of
millstones, as well as to plying the saws that were incessantly gnawing
into the heart of the woods.
The wild forest had receded and given place to broad fields of tilth,
meadow land, and pastures, not now in the uncouth desolation of stumps
and log-heaps, but dotted with herds and flocks. The jangle of the
sheep-bell was as frequent as the note of the thrush in the half-wild
upland pastures, for two shillings were deducted from the lists for each
pound of wool raised during the year. Orchards were beginning to whiten
hillsides with bloom and color them with fruitage, for every acre with
forty growing trees was exempted from taxation.
But while Vermont continued very indifferent and almost inactive
concerning the acknowledgment of her independence by Congress, her old
enemy had come to desire what she had so long opposed. It had become
apparent to New York that the admission of the State to the Union would
be to her own advantage. The establishment of Vermont as a free and
independent State was an accomplished fact; her interest in the affairs
of the nation, were she an acknowledged part of it, would in the main
accord with that of New York. There was, then, no good reason why New
York should continue to oppose her admission merely in the selfish and
insignificant interest of the land speculators, and in the blind lead of
Governor Clinton's persistent enmity. In accordance with this wiser
view, the legislature of New York, on the 15th of July, 1789, appointed
commissioners with full power to acknowledge the independence of
Vermont, and settle all matters of controversy with that State. In
October Vermont appointed commissioners to treat with those of New York,
and finally determine everything which obstructed the union of Vermont
with the United States. The principal difficulty was the adjustment of
the compensation for lands claimed by citizens of New York which had
been re-granted by Vermont, but after two or three meetings the
commissioners came to an amicable arrangement of this most troublesome
question. In October, 1790, the commissioners of New York declared the
consent of the legislature of that State to the admission of Vermont to
the Union, and that upon such admission all claims of New York to
jurisdiction within the limits of Vermont should cease; that the
boundary line between the two States should be the western lines of
towns granted by New Hampshire, and the mid-channel of Lake Champlain.
For the adjustment of the land claims, it was declared that if the
legislature of Vermont should before the 1st of January, 1792, agree to
pay to the State of New York the sum of $30,000 on or before the first
day of January, 1794, all rights and titles to land granted by the
colonial or state government of New York should cease, except those
which had been made in confirmation of the grants of New Hampshire.
The legislature of Vermont at once acceded to this arrangement, and on
the 28th of the same month passed an act directing the state treasurer
to pay the sum named to the State of New York, and to accept the line
proposed as a perpetual boundary between the two States.
Thus peaceably ended the controversy that for more than a quarter of a
century had been an almost continual annoyance to the people of this
district, and in its later stages a source of danger to the whole
country.
The Assembly of Vermont called a convention to consider the expediency
of joining the Federal Union. This convention met at Bennington, January
6, 1791, and though at first several members were not in favor of union,
after a debate of three days the question was decided in the affirmative
by a vote of 105 yeas to 3 nays. A few days later the assembly chose
Nathaniel Chipman and Lewis R. Morris commissioners to negotiate with
Congress for the admission of the State to the Union. The commissioners
went immediately to Philadelphia, and laid before the president the
proceedings of the legislature and convention.
On the eighteenth day of February, 1791, Congress, without debate or one
dissenting vote, passed an act declaring that on the fourth day of March
next, "the said State, by the name and style of the State of Vermont,
shall be received into this Union as a new and entire member of the
United States of America." So at last the star, that so long had shone
apart, now added its constant ray to the lustre of the constellation.
FOOTNOTES:
[91] For these resolutions see Slade's _State Papers_, p. 177; also
Chittenden's reply, p. 178.
[92] _Vermontensium Res Publica._