Ethan Allen: "...farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician..."
On September 25, 1775, Ethan Allen of Vermont was captured during the Battle of Longues-Pointe, his failed attempt to wrest Montreal from the British. After his storied capture of Fort Ticonderoga (with Benedict Arnold!) on May 10, 1775, Allen was instructed by the Continental Army to organize a local militia in anticipation of an expanding war with Great Britain.
Allen was a hothead who had for some time considered attacking Montreal. He exceeded his orders by leading a small force across the St. Lawrence River where they were surrounded by the British. He was captured and shipped to England and later to New York City as a prisoner of war. In 1778, he was freed in a prisoner exchange.
When most contemporary Vermonters think of Ethan Allen, they do not think of high-end furniture as many other Americans may. Possibly, afficionados of the New York Times crossword puzzles, where he regularly appears as a clue (usually as Blank Allen or Ethan Blank, Revolutionary War hero), may regard him as Vermonters do.
For us, he still looms large as do his statues on the state capitol porch or in the National Statuary Hall. He and the Green Mountain Boys transformed the New Hampshire Land Grants from real estate contested by Hampshirites and Yorkers into a unique political entity.
[The author, a Vermonter, pauses to relate a story which may be apocryphal but resonates. When the Green Mountain Boys descended on Guilford, at that time the most populous town in Vermont and a Yorker holdout, Allen declaimed, "Either you, the citizens of Guilford submit to the sovereign power of the State of Vermont, or by God, I will lay you lower than Sodom and Gomorrah!"]
Readex provides an author’s biography*, largely drawn from his own words, which confirms his place in early nonaboriginal Vermont history:
Ethan Allen (January 21, 1738 [O.S. January 10, 1737] – February 12, 1789) was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, lay theologian, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of the U.S. state of Vermont, and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga early in the American Revolutionary War along with Benedict Arnold.
Born in rural Connecticut, Allen had a frontier upbringing but also received an education that included some philosophical teachings. In the late 1760s he became interested in the New Hampshire Grants, buying land there and becoming embroiled in the legal disputes surrounding the territory. Legal setbacks led to the formation of the Green Mountain Boys, whom Allen led in a campaign of intimidation and property destruction to drive New York settlers from the Grants.
When the American Revolutionary War broke out, Allen and the Boys seized the initiative and captured Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775. In September 1775 Allen led a failed attempt on Montreal that resulted in his capture by British authorities. First imprisoned aboard Royal Navy ships, he was paroled in New York City, and finally released in a prisoner exchange in 1778. Upon his release, Allen returned to the Grants, which had declared independence in 1777, and resumed political activity in the territory.
In addition to continuing resistance to New York's attempts to assert control over the territory, Allen was active in efforts by Vermont's leadership for recognition by Congress, and he participated in controversial negotiations with the British over the possibility of Vermont becoming a separate British province.
Allen wrote accounts of his exploits in the war that were widely read in the 19th century, as well as philosophical treatises and documents relating to the politics of Vermont's formation. His business dealings included successful farming operations, one of Connecticut's early iron works, and land speculation in the Vermont territory. Land purchased by Allen and his brothers included tracts of land that eventually became Burlington, Vermont. He was twice married, fathering eight children.
Most important to Vermonters was Allen’s critical role in the founding of the State of Vermont, unofficially the Vermont Republic, on January 15, 1777, hence establishing the first democratic republic in the Western Hemisphere. In essence, this new nation would become an important ally of the emerging United States of America. It would remain so until March 4, 1791, when it became the first state admitted to the union’s 13 original colonies.
Ethan Allen’s military actions in 1775, at Fort Ticonderoga, which provided the nascent Continental Army with vital captured cannons, and his failed attempt to capture Montreal, are further arguments that the American Revolutionary War was under way a year before it was declared.
You can learn much more by exploring our databases by searching on "Ethan" AND "Allen", in the Advanced Search Citation field.
The primary sources presented here are available in Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 and Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819.
*Biographies are available within search results for select authors including Ethan Allen.
