State-Making in Revolutionary America: Independent Vermont as a Case Study

Abstract

Vermont was created in July 1777 when representatives of approximately twenty-eight towns in the New Hampshire Grants adopted their own constitution and declared their independence of the state of New York. New York and New Hampshire had contested for jurisdiction in the area until 1764 when the British Privy Council set New York's eastern boundary at the Connecticut River. The Vermont independence movement was the culmination of a subsequent series of challenges to the Privy Council's decision on behalf of settlers and speculators holding New Hampshire titles. 1 Vermont joined the American Revolution against British tyranny, but the revolutionary states did not embrace Vermont. Because the United States Congress would not sanction the involuntary division of one of its own members, Vermont was unable to gain recognition from neighboring states or protection from the British in Canada. When Vermont became independent, it became independent of all the world and remained so until 1791 when it was finally admitted to the union. If the United States did not welcome Vermont into their ranks, neither were they willing to tolerate it as a neutral republic. The Americans were anxious to secure their northern flank from British attack; neighboring states sought to regain or extend their territorial jurisdiction; and New York speculators hoped to establish their land titles in the Grants. The impasse over Vermont statehood-which dragged through Congress for years-encouraged British overtures to the new state. The British hoped to disrupt the Revolutionary cause and gain a foothold in northern New England. The threat of invasion guaranteed that the Vermonters would give the British an attentive hearing. In the first years of the war, Vermont participated actively in the American effort, capturing Ticonderoga (May 1775) and playing an important role in