| Vermont Republic | |||||
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| Motto Freedom and Unity on Great Seal Stella quarta decima on Vermont coinage in English "the fourteenth star" |
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| Capital | Windsor, then Castleton | ||||
| Language(s) | English | ||||
| Government | Republic | ||||
| Governor | |||||
| - 1778–1789 | Thomas Chittenden | ||||
| - 1789–1790 | Moses Robinson | ||||
| - 1790–1791 | Thomas Chittenden | ||||
| Legislature | House of Representatives of the Freemen of Vermont | ||||
| Historical era | American Revolution | ||||
| - Independence | January 15, 1777 | ||||
| - Admitted to Union | March 4, 1791 | ||||
| Currency | Vermont coppers | ||||
The term Vermont Republic has been used by later historians[1] for the government of what became modern Vermont from 1777 to 1791. In July 1777 delegates from 28 towns met and declared independence from jurisdictions and land claims of British colonies in New Hampshire and New York. They also abolished slavery within their boundaries. The people of Vermont took part in the American Revolution and considered themselves Americans, even if Congress did not recognize the jurisdiction.[2] Because of vehement objections from New York, which had conflicting property claims, the Continental Congress declined to recognize Vermont, then called the New Hampshire Grants. Overtures by Ethan Allen to the organizers to join the Province of Quebec failed. In 1791 Vermont was admitted to the United States as the 14th state.
Vermont did not send or receive diplomats, but it coined a currency called Vermont coppers from a mint operated by Reuben Harmon in East Rupert (1785–1788),[3] and operated a postal system. While the Vermont coppers bore the legend Vermontis. Res. Publica (Latin for republic or state), the constitution and other official documents used the term "State of Vermont". It referred to its chief executive as a "governor".
The Vermont Republic was called the "reluctant republic" because many early citizens favored political union with the United States rather than independence. Both popular opinion and the legal construction of the government made clear that the independent State of Vermont would eventually join the original 13 states. While the Continental Congress did not allow a seat for Vermont, William Samuel Johnson, representing Connecticut, was engaged by Vermont to promote its interests.[4] (In 1785 Johnson was granted title to the former King's College Tract by the Vermont General Assembly as a form of compensation for representing Vermont.[5]) The members of the Convention of 1787 assumed that Vermont was not yet separate from New York; however, Madison's notes on the Federal Convention of 1787 make clear that there was an agreement by New York to allow for the admission of Vermont to the union;[6] it was just a question of process, which was delayed by larger federal questions. Article 4, Section 3 of the Constitution concerning new states and federal property, was designed with Vermont in mind.
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After 1724 settlers from New York moved into the area; after 1749 settlers arrived from New Hampshire; after 1763 settlers started arriving from Massachusetts. Thus the western parts of the region were controlled by the Province of New York and the eastern parts by the Province of New Hampshire, with overlap due to controversy surrounding the New Hampshire Grants and the king's decision in 1764 to make the disputed area part of New York. The "Green Mountain Boys," led by Ethan Allen, was a militia force that supported the New Hampshire claims and fought the British during the American Revolution.
Following controversy between the holders of the New York grants and the New Hampshire grants, Ethan Allen and his militia of "Green Mountain Boys" repressed Loyalists. On January 15, 1777, a convention of representatives from towns in the territory declared the region independent, choosing the name the Republic of New Connecticut (although it was sometimes known colloquially as the Republic of the Green Mountains).[7] On June 2 of that same year, the name of the fledgling nation was officially changed to "Vermont" (from the French, les Verts Monts, meaning the Green Mountains)[8] upon the suggestion of Dr. Thomas Young,[9] a Boston Tea Party leader and mentor to Ethan Allen.
John Greenleaf Whittier's poem The Song of the Vermonters, 1779 describes the period in ballad form. First published anonymously, the poem had characteristics in the last stanza that were similar to Ethan Allen's prose and caused it to be attributed to Allen for nearly 60 years.[10] The last stanza reads:
| “ | Come York or come Hampshire, come traitors or knaves, If ye rule o'er our land ye shall rule o'er our graves; Our vow is recorded—our banner unfurled, In the name of Vermont we defy all the world! |
” |
The Constitution of Vermont was drafted and ratified at Elijah West's Windsor Tavern in 1777, and was the first written constitution for an independent state in North America. The settlers in Vermont, who sought independence from New York, justified their constitution on the same basis as the first state constitutions of the former colonies: authority is derived from the people.[11] As historian Christian Fritz notes in American Sovereigns: The People and America’s Constitutional Tradition before the Civil War:
| “ | They saw themselves as a distinct region outside the legitimate jurisdiction of New York. Possessing an identifiable population or “a people” entitled them to the same constitutional rights of self-government as other “Peoples” in the American confederacy.[12] | ” |
In addition to creating a new government for the original thirteen colonies, the claims for Vermont’s independence raised the question of creating state governments. At the same time as they struggled for independence from Great Britain, Americans had to confront just how that formation should take place and who constituted “the people.”
The Vermont constitution was modeled after the radically democratic constitution of Pennsylvania on the suggestion of Dr. Young, who worked with Thomas Paine and others on that 1776 document in Philadelphia. It was the first constitution in the New World to outlaw slavery and allow all adult males to vote, regardless of property ownership.
During the time of the Vermont Republic, the government issued its own coinage and currency, and operated a postal service. The governor of Vermont, Thomas Chittenden,[13] with consent of his council and the unicameral General Assembly, appointed commissioners to the American government seated in Philadelphia.
After a British regiment and allied Mohawks attacked and terrorized Vermont settlers, in the Royalton Raid, Ethan Allen led a group of Vermont politicians in secret discussions with Frederick Haldimand, the Governor General of the Province of Quebec, about rejoining the British Empire.[14] The discussions ended after the Treaty of Paris (1783) concluded the Revolutionary War.
Though Vermont had declared its independence in 1777, it was not admitted into the United States until 1791, in part due to ongoing border disputes with New York. Vermont eventually agreed to pay 30,000 Spanish milled dollars to resolve New York's remaining land claims in the territory.
Much of the symbolism associated with Vermont in this period expressed a desire for political union with the United States. Vermont's coins minted in 1785 and 1786 bore the Latin inscription "STELLA QUARTA DECIMA (meaning "the fourteenth star"). The Great Seal of Vermont, designed by Ira Allen, centrally features a 14-branched pine tree. Before statehood, Vermont had only 10 counties, so the 14 clearly referred to 14 states.
As a result of an act passed by the State of New York on October 7, 1790, regarding a settlement of New York's claims, the Vermont General Assembly authorized a convention to consider an application for admittance to the Union of the United States of America. The convention met at Bennington, on January 6, 1791. On January 10, 1791 the convention approved a resolution to make an application to join the United States by a vote of 105 to 2 nays.[15] Vermont was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791. March 4 is celebrated in Vermont as Vermont Day.[16]
Vermont's admission to the Union in 1791 was in part as a free state counterweight to Kentucky, which joined as a slave state shortly after Vermont. The North, the smaller states, and states concerned about the impact of the sea-to-sea grants held by other states, all supported Vermont's admission. Thomas Chittenden served as governor for Vermont for most of this period, and became its first governor as a member-state in the United States.
The 1793 Vermont state constitution made relatively few changes to the 1777 Vermont state constitution. It retained many of its original ideas, as noted above, and kept the separation of powers. It remains in force with several amendments.[17]