Customer Reviews

Ethan Allen: The Green Mountain Boys, and Vermont's Path to Statehood (Library of American Lives and Times)

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Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys are best remembered for capturing Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolution without a single shot being fired. There is a famous hand-colored engraving by Alonzo Chappel showing Allen ordering the confused British commander to surrender the fort. That illustration appears as a two-page spread in this volume, which would make it the largest picture I have seen in any of The Library of American Lives and Times volumes to date. However, as Emily Raabe makes clear from the title of this book, "Ethan Allen: The Green Mountain Boys and Vermont's Path to Statehood," Allen is central to a larger story than that of the capture of a fort. Her opening chapter asks Who Was Ethan Allen? and makes it clear he was both a legendary figure, associated with tall tales similar to Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett, but also a controversial figure where whether you thought of him as a hero or a villain depended on where you lived at that time.

What you have to remember is that Vermont was not one of the original thirteen colonies and on the eve of the Revolution it was called the Hampshire Grants by those looking at it from the east and New York by those to the west. There is a map in the third chapter of this book of New England and the other colonies that shows how the boundary between New York and New Hampshire was a controversial subject. This book tells the story of how Allen became involved in that controversy and played a substantial role in helping to make Vermont one of the new United States. Raabe introduces Allen in the second chapter as A Connecticut Troublemaker, opening with a scene of Allen being inoculated against smallpox in 1764 by his friend, Dr. Thomas Young, despite the church forbidding the practice as the devil's work, before going back and telling the story of his life from his birth in 1738 to first traveling to the Hampshire Grants, which is what the third chapter is about. Chapter 4, Trouble in the Grants, explains the problems that rose between the Granters and the (New) Yorkers and how Allen and the Green Mountain Boys were formed as a local militia (or army) to protect the Grants. Consequently, they were considered the Green Mountain Outlaws by the Yorkers, and the fifth chapter tells about some of their more famous exploits.

I would have thought that when we got to Chapter 6, War with Great Britain, that this would change priorities for Allen and his men, but while this chapter does cover the capture of Ticonderoga and other forts to give the Americans control of Lake Champlain, and Allen's plan to capture Montreal, it proved to be only a minor diverse from the question of Vermont's independence. Chapter 7, Making a State, actually begins with Allen being taken prisoner by the British, while back in Vermont the people wrote a declaration of independence for what they were going to call "New Connecticut," which was submitted to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Chapter 8, Ethan Returns, begins with Allen's release in 1778 and how his unique political power allowed him to keep Vermont at peace during the rest of the war.

Chapter 9, The Independent Republic of Vermont, informs young readers that Vermont was not part of the new nation and that the Green Mountain boys fought several battles against the Yorkers and not the British to maintain Vermont's autonomy. Ethan Settles Down, the final chapter, looks at the second family Allen began after the war and how he ended up dying two years before Congress finally accept Vermont into the Union in 1791. I wish there were a bit more details on how the latter finally came about given all the obstacles that were put in the way of Vermont statehood, but I suppose the life of Ethan Allen will be of more interest to younger readers than the whole issue of making Vermont a state. The back of the book includes a Timeline regarding Ethan Allen and Vermont, a Glossary of terms from "allegiance" to "yeoman," and a few books and websites that qualify as Additional Resources as well as a Bibliography.

The book is illustrated with historic etchings and maps, as well as a letter from George Washington talking about Allen and the title page from a book Allen wrote on philosophy and religion that earned him enemies in the church, which was something he apparently enjoyed. This is one of several titles in The Library of American Lives and Times devoted to the colonial period and the American Revolution. Others includes "Abigail Adams: A Revolutionary Woman," "Nathan Hale: Patriot and Martyr of the American Revolution," "Marquis de Lafayette: French Hero of the American Revolution," "Thomas Paine: 'Common Sense' and Revolutionary Pamphleteering," "Robert Rogers: Rogers' Rangers and the French and Indian War," and "Peter Stuyvesant: New Amsterdam and the Origins of New York." As you can tell from these titles, this series does not focus on the most famous Founding Fathers like Washington, Franklin and Jefferson (the sort who end up on money), but those who make up the next level of the pantheon.

This slim volume serves as a nice introduction (or refresher) for middle-schoolers & older on the subject of Ethan Allen and/or the origins of the state of Vermont.

The chapter titles are as follows:

1. Who Was Ethan Allen?

2. A Connecticut Troublemaker

3. The Hampshire Grants

4. Trouble in the Grants

5. Green Mountain Outlaws

6. War with Great Britain

7. Making a State

8. Ethan Returns

9. The Independent Republic of Vermont

10. Ethan Settles Down

Raabe begins with an anecdote (c. 1778) about Allen that serves to establish his character and local reputation, then she gives a little prefatory material on what the rest of the book will be about. In the 2nd chapter, she jumps backward to 1764 with another anecdote about Allen before finally going back to his birth in 1738 and filling the reader in a bit on the Allen family. This seemed a slightly odd way of starting, but maybe that's just me. From there, the material progresses forward in a generally chronological format.

The book has good info on Allen's extended family, most of whom remained in the Hampshire Grants/Vermont and helped protect & govern it in those formative years. Allen's youth and education are only briefly touched on, as is the time he spent running an iron mine & furnace w/ his brothers. The meat of the story really begins when the Allens move into the Grants and conflict arises over who properly owns and governs the region. Then, of course, there is the American Revolution.... Raabe also briefly discusses Allen's post-war activities, including writing, farming, a second marriage, and continuing as unofficial spokesman & 'enforcer' for all Vermont.

The only problem I have with the book concerns a couple of inaccurate statements about Deism and our first three U.S. presidents. First, in speaking of Allen's religious beliefs, the book says that "He believed that God was a God of nature, and that people should not have to go to church or listen to preachers give sermons." (p. 87) A little later it states, "Ethan's religious beliefs fell under a branch of religious study known as Deism. Deism holds that God is everywhere in nature, and not outside the world at all." (p. 89) Technically, this description is more accurately described as Pantheism. From what I can tell, Allen did in fact hold to a pantheistic form of Deism (possibly influenced by the writings of John Toland). But, most deists hold to the idea of a transcendant 'God' who, contrary to the theistic teaching, does not operate within the world. So, that last sentence of Raabe's above would be incorrect for Deism writ large. On the other hand, this is probably not going to be of concern to the average reader.

Second, the author claims that "In fact, the first three presidents in the United States all were believers in Deism." (p. 89). But, while this is accurate for Thomas Jefferson (as well as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine), it is not so for the other two. It is true that the orthodoxy of George Washington's Christianity and the depth of his devotion are still debated, but it seems clear that he was at least a theist. (As Richard Brookhiser put it in his Founding Father (p. 146), "[Washington] had a warm and lively belief, repeatedly expressed in private and in public, in Providence. Washington's God was no watchmaker, who wound the world up and retired, but an active agent and force." Clearly not a deistic view.) John Adams, on the other hand, was most clearly a devoutly orthodox Christian, and this can be seen in his letters and other writings, as well.

Ms. Raabe writes in an easy, flowing style that is quite well-suited for her primary audience. There are a couple of small typos, but nothing terribly distracting or that would cause a confusion of facts - other than the abovementioned point, that is. As is typical for shorter and youth-oriented books, there are no end/footnotes. There is a 'Timeline' of Allen's life at the end of the book, as well as a helpful Glossary, a short list of 'Additional Resources', a Bibliography, and a brief index.

There are several photos and reproductions of paintings, documents, maps, etc. (many color, others B&W), which I really appreciated. There are a couple places where I thought the narrative would be better served by either reducing the pictures or replacing them altogether with more text. But, they still serve to familiarize young readers with people, places, & things from our history, which is usually a good thing.

Overall, well done. This is the 2nd volume in the series that I've read, and I plan to check out several more.


Content: 4
Style & Structure: 3.75
Average: 3.88, rounded up to 4