Since 1969, Ethan Allen has been the subject of three biographical studies, all of which indulge in sustaining and revitalizing the image of Allen as a physically imposing Vermont yeoman, a defender of the rights of Americans, an eloquent military hero, and a master of many guises, from rough frontiersman to gentleman philosopher. Seeking the authentic Ethan Allen, the authors of this volume ask: How did that Ethan Allen secure his place in popular culture? As they observe, this spectacular persona leaves little room for a more accurate assessment of Allen as a self-interested land speculator, rebellious mob leader, inexperienced militia officer, and truth-challenged man who would steer Vermont into the British Empire. Drawing extensively from the correspondence in Ethan Allen and his Kin and a wide range of historical, political, and cultural sources, Duffy and Muller analyze the factors that led to Ethan Allen's two-hundred-year-old status as the most famous figure in Vermont's past. Placing facts against myths, the authors reveal how Allen acquired and retained his iconic image, how the much-repeated legends composed after his death coincide with his life, why recollections of him are synonymous with the story of Vermont, and why some Vermonters still assign to Allen their own cherished and idealized values.

This is the story of marching men and clashing ships, of suffering, and of occasional heroic deeds. As in wars past, and for similar reasons, Lake Champlain and the region surrounding Lower Canada, Vermont, and Upstate New York became one of the major theaters of military action. For two and a half years, people in the region saw armies raised, defeated, and disbanded. They witnessed their own militia repeatedly called out to protect the border areas and to serve as adjuncts to regular army units. Despite a series of disheartening military reverses, loss of life, and destruction of property, civilians maintained a remarkable degree of resilience. They fled if battle threatened but soon returned to pick up the threads of their lives. Everest’s story shows us a war in microcosm and allows us a close-up experience of the small events that helped shape the destiny of a youthful and growing nation.

Before European incursions began in the seventeenth century, the Western Abenaki Indians inhabited present-day Vermont and New Hampshire, particularly the Lake Champlain and Connecticut River valleys. This history of their coexistence and conflicts with whites on the northern New England frontier documents their survival as a people-recently at issue in the courts-and their wars and migrations, as far north as Quebec, during the first two centuries of white contacts. Written clearly and authoritatively, with sympathy for this long-neglected tribe, Colin G. Calloway's account of the Western Abenaki diaspora adds to the growing interest in remnant Indian groups of North America. This history of an Algonquian group on the periphery of the Iroquois Confederacy is also a major contribution to general Indian historiography and to studies of Indian white interactions, cultural persistence, and ethnic identity in North America Colin G. Calloway, Assistant Professor of History in the University of Wyoming, is the author of Crown and Calumet: British-Indian Relations, 1783-181S, and the editor of New Directions in American Indian History, both published by the University of Oklahoma Press. "Colin Calloway shows how Western Abenaki history, like all Indian history, has been hidden, ignored, or purposely obscured. Although his work focuses on Euro-American military interactions with these important eastern Indians, Calloway provides valuable insights into why Indians and Indian identity have survived in Vermont despite their lack of recognition for centuries."-Laurence M. Hauptman, State University of New York, New Paltz. "Far from being an empty no-man's-land in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the western Abenaki homeland is shown in this excellent synthesis to have been an active part of the stage on which the events of the colonial period were acted out. -Dean R. Snow, State University of New York, Albany. "At last the western Abenakis have a proper history. Colin Calloway has made their difficultly accessible literature his own and has written what will surely remain the standard reference for a long time."-Gordon M. Day, Canadian Ethnology Service. "Although they played a central role in the colonial history of New England and southern Quebec, the western Abenakis have been all but ignored by historians and poorly known to anthropologists. Therefore, publication of a careful study of western Abenaki history ranks as a major event.... Calloway's book is a gold mine of useful data."-William A. Haviland, senior author, The Original Vermonters.

In The Christie Seigneuries, Françoise Noël provides a detailed case study of the Christie Seigneuries in the Upper Richelieu Valley (in what is now Quebec) during the period from the French surrender to the British in 1760 to the commutation act of 1854 ending seigneurial tenure. While most seigneurial studies have focused on the censitaires, Noël examines the administrative practices of the seigneurs themselves. She reveals that management practices of seigneuries were influenced more by the personality of the seigneur and his family circumstances, as well as changing economic conditions, than by the judicial rights of the seigneur.

Land speculator, revolutionary, pamphleteer, politician, and empire builder, Ira Allen (1751–1814) was a key figure on the Green Mountain frontier. In a remarkable Vermont pioneer generation that included such noteworthy leaders as Ethan Allen, Thomas Chittenden, Moses Robinson, Isaac Tichenor, and Stephen Row Bradley, Ira Allen stood out for his extraordinary energy, vision, and accomplishments. He helped create and sustain the independent State of Vermont; held such important state offices as treasurer, surveyor general, and member of the Governor’s Council; published hundreds of pages defending Vermont against a host of internal and external enemies; and represented Vermont in negotiations with the British Empire, other American states, and Congress. As an entrepreneur Allen amassed a Champlain Valley land portfolio of 120,000 acres and dreamed of developing the commercial and industrial potential of northwestern Vermont to establish profitable trade networks with Canada, England, and France. When his financial reach exceeded his grasp in the 1790s, he devised an audacious plan for a French Canadian rebellion against British authority that he hoped would restore his fortunes and turn his dreams into reality. At the end of his life, alone and destitute in Philadelphia, Allen remained true to his revolutionary roots, throwing his support behind an ill-fated filibustering expedition against Mexican control of what two decades later became Texas. J. Kevin Graffagnino’s biography ably details Ira Allen’s extraordinary life. As the first published examination of Allen’s career in nearly a century, this book shines new light on Allen and his prominent role in Vermont’s formative decades.

The participation of the Iroquois of Akwasasne, Kanesetake (Oka), Kahnawake and Oswegatchie in the Seven Years’ War is a long neglected topic. The consequences of this struggle still shape Canadian history. The book looks at the social and economic impact of the war on both men and women in Canadian Iroquois communities. The Canadian Iroquois provides an enhanced appreciation both of the role of Amerindians in the war itself and of their difficult struggle to lead their lives within the unstable geopolitical environment created by European invasion and settlement.

This sweeping study surveys nearly a century of diverse American views on the relationship between the United States and the Canadian provinces, filling out a neglected chapter in the history of aggressive U.S. expansionism. Until the mid-nineteenth century, many believed that Canada would ultimately join the United States. Stuart provides an insightful view of the borderland, the Canadian-American frontier where the demographics, commerce, and culture of the two countries blend. Originally published in 1988. A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.