The myth and the reality of Ethan Allen and the much-loved Green Mountain Boys of Vermont—a “surprising and interesting new account…useful, informative reexamination of an often-misunderstood aspect of the American Revolution” (Booklist). In the “highly recommended” (Library Journal) Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom, Wren overturns the myth of Ethan Allen as a legendary hero of the American Revolution and a patriotic son of Vermont and offers a different portrait of Allen and his Green Mountain Boys. They were ruffians who joined the rush for cheap land on the northern frontier of the colonies in the years before the American Revolution. Allen did not serve in the Continental Army but he raced Benedict Arnold for the famous seizure of Britain’s Fort Ticonderoga. Allen and Arnold loathed each other. General George Washington, leery of Allen, refused to give him troops. In a botched attempt to capture Montreal against specific orders of the commanding American general, Allen was captured in 1775 and shipped to England to be hanged. Freed in 1778, he spent the rest of his time negotiating with the British but failing to bring Vermont back under British rule. “A worthy addition to the canon of works written about this fractious period in this country’s history” (Addison County Independent), this is a groundbreaking account of an important and little-known front of the Revolutionary War, of George Washington (and his good sense), and of a major American myth. Those Turbulent Sons of Freedom is an “engrossing” (Publishers Weekly) and essential contribution to the history of the American Revolution.

In this lively study, Robert E. Shalhope supplies a fascinating microcosmic view of the rise and triumph of liberal individualism in America and explores its impact on political culture. Selected by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title Originally published in 1996. Americans who lived between the Revolution and Civil War felt the brunt of resounding and sometimes frightening changes, which together eventually influenced the political culture of early America. In this lively study, Robert E. Shalhope examines one of the changes most difficult to gauge and most controversial among students of the period—the rise and triumph of liberal individualism in America—and explores its impact on political culture. Taking Bennington, Vermont, and its environs as a case study, Shalhope untangles the clash among three competing elements in the community—the egalitarian communalism of the Strict Congregationalists; the democratic individualism of the revolutionary Green Mountain Boys; and the hierarchical authority of the community's Federalist gentlemen of property and standing. None of these players anticipated (and indeed did not wish for) the result—the emergence of democratic liberalism. Shalhope writes of class tension, economic competition, and religious differences—and ultimately of cultural conflict and political partisanship—and yet throughout uses individual life experiences to give the narrative piquancy and to emphasize the significance of seemingly small, personal decisions. Shalhope thus demonstrates how the private lives of ordinary people played a role in the settlement of public issues. As an account of a single town and how its residents responded to change, Bennington and the Green Mountain Boys supplies a fascinating microcosmic view of the larger story of how liberal America came to be.

On August 16, 1777, a motley militia won a resounding victory near Bennington, Vermont, against combined German, British and Loyalist forces. This laid the foundation for the American victory at Saratoga two months later. Historian Michael P. Gabriel has collected over fifty firsthand accounts from the people who experienced this engagement, including veterans from both sides and civilians--women and children who witnessed the horrors of the battle. Gabriel also details a virtually unknown skirmish between Americans and Loyalists. These accounts, along with Gabriel's overviews of the battle, bring to life the terror, fear and uncertainty that caused thousands to see the British army as loved ones departed to fight for the fledgling United States.

"Briefly, this work seeks to accomplish two things surrounding Vermont's creation years (those before the 1777 Declaration of Independence and Constitution and 1791 statehood) by: 1) introducing and exploring more fully the contributions made by two important individuals with direct connections to Ethan Allen (Hartford, Connecticut attorney Jared Ingersoll and British Army Major Philip Skene); and, 2) examining closely the time period between 1759 and 1775 when colonizing efforts were made by Skene (precipitated at the direction of Gen. Jeffrey Amherst), Allen, and others to turn the Hampshire Grants into North America's fourteenth British colony. Each of these factors occurred in the context of efforts to right the turmoil caused by Benning Wentworth's land granting practices and which placed the many titles of settlers and proprietors into legal jeopardy. Title problems formed the basis for the 1770 and 1771 Ejectment Trials that introduce Ingersoll (already representing clients involved in title-related ligitation south of the Grants dating to 1766), which then led directly to the formation of the Green Mountain Boys with Allen at their head. Following this, when the creation of courts in Charlotte County (1772) to possibly right the Ejectment Trials results did not appear feasible, the creation of a new colony that Skene would govern became the next focus of the Grants leaders. All was lost with the outbreak of war in 1775"--

Take a chilling tour of spooky New England legends . . . Visit Vermont with this comprehensive collection of tales, legends, folklore, ghost stories, and strange-but-true facts—and enjoy supernatural side trips to the surrounding areas of New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Quebec—with this delightful guide to the region’s haunted history. From Chittenden’s Ghost Shop to the Hubbardton Horror to the Mystery of the Bennington Triangle, Green Mountain Ghosts is filled with local lore and characters more colorful than any fall foliage!