ethan
allen homestead history
the haldimand affair
| What
was the Haldimand Affair? In the late 1770s, after Vermont had declared itself an independent republic, the New York government was as hostile as ever. The Continental Congress, afraid of antagonizing the powerful state, was noticeably unsupportive, and New Hampshire and Massachusetts were making their own claims to the territory. The governor of Canada was, at that time, Frederick Haldimand. In order to guarantee land titles in the republic, negotiations began through Haldimand between members of the Vermont government and the British headquarters in New York for the republic of Vermont to become a part of the British Empire. While a prisoner in England, Ethan had been approached to spy for the British after his release; but there is no evidence that he did so. There is written evidence of direct communication between members of the Vermont government, including Ethan Allen, and the British, from 1780 until 1783. The conspirators did not have the support of the Vermont Assembly, which was more interested in having Vermont accepted as the fourteenth state of the Union than rejoining the British Empire. |
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