|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Green Mountain Boys
GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYSGREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS. Beginning in 1749, the New Hampshire governor Benning Wentworth issued numerous patents to land in the Green Mountains, counting on a vague border with New York to at least temporarily make the claims profitable. Settlers, moving in orderly, family-centered groups, took advantage of the new patents and moved into the area, establishing towns that were, although varied in religion and ethnic background, far from a wild frontier. In 1770, New Yorkers attempted to use a 1764 royal decision that the land belonged to them to move in Dutch settlers on new patents. Reacting to this incursion, Ethan Allen, a recent immigrant, formed the Green Mountain Boys, a group of men determined to protect their families' lands, who used intimidation, violence, and harassment to drive off the hated "Yorkers." Allen and his men successfully evaded the authorities, even posting a mock reward for their enemies in retaliation for bounties posted on their heads. When the American Revolution began, Allen volunteered the Green Mountain Boys for service, transforming them into soldiers, not just outlaws. Using their knowledge of the area and Fort Ticonderoga's weaknesses, Allen and Henry Knox seized the fort and its cannon, which eventually forced the British out of Boston. When Allen volunteered for the ill-fated Montreal expedition, the rest of the men stayed behind under Colonel Seth Warner and fought at the Battle of Bennington. Ira Allen, Ethan Allen's brother, led the Green Mountain Boys to declare an independent Vermont in 1777, fighting off claims by both New Hampshire and New York while politically maneuvering for support within the Continental Congress. Although Ethan Allan died in 1789, his family and his Green Mountain Boys survived to see Vermont become a state in 1791. BIBLIOGRAPHYBellesiles, Michael A. Revolutionary Outlaws. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1993. Hoyt, Edwin P. The Damndest Yankees. Brattleboro, Vt.: Stephen Green Press, 1976. Margaret D.Sankey See alsoBennington, Battle of ; New Hampshire ; Ticonderoga, Capture of ; Vermont . |
|
|
Cite this article
"Green Mountain Boys." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Green Mountain Boys." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401801795.html "Green Mountain Boys." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401801795.html |
|
Green Mountain Boys
Green Mountain Boys popular name of armed bands formed (c.1770) under the auspices of Ethan Allen in the Green Mountains of what is today Vermont. Their purpose was to prevent the New Hampshire Grants , as Vermont was then known, from becoming part of New York, to which it had been awarded by the British. Land speculators, such as Allen and his brothers, and settlers banded together in armed groups to defend their lands. Their methods were threat, intimidation, and actual violence against the New Yorkers, and they managed to keep the region free from New York control, establishing (1777) instead a separate government that ultimately achieved (1791) statehood for Vermont. In the American Revolution the Green Mountain Boys figured prominently in 1775, when, under Allen's leadership, they captured Ticonderoga. In 1777 Seth Warner and John Stark led them to victory at Bennington—one of the notable achievements of the revolutionaries in the Saratoga campaign. |
|
|
Cite this article
"Green Mountain Boys." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Green Mountain Boys." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-GreenMtnB.html "Green Mountain Boys." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-GreenMtnB.html |
|
Green Mountain Boys
Green Mountain Boys An association of guerrilla fighters from Vermont, active in the American War of INDEPENDENCE. They were originally organized in 1771 by Ethan ALLEN to defend their settlements against New York claims. Named after Vermont's mountain chain, they came to support the patriot cause, assisting in the capture of TICONDEROGA (1775), the Battle of BENNINGTON, and Burgoyne's surrender at SARATOGA (1777).
|
|
|
Cite this article
"Green Mountain Boys." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Green Mountain Boys." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-GreenMountainBoys.html "Green Mountain Boys." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-GreenMountainBoys.html |
|
Green Mountain Boys
Green Mountain Boys, irregular militia led by Ethan Allen, originally organized to defend the New Hampshire Grants of Vermont against the interference of New York land‐jobbers. Later the Vermonters were prominent in the Revolution as captors of Fort Ticonderoga. D.P. Thompson's romance and works by Rowland Robinson celebrate their deeds. Vermont is popularly called the Green Mountain state.
|
|
|
Cite this article
James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Green Mountain Boys." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Green Mountain Boys." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-GreenMountainBoys.html James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Green Mountain Boys." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-GreenMountainBoys.html |
|
Green Mountain Boys
Green Mountain Boys an army organized in Vermont by Ethan Allen in 1770, originally to oppose territorial expansion from New York and subsequently influential in the Revolutionary War, especially in taking Fort Ticonderoga.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"Green Mountain Boys." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Green Mountain Boys." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-GreenMountainBoys.html "Green Mountain Boys." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-GreenMountainBoys.html |
|
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
