Nation-Building >> history: the Green Mountain Boys | return to front page

When you hear the words "Ethan Allen" - it's tragically likely that the first thought that comes to mind is a furniture store. But just like Samuel Adams and Johnny Walker, there was a real historical figure being exploited for present-day commercialism. Ethan Allen was the leader of a militia, the Green Mountain Boys, around the time of the Revolutionary War. Formed to combat the land-grab by the Royal-appointed governors of New Hampshire and New York, the Green Mountain Boys became a legendary unit, which (alongside a unit commanded by Benedict Arnold) took Fort Ticonderoga in a bloodless victory. The victory at Ticonderoga supplied the cannon that helped Washington reclaim Boston, and sowed the seeds of the defeat of General Cornwallis.

The Green Mountain Boys - in the Green Mountain state (in french, Vert Mont) - exemplified the frontier spirit of American freedom. Ethan Allen played an integral role in Vermont's early history (including drafting its constitution, which predates the federal Constitution and is still in effect today).

An excellent and much more detailed biography of Ethan Allen is found on at the Ethan Allen Institute (a libertarian free-market think tank) website. Virtual Vermont.com also has more history about Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys.

Today, I see echoes of our Revolutionary history in Howard Dean's drive towards the white house. There's a similar struggle to assert the rights of the common man against the powerful forces of the elite. We even have a foe named George. I think that it is important to remember our history and to invoke it in the context of our modern struggles. I dearly hope to see Howard Dean invoke Ethan Allen on the campaign trail.

"They hewed this state out of the wilderness, they held it against a foreign foe,they laid deep and stable the foundation of our state life, because they sought not the life of ease, but the life of effort for a worthy end." -- President Theodore Roosevelt, 1902

any errors in history as related above are my sole responsibility and I welcome corrections in the comments.