ALLEN, ETHAN. 1738-1789. Autograph Letter Signed ("Ethan Allen") to Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, offering astute analysis of the present state of the United States at the moment of the Constitutional Convention, 2 pp, folio, conjoining leaves, Bennington, August 29, 1787, minor foxing. AN IMPORTANT ETHAN ALLEN LETTER TO HIS FRIEND CREVECOEUR CONVEYING HIS OWN "STATE OF THE UNION" AT THE MOMENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEBATES IN CONGRESS. "Liberty is not, nor will be, by the bulk of the People distinguished from licentiousness, and any Government that allows such freakish liberties to its subjects cannot endure long. Thirteen independent heads to one connective Government is a political monster and monsters are always short lived...." In a fascinating letter to Crevecoeur, one of the most important writers of the early American experience, Ethan Allen offers a concise analysis of the current American political situation. While he appears dismissive of the American prospects under the Articles of Confederation, later scholars have taken the words to be an embrace of the Federalist ideal of a strong Federal government, the contours of which were at that moment being hammered out in the halls of Philadelphia. Although Allen as a Vermonter did not take part, the delegates at the Constitutional Convention would emerge with a draft of the Constitution three weeks later, unifying those "thirteen independent heads." Ethan Allen headed the Green Mountain Boys during their triumph at Ticonderoga, and was fundamental in seeking recognition of Vermont as an independent state. After Ticonderoga, he was captured in an ill-advised attempt on Quebec. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur was a French emigre and author, one of the earliest chroniclers of the American Experience, whose Letters from an American Farmer, "had a greater influence in attracting its readers to America than any other book of the period" (Vail), and was the earliest codification of the American Dream. Letters of Ethan Allen are rare, and this is an important letter between two important figures of the Revolutionary period.
ALLEN, ETHAN. 1738-1789. Autograph Letter Signed ("Ethan Allen") to Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, offering astute analysis of the present state of the United States at the moment of the Constitutional Convention, 2 pp, folio, conjoining leaves, Bennington, August 29, 1787, minor foxing. AN IMPORTANT ETHAN ALLEN LETTER TO HIS FRIEND CREVECOEUR CONVEYING HIS OWN "STATE OF THE UNION" AT THE MOMENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEBATES IN CONGRESS. "Liberty is not, nor will be, by the bulk of the People distinguished from licentiousness, and any Government that allows such freakish liberties to its subjects cannot endure long. Thirteen independent heads to one connective Government is a political monster and monsters are always short lived...." In a fascinating letter to Crevecoeur, one of the most important writers of the early American experience, Ethan Allen offers a concise analysis of the current American political situation. While he appears dismissive of the American prospects under the Articles of Confederation, later scholars have taken the words to be an embrace of the Federalist ideal of a strong Federal government, the contours of which were at that moment being hammered out in the halls of Philadelphia. Although Allen as a Vermonter did not take part, the delegates at the Constitutional Convention would emerge with a draft of the Constitution three weeks later, unifying those "thirteen independent heads." Ethan Allen headed the Green Mountain Boys during their triumph at Ticonderoga, and was fundamental in seeking recognition of Vermont as an independent state. After Ticonderoga, he was captured in an ill-advised attempt on Quebec. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur was a French emigre and author, one of the earliest chroniclers of the American Experience, whose Letters from an American Farmer, "had a greater influence in attracting its readers to America than any other book of the period" (Vail), and was the earliest codification of the American Dream. Letters of Ethan Allen are rare, and this is an important letter between two important figures of the Revolutionary period.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
