1798 Ira Allen Map of Vermont

Ethan Allen's brother Ira: Mapping his way out of jail.

A remarkable 1798 Ira Allen map of Vermont, northern New England, New York, and southern Canada, engraved in London during Allen's detention by British authorities. Although titled simply A Map of the State of Vermont, it is less a conventional state map than a calculated political and commercial argument. Allen, the younger brother of Ethan Allen, emphasizes Vermont's strategic position between the Hudson-Champlain corridor and the St. Lawrence River, illustrates his proposed canal into British Canada, and presents the young state as both the natural center of a potentially lucrative international trade network and a vulnerable frontier requiring military protection.

A Closer Look

The map embraces Vermont within the unusually broad geographical context of northern New England, eastern New York, and southern Quebec. Coverage reaches north as far as Quebec, east to Portland, west to Lake Ontario, and south to include Albany and Cape Ann. Vermont itself is only lightly detailed. Instead, Allen draws attention northward, toward Lake Champlain, the Richelieu River, and the St. Lawrence, the waterways upon which his plans for Vermont's economic development depended. The route of his proposed Canadian canal is clearly traced, visually connecting Vermont's agricultural and natural resources to Montreal, Quebec, and the broader Atlantic commercial system.

This expansive coverage also underscores Vermont's exposed position along the Canadian frontier. For Allen, commerce and defense were inseparable: the same waterways that promised access to foreign markets also constituted possible avenues of invasion. As J. Kevin Graffagnino explains:

[The map] illustrated a number of the points he was trying to make in his text. Despite its title, the map showed Vermont within the unusually broad context of northern New England, New York and Canada. The result was a two-pronged visual emphasis: on the state's commercial position vis-à-vis the Champlain-St. Lawrence waterways; and on the concomitant depiction of Vermont's exposed and vulnerable frontiers, which required a numerous and well-armed militia for the state's defense. Never one to miss the opportunity to promote a project, Ira also included the line of his proposed canal, no doubt to indicate the relative ease with which the Vermont and Canadian markets might come together. Allen's map offered few details within the actual borders of Vermont, but as with the History itself, his main purpose was something quite apart from the simple description of the Green Mountain State.

Ira Allen's Empire Building Ambitions

Following the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783), Ira Allen controlled approximately 200,000 acres in Vermont's Champlain Valley. He envisioned a commercial empire centered on his mills along the Winooski River, through which Vermont timber, marble, grain, and other commodities could flow northward to Canadian and Atlantic markets. The reality was considerably less promising. As Graffagnino writes, Allen:

…was painfully short of the cash needed to develop his holdings and satisfy his many creditors. The end of the Revolution had opened the Champlain Valley to settlement, but the British restrictions on trade between Canada and Vermont, along with the transportation problems of shipping goods north to Quebec, had frustrated Ira's plans for a commercial empire with its headquarters at his mills on the Winooski River in Colchester.

In December 1795, Allen traveled to Europe seeking financial and political support. In Britain, he promoted a canal intended to improve communication between the Richelieu and St. Lawrence River systems, opening Canadian markets to Vermont produce while facilitating the importation of British manufactures. The proposal attracted little support, prompting Allen to proceed to Revolutionary France.

United Columbia and the Olive Branch Affair

In France, Allen advanced a far more audacious proposal: a French-supported invasion of British Canada followed by the creation of a democratic republic styled 'United Columbia.' France was expected to provide troops, cannon, and muskets, while Allen claimed that he could raise thousands of American volunteers. Whether Allen genuinely intended to invade Canada or primarily sought inexpensive arms for Vermont remains disputed; the French government (the newly instated 5-man Directory) nonetheless bought into the audacious plan and supplied him with a substantial armory - possibly for no other reason than to annoy the hated British.

In November 1796, Allen embarked for America aboard the ironically named Olive Branch, carrying French cannon and muskets. The British intercepted the vessel, seized its cargo, and detained Allen in England. British authorities suspected (correctly) that the weapons were intended for anti-British operations against Canada; Allen maintained that they had been purchased for the Vermont militia.

While fighting for his release and the restoration of the cargo, Allen prepared his Natural and Political History of the State of Vermont, published in London in May 1798. The present map was engraved to accompany that work and visually reinforce his case. By depicting Vermont's vulnerable northern frontier, Allen could justify the importation of arms as a defensive necessity; by emphasizing the Champlain-St. Lawrence corridor and his proposed canal, he could simultaneously revive his commercial program.

Publication History and Census

This map was compiled by Ira Allen and engraved in London I. Palmer, almost certainly William I. Palmer, for his 1798 Natural and Political History of the State of Vermont. It was not included with every copy of the book and is consequently considerably rarer than the text itself. We see confirmed examples of the map at Dartmouth, Vermont Historical, and the Newberry Library. The book is more widely distributed, but only a fraction of these examples would have contained the map. The present example survives independently, as a separately preserved artifact of Allen's commercial ambitions, Canadian intrigues, and efforts to shape the political and economic geography of early Vermont.

Cartographers

Ira Allen (April 21, 1751 - January 7, 1814) was an American surveyor, land speculator, political strategist, author, and founding father of Vermont whose influence rivaled - and in statecraft perhaps exceeded - that of his better-known brother, Ethan Allen. Born in Cornwall, Connecticut, he entered the disputed New Hampshire Grants as a young man and, in 1772-73, joined his brothers and cousin Remember Baker in organizing the Onion River Land Company, through which the family accumulated vast properties along Lake Champlain. Active in resisting New York's claims, Allen became one of the principal architects of Vermont's independence, serving as state treasurer and surveyor general from 1778 to 1787, sitting on the Governor's Council, publishing defenses of Vermont's position, and representing the republic in negotiations with Congress, neighboring states, and British authorities. He played a particularly important, if controversial, role in the secret Haldimand Negotiations, which exploited British interest in reclaiming Vermont to protect the fledgling state and strengthen its bargaining position. An ambitious promoter of settlement, commerce, manufacturing, and transportation in the Champlain Valley, Allen also became the principal founder of the University of Vermont, chartered in 1791, providing much of its initial planning and financial support. In 1795, he traveled to Britain seeking backing for a proposed Lake Champlain-Richelieu River Canal, afterward proceeding to France, where he purchased some 20,000 muskets and other military supplies, ostensibly for the Vermont militia. British authorities seized the cargo aboard the Olive Branch in 1796, alleging that it was intended to support an uprising in Canada, embroiling Allen in years of litigation and detention. While in London, he published The Natural and Political History of the State of Vermont (1798), accompanied by an important map presenting Vermont within the broader geography of northeastern North America. Returning home in 1801, Allen found his commercial empire ruined and his lands entangled in debt; pursued by creditors, he withdrew to Philadelphia, where he died in 1814.   Further Details...

William I. Palmer (March 4, 1739 - November 1812) was a British engraver, gun engraver, mapmaker, and globe maker active in London in the late 18th century. Palmer was born in London, the son of William Palmer Sr., a pants maker. He was apprenticed to the goldsmith and engraver John Pine in 1753. When Pine died in 1757, his apprenticeship was transferred to the prominent engraver Richard William Seale (1703 - 1762). Palmer flourished under Seale's guidance, marring Mary Seale, his master's youngest daughter in 1762. In that same year, he took over Seale's workshop, becoming a prominent engraver in his own right. From 1780 to 1790 he partnered with the globe maker John Newton (1758 - 1844). After 1790 he separated from Newton, partnered with his son, John Palmer, establishing the imprint of William and John Palmer. He notable engraved some of the charts for the official account of Cook's voyages, as well as charts for William Faden, Robert Sayer, Alexander Dalrymple, Laurie and Whittle, and Robert Wilkinson. Palmer is also known in gun collecting and furniture circles for his fine metal engraving work, which can be seen on John Channon furniture, among others.   Further Details...

Condition

Very good. Roughly dissected and laid down. Backed on linen.

References

OCLC 15665686. Cobb, David, Vermont Maps Prior to 1900, no. 130; Graffagnino, J. Kevin, The Shaping of Vermont, p. 70 (illustrated), pp. 71–73. McCorkle, Barbara Backus, New England in Early Printed Maps, 1513–1800, no. V798.1. Graffagnino, J. Kevin, 'The Country My Soul Delighted In: The Onion River Land Company and the Vermont Frontier', The New England Quarterly, Vol. 65, No. 1 (March 1992), pp. 24–60, Graffagnino, J. Kevin, 'Twenty Thousand Muskets!!!: Ira Allen and the Olive Branch Affair, 1796–1800', The William and Mary Quarterly, Vol. 48, No. 3 (July 1991), pp. 409–431.