Well, I've been messing around with the editor alot lately, but I think I've decided on what I'd like to make a real project of. Below is a little historical background:
The Republic of Vermont
1777 - 1791
Benning Wentworth, Royal Governor of the New Hampshire Grants, was an entrepreneur. He began granting land for a modest fee (payable to himself) with the provision ha an amount of land in each new grant would be set aside for "worthy causes" (500 acres for himself). Most grants were made to relatives or speculators, virtually all of whom intended to sell for a profit rather than actually settle the land. Not surprisingly, the available acreage within the New Hampshire Grants was doled out rather rapidly, so Governor Wentworth began to offer lands west of the Connecticut River.
In December, 1749 (or January, 1750 according to the calendar in use at the time) the first grant was made in what is now Vermont and (surprise!) named Bennington. About this time the Governor of New York (who was involved in similar profit-making schemes himself) objected to the new grants because he figured his authority encompassed this same wild, mountainous territory. Wentworth, not bothered by the objection, went on to grant a total of 128 towns (some three million\ acres) west of the Connecticut River.
New York's objections were sent to the King of England, but a war with France in 1754 delayed a decision until 1764, when the King decided that all lands to the west bank of the Connecticut River were part of New York. By this time, many of the Wentworth grants were populated. New York Cadwallader Colder and his cohorts figured there was money to be made and declared all old grants invalid and demanded payment or eviction.
Some settlers could and did pay, but the speculators, in most cases, could not. This caused more appeals to the King, who in 1767 forbade New york from making more grants in the area until his "pleasure" could be made known. New York sheriffs were attempting to evict settlers by now and one settler names Than Allen met with the Yorkers in Albany in July, 1770. When his claim was rejected, Ethan said: "The Gods of the hills are not the Gods of the valleys". Loosely translated: "the fun has not yet begun".
The Green Mountain Boys formed to hassle Yorker sheriffs and keep New York from controlling the territory that was later to become Vermont. No lives were lost in these skirmishes, but New York did offer substantial rewards for Allen and "the Bennington Mob".
Along with brothers Ira, Heman and Zimri, Ethan Allen's Onion River Land Company held (New Hampshire) title to some 77,000 acres of land in the Winooski valley.
The Green Mountain Boys continued their adventures with the Yorkers until the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1775. After the events at Lexington and Concord, Ethan and the "Boys" decided to capture Fort Ticonderoga - the largest and most impregnable fort in North America at the time. The Continental Congress had appoin6ed Benedict Arnold to be in command of such an expedition, but Ethan would have no part of anyone usurping his glory, but did allow Benedict to come along.
On May 8, 1775, Ethan Allen claimed Ticonderoga "In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress", although apparently not sanctioned by either. Suddenly the Green Mountain Boys were not outlaws but heroes.
On July 4, 1776, th Declaration of Independence ended the King's claim to the disputed territories (and the rest of the colonies) and George III never did get to make his decision about who owned what would become Vermont.
In January of 1777, representatives from 18 towns in the disputed territory were joined by 11 towns from east of the Connecticut River (New Hampshire) at Westminster and declared a free and independent state called "New Connecticut", but there was no real support for the idea.
New York continued to press claims and in March of 1777 a meeting in Windsor produced a Declaration of Independence for a new republic and the name "Vermont" was adopted. The new country guaranteed freedom of religion (although until 1793 included only "those who profess the Protestant religion"), universal manhood suffrage (any man who had reached the age of majority could vote - not just property owners) and in effect abolished slavery.
In the meantime Ethan Allen had led an ill-fated invasion of Montreal and wound up in an English prison until 1778.
In June, 1778, sixteen New Hampshire towns decided to join Vermont. Congress took a dim view of this and in early 1779 the towns were returned to New Hampshire.
All in all, the Republic of Vermont was not held in great favor by Congress and about this time Ethan and Ira Allen began negotiations with England for recognition or perhaps rejoining the British Empire. These were the so-called Haldimand Negotiations.
In February of 1781 some thirty New Hampshire towns joined Vermont and the new republic laid claims to everything in New York east of the Hudson River and north of the line from Massachusetts' northern border.
All this chaos led New Hampshire and New York to decide to pull some of their soldiers out of the war so they could come home to deal with upstart Vermont. Congress could not afford to let that happen and offered admission if Vermont would give up its territorial claims on New York and New Hampshire.
The Republic of Vermont complied in February of 1782, but Congress did not abide by its part of the bargain, partially because southern states did not want more northern states in the union and with the end of the Revolution, Vermont's position as a barrier against the British was not vital. So, Vermont went back to negotiating with England.
In 1790, Vermont had a population of 85,000; Ethan Allen died (President Ezra Stiles of Yale University note in his diary: "Feb. 13, Gen'l Ethan Allen of Vermont died and went to hell this day." and Vermont Governor Moses Robinson met with George Washington in Bennington to discuss the possibility of Vermont joining the United States.
Agreeing to pay New York $30,000 reparations for the land that had been 'taken', on March 4, 1791, Vermont became the first state to join the original thirteen.
Civs:
Republic of Vermont
Leader: General Ethan Allen
UU: Green Mountain Boy
New York
Leader: Cadwallader Colder
UU: New York Sheriff (hidden nationality)
New Hampshire
Leader: Benning Wentworth
UU: Charter Settler (ignores hill movement cost? Some Defense?)
British Empire
Leader: King George III
France?
Quebecois?
Abenaki?
Mohawks?
Iroquois?
Connecticut?
Maine?
I figure I'll wait til I get my hands on conquests and make the "colonies" permanently allied. I'm not really sure how to handle Fort Ticonderoga... Should I make it a city, or just make it fortified and a victory location with a ton of english troops?
Anyway, I've done a good deal of messing around with the map I made below, but I'll probably start completely fresh once I get conquests. I'm hoping there will be some decent colonial-period-looking units in Conquests since I really don't want to have to add units or actually make this a mod. The only real problem with the map I've made is I'd really like to include Montreal, but I haven't left enough room in the north :/
I guess I don't really care if people would play this or not. I'm intereste din playing it so thats all that matters
But I think it will be a pretty interesting and fun scenario for alot of people and I'm definitely interested in opinions, so please chip in. I intend to do a good deal of research before I really get started. Presently I've just sort of browsed the history.
The Republic of Vermont
1777 - 1791
Benning Wentworth, Royal Governor of the New Hampshire Grants, was an entrepreneur. He began granting land for a modest fee (payable to himself) with the provision ha an amount of land in each new grant would be set aside for "worthy causes" (500 acres for himself). Most grants were made to relatives or speculators, virtually all of whom intended to sell for a profit rather than actually settle the land. Not surprisingly, the available acreage within the New Hampshire Grants was doled out rather rapidly, so Governor Wentworth began to offer lands west of the Connecticut River.
In December, 1749 (or January, 1750 according to the calendar in use at the time) the first grant was made in what is now Vermont and (surprise!) named Bennington. About this time the Governor of New York (who was involved in similar profit-making schemes himself) objected to the new grants because he figured his authority encompassed this same wild, mountainous territory. Wentworth, not bothered by the objection, went on to grant a total of 128 towns (some three million\ acres) west of the Connecticut River.
New York's objections were sent to the King of England, but a war with France in 1754 delayed a decision until 1764, when the King decided that all lands to the west bank of the Connecticut River were part of New York. By this time, many of the Wentworth grants were populated. New York Cadwallader Colder and his cohorts figured there was money to be made and declared all old grants invalid and demanded payment or eviction.
Some settlers could and did pay, but the speculators, in most cases, could not. This caused more appeals to the King, who in 1767 forbade New york from making more grants in the area until his "pleasure" could be made known. New York sheriffs were attempting to evict settlers by now and one settler names Than Allen met with the Yorkers in Albany in July, 1770. When his claim was rejected, Ethan said: "The Gods of the hills are not the Gods of the valleys". Loosely translated: "the fun has not yet begun".
The Green Mountain Boys formed to hassle Yorker sheriffs and keep New York from controlling the territory that was later to become Vermont. No lives were lost in these skirmishes, but New York did offer substantial rewards for Allen and "the Bennington Mob".
Along with brothers Ira, Heman and Zimri, Ethan Allen's Onion River Land Company held (New Hampshire) title to some 77,000 acres of land in the Winooski valley.
The Green Mountain Boys continued their adventures with the Yorkers until the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1775. After the events at Lexington and Concord, Ethan and the "Boys" decided to capture Fort Ticonderoga - the largest and most impregnable fort in North America at the time. The Continental Congress had appoin6ed Benedict Arnold to be in command of such an expedition, but Ethan would have no part of anyone usurping his glory, but did allow Benedict to come along.
On May 8, 1775, Ethan Allen claimed Ticonderoga "In the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental Congress", although apparently not sanctioned by either. Suddenly the Green Mountain Boys were not outlaws but heroes.
On July 4, 1776, th Declaration of Independence ended the King's claim to the disputed territories (and the rest of the colonies) and George III never did get to make his decision about who owned what would become Vermont.
In January of 1777, representatives from 18 towns in the disputed territory were joined by 11 towns from east of the Connecticut River (New Hampshire) at Westminster and declared a free and independent state called "New Connecticut", but there was no real support for the idea.
New York continued to press claims and in March of 1777 a meeting in Windsor produced a Declaration of Independence for a new republic and the name "Vermont" was adopted. The new country guaranteed freedom of religion (although until 1793 included only "those who profess the Protestant religion"), universal manhood suffrage (any man who had reached the age of majority could vote - not just property owners) and in effect abolished slavery.
In the meantime Ethan Allen had led an ill-fated invasion of Montreal and wound up in an English prison until 1778.
In June, 1778, sixteen New Hampshire towns decided to join Vermont. Congress took a dim view of this and in early 1779 the towns were returned to New Hampshire.
All in all, the Republic of Vermont was not held in great favor by Congress and about this time Ethan and Ira Allen began negotiations with England for recognition or perhaps rejoining the British Empire. These were the so-called Haldimand Negotiations.
In February of 1781 some thirty New Hampshire towns joined Vermont and the new republic laid claims to everything in New York east of the Hudson River and north of the line from Massachusetts' northern border.
All this chaos led New Hampshire and New York to decide to pull some of their soldiers out of the war so they could come home to deal with upstart Vermont. Congress could not afford to let that happen and offered admission if Vermont would give up its territorial claims on New York and New Hampshire.
The Republic of Vermont complied in February of 1782, but Congress did not abide by its part of the bargain, partially because southern states did not want more northern states in the union and with the end of the Revolution, Vermont's position as a barrier against the British was not vital. So, Vermont went back to negotiating with England.
In 1790, Vermont had a population of 85,000; Ethan Allen died (President Ezra Stiles of Yale University note in his diary: "Feb. 13, Gen'l Ethan Allen of Vermont died and went to hell this day." and Vermont Governor Moses Robinson met with George Washington in Bennington to discuss the possibility of Vermont joining the United States.
Agreeing to pay New York $30,000 reparations for the land that had been 'taken', on March 4, 1791, Vermont became the first state to join the original thirteen.
Civs:
Republic of Vermont
Leader: General Ethan Allen
UU: Green Mountain Boy
New York
Leader: Cadwallader Colder
UU: New York Sheriff (hidden nationality)
New Hampshire
Leader: Benning Wentworth
UU: Charter Settler (ignores hill movement cost? Some Defense?)
British Empire
Leader: King George III
France?
Quebecois?
Abenaki?
Mohawks?
Iroquois?
Connecticut?
Maine?
I figure I'll wait til I get my hands on conquests and make the "colonies" permanently allied. I'm not really sure how to handle Fort Ticonderoga... Should I make it a city, or just make it fortified and a victory location with a ton of english troops?
Anyway, I've done a good deal of messing around with the map I made below, but I'll probably start completely fresh once I get conquests. I'm hoping there will be some decent colonial-period-looking units in Conquests since I really don't want to have to add units or actually make this a mod. The only real problem with the map I've made is I'd really like to include Montreal, but I haven't left enough room in the north :/
I guess I don't really care if people would play this or not. I'm intereste din playing it so thats all that matters
But I think it will be a pretty interesting and fun scenario for alot of people and I'm definitely interested in opinions, so please chip in. I intend to do a good deal of research before I really get started. Presently I've just sort of browsed the history.
