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Vermont in the War of 1812

Vermont had joined the Union late, after nearly ten years of independent government, and retained trade ties to Canada that were increasingly important to the economic life of the state.

The Black Snake Affair

In December 1807, Congress passed the Embargo Act, a law that more or less forbade export. Initially, this move was more of a blow to states like Massachusetts, whose economy depended on shipping, but when the terms were expanded on March 12, 1808 to include a land embargo, Vermont's trade with Canada was cut off.

Times were hard, and many resorted to smuggling to make a living. Ironically, trade actually increased.

The embargo was seen as a Federalist plot, and when officials were tipped off to a smuggling run made by the infamous Black Snake on August 4, 1808. Customs Collector Jabez Penniman led a force that captured ten sailors. Two officers and one civilian bystander were killed in the raid.

Eight men were eventually tried before the Vermont Supreme Court; three were convicted of murder and one, Cyrus Dean, was sentenced to death. His execution was carried out on November 11, 1808.

The Black Snake affair served as an example of what many New Englanders were by that time considering the outright tyranny of their government, and it deepend party tensions between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.

Documents on file at the National Archives, digitized and placed online through the American Memory project:
[ the Embargo Act ]
[ supplementary to the Act ]
[ more Embargo Act ]
[ Boston asks Jefferson to lift the Embargo Act ]
[ "Dignified Patriotism" : a speech against the Embargo Act ]

Middlebury student Jacob Lansing also wrote home regarding this incident.
[ image and transcription ]

Federalists v Democratic-Republicans

Much of the Black Snake affair was cast in a political light by those involved. Some saw it as an overarching Federalist plot, engineered by those in power to gain favor with the populace. Others saw it as a genuine attempt to institute the rule of law in a state that was rapidly coming to view smuggling as a viable practice.

Federalists counted John Adams and Alexander Hamilton as among their most famous thinkers, and favored a more centralized government. They passed laws allowing the national government to levy taxes, assume national and state debts, and favored England over France in foreign policy.

They were in opposition to the Embargo Act, and responsible for calling the Hartford Convention, which nearly led to the secession of the New England states. They began to decline after the War of 1812, largely due to ill-advised measures like the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Democratic-Republicans, or anti-Federalists, included Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

[ The Federalist Papers at the Avalon Project ]
[ Alien and Sedition Acts at earlyamerica.com ]

Siege of Plattsburgh

One of the largest American victories of the War of 1812, the Battle of Plattsburgh was an engagement fought on both land and sea.

Captain Thomas McDonough, thirty-one years old at the time, was placed in command of a small American fleet assembled on Lake Champlain, and General Macomb directed two separate armies on the land, placed in and about the earthworks of Plattsburgh.

While outnumbered, the Americans held the superior ground, and thanks to McDonough's maneuvering, were able to decimate the British fleet that sailed down from Canada. The end of the battle saw American forces in exclusive control of Lakes Champlain and Erie, a decided tactical advantage on the northern front.

[ Battle of Plattsburgh Interpretive Site ]
[ The WWII destroyer USS MacDonough ]
[ Treaty of Ghent at ourdocuments.gov ]