During America's Early Republic, the pastoral villages and forests of Vermont were anything but peaceful. Conflict raged along the Canadian border, as international tensions prompted Thomas Jefferson to ban American exports to France and Great Britain. Some Vermonters turned to smuggling. Federal seizure of a boat called the Black Snake" went deadly wrong--three men were killed that day, and another died later in the state's first hanging execution. The outbreak of the War of 1812 brought thousands of troops, along with drunkenness, disease and a general disregard of civil rights, including the imposition of extra-legal military trials. Using his extensive knowledge of the law, author Gary Shattuck sheds new light on this riotous era."

During America's Early Republic, the pastoral villages and forests of Vermont were anything but peaceful. Conflict raged along the Canadian border, as international tensions prompted Thomas Jefferson to ban American exports to France and Great Britain. Some Vermonters turned to smuggling. Federal seizure of a boat called the "Black Snake" went deadly wrong--three men were killed that day, and another died later in the state's first hanging execution. The outbreak of the War of 1812 brought thousands of troops, along with drunkenness, disease and a general disregard of civil rights, including the imposition of extra-legal military trials. Using his extensive knowledge of the law, author Gary Shattuck sheds new light on this riotous era.

The green mountains, lush valleys and riotous fall colors of idyllic nineteenth-century Vermont masked a sinister underbelly. By 1900, the state was in the throes of a widespread opium epidemic that saw more than 3.3 million doses of the drug being distributed to inhabitants each and every month. Decades of infighting within the medical profession, complicit doctors and druggists, unrestricted access to opium and bogus patent medicines all contributed to the problem. Those conflicts were compounded by a hands-off legislature focused on prohibiting the consumption of alcohol. Historian Gary G. Shattuck traces this unusual aspect of Vermont's past. Book jacket.

Vermont played a critical role in the War of 1812. Burlington was a significant military base and harbor for American vessels, but history isn't just about the larger hubs of activity. From Swanton to Isle La Motte, many smaller communities in northern Vermont played a key role in the war. Local militia--composed of farmers, blacksmiths and merchants--came from all over the northern border communities of the state to contribute to the war effort. When towns got the statewide order to muster, timing depended on the occupations of those called to duty, the distance they needed to march or sail, the unpredictable weather conditions and the condition of the roads. Local historian Jason Barney uncovers the unique stories of border smuggling, daring raids and everyday struggle.

Land speculator, revolutionary, pamphleteer, politician, and empire builder, Ira Allen (1751–1814) was a key figure on the Green Mountain frontier. In a remarkable Vermont pioneer generation that included such noteworthy leaders as Ethan Allen, Thomas Chittenden, Moses Robinson, Isaac Tichenor, and Stephen Row Bradley, Ira Allen stood out for his extraordinary energy, vision, and accomplishments. He helped create and sustain the independent State of Vermont; held such important state offices as treasurer, surveyor general, and member of the Governor’s Council; published hundreds of pages defending Vermont against a host of internal and external enemies; and represented Vermont in negotiations with the British Empire, other American states, and Congress. As an entrepreneur Allen amassed a Champlain Valley land portfolio of 120,000 acres and dreamed of developing the commercial and industrial potential of northwestern Vermont to establish profitable trade networks with Canada, England, and France. When his financial reach exceeded his grasp in the 1790s, he devised an audacious plan for a French Canadian rebellion against British authority that he hoped would restore his fortunes and turn his dreams into reality. At the end of his life, alone and destitute in Philadelphia, Allen remained true to his revolutionary roots, throwing his support behind an ill-fated filibustering expedition against Mexican control of what two decades later became Texas. J. Kevin Graffagnino’s biography ably details Ira Allen’s extraordinary life. As the first published examination of Allen’s career in nearly a century, this book shines new light on Allen and his prominent role in Vermont’s formative decades.

The green mountains, lush valleys and riotous fall colors of idyllic nineteenth-century Vermont masked a sinister underbelly. By 1900, the state was in the throes of a widespread opium epidemic that saw more than 3.3 million doses of the drug being distributed to inhabitants each and every month. Decades of infighting within the medical profession, complicit doctors and druggists, unrestricted access to opium and bogus patent medicines all contributed to the problem. Those conflicts were compounded by a hands-off legislature focused on prohibiting the consumption of alcohol. Historian Gary G. Shattuck traces this unusual aspect of Vermont's past.

In Between and Across acknowledges the boundaries that have separated different modes of historical inquiry, but views law as a way of talking across them. It recognizes that legal history allows scholars to talk across many boundaries, such as those between markets and politics, between identity and state power, as well as between national borders and the flows of people, capital and ideas around the world.

""By the Wand of Some Magician" addresses the severe impact of railroad technology upon its arrival into Vermont in the mid-nineteenth century that introduced an unprepared, rural population to the effects of modernity. It is conveyed through the debates that legislators had following the destruction of their statehouse in 1857 when they considered various factors able to influence their decision in whether to relocate the capital to someplace other than Montpelier. The story revolves around three important aspects of Vermonters' lives that the solons considered: how the railroad changed one particular community (Rutland); agriculture; and the health of the state's inhabitants. Each of these topics is covered, with an emphasis on health. That issue has never been touched on before and includes drug addiction, abortion, and infanticide that increased substantially after to new technology arrived. Additionally, new forms of business (corporations), debtor-creditor relations (grab laws), and the influence of out-of-state financiers on the direction of Vermont government and policy are discussed. Finally, there are many images that will accompany the text to provide further context to the story"--