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ETHAN ALLEN
[Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection]
1738-1789
Leader of the Green Mountain Boys
Education: mostly self-educated, some informal, private instruction
Occupation: farmer, businessman
Political Affiliation: republican
Organizational Affiliation(s): Mason
Religious Affiliation: none
Summary of Religious Views:
Ethan Allen was a freethinker and critic of Christianity. He wrote Reason, the Only Oracle of Man, in which he espoused natural religion and denied the validity of traditional religions, including Christianity. It is said that he stopped his wedding ceremony when the phrase "agreeable to the laws of God" was uttered, in order to clarify that the only god meant was the god of nature, and not the god of any organized religion or any other god. Only after he was reassured on this point would he allow the ceremony to proceed.
Views on Religion & Politics:
Considered the Bible detrimental to public morals.
Quotations:
"In the circle of my acquaintance, (which has not been small,) I have generally been denominated a Deist, the reality of which I never disputed, being conscious I am no Christian, except mere infant baptism make me one; and as to being a Deist, I know not, strictly speaking, whether I am one or not, for I have never read their writings; mine will therefore determine the matter ..." -- Reason, the Only Oracle of Man, 1784, Preface
"In those parts of the world where learning and science have prevailed, miracles have ceased; but in those parts of it as are barbarous and ignorant, miracles are still in vogue." -- Reason, the Only Oracle of Man, 1784
References, Links, & Further Reading: Books, Articles, Links
Books
Works by Ethan Allen
ed. by R. H. Orth , J. K. Graffagnino, & J. J. Duffy, Ethan Allen and His Kin: Correspondence, 1772-1819, Univ. Press of New England, 1998
The Narrative of Colonel Ethan Allen's Captivity, (1779); reprint, Chauncey Goodrich, 1846; reprint, Applewood Books, 1989
Vindication of the Opposition of Vermont to the Government of New York (1779)
Biographies
Virginia Aronson & Arthur Meier Schlesinger, Ethan Allen: Revolutionary Hero, Chelsea House, 2000
Michael A. Bellesiles, Revolutionary Outlaws: Ethan Allen and the Struggle for Independence on the Early American Frontier, Univ. Press of Virginia, 1995
John Pell, Ethan Allen, Ayer, 1977
Henry W. De Puy, Ethan Allen and the Green-Mountain heroes of '76. With a sketch of the early history of Vermont, Phinney, Blakeman & Mason Buffalo, Breed, Butler & co., 1861
Articles
Benson J. Lossing, "Ethan Allen," Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. 17, Iss. 102, November 1858, pp. 721-744
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