Ethan Allen and Fort Ticonderoga

Ethan Allen and Fort Ticonderoga

Ethan Allen and Fort Ticonderoga
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.4

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		killing, opinionated, acceptance, commander, militia, union, supplied, better, newly, revolution, death, army, enemy, region, surrender, duty
	content words:		Revolutionary War, King George, Fort Ticonderoga, Lake Champlain, Ethan Allen, Green Mountains, New Hampshire, New York, Green Mountain Boys, Benedict Arnold

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Ethan Allen and Fort Ticonderoga
By Jane Runyon

¹     After the first battles of the Revolutionary War in Lexington and Concord, it became apparent to colonial leaders that they were completely outmatched. Not only were the British soldiers better trained and larger in number, their weapons were bigger, better, more powerful, and in greater supply. The hunting muskets of the colonial farmers were not a match for the sleek, long muskets and cannons of the British army. Something had to be done to increase the fire power of the colonial militia if they were to stand a chance against their newly declared enemy. Since the weapons couldn't be purchased because they were at war with the only source they had for weapons, a plan had to be created. What plan did the colonists come up with? Why, take the weapons from the British army, of course.

²     During colonization, King George had ordered the building of several forts throughout the colonies for the protection of British holdings from the French and the Indians. The forts had been supplied with soldiers and weapons. Cannons were installed behind the walls of the forts to scare the enemy as much as to kill them. One such fort was Fort Ticonderoga located near Lake Champlain. It was decided that Ethan Allen was the right man to relieve Fort Ticonderoga of its cannons. They would then be used by the colonists for their own protection.

³     Ethan Allen was a man with a reputation of being loud, opinionated, and head strong. He had left his native Connecticut for the highlands of the Green Mountains. The governor of New Hampshire had sold land to early settlers such as Allen in this region at a reasonable price. All went well until the king ruled that only the governor of New York had the right to sell this land. Some of the land was taken away from the settlers while the rest was taxed by New York. The settlers were angry. One of the most vocal of these settlers was Ethan Allen. He led a group of mountain men calling themselves the Green Mountain Boys. When the revolution came, they were more than ready to fight the British rule. Ethan Allen and his followers were called upon to go to Fort Ticonderoga and take the cannons there for use by the colonists.

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