University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM Graduate College Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 2017 On the People and the "Pretended" State: The Concept of Sovereignty in Vermont, 1750-1791 Christopher DeMairo University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation DeMairo, Christopher, "On the People and the "Pretended" State: The oncC ept of Sovereignty in Vermont, 1750-1791" (2017). Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 722. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/722 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate College Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ON THE PEOPLE AND THE “PRETENDED” STATE: THE CONCEPT OF SOVEREIGNTY IN VERMONT, 1750-1791 A Thesis Presented by Christopher DeMairo to The Faculty of the Graduate College of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Specializing in History May, 2017 Defense Date: April 5, 2017 Thesis Examination Committee: Dona Brown, Ph.D., Advisor Elizabeth Fenton, Ph.D., Chairperson Charles F. Briggs, Ph.D. Cynthia J. Forehand, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College ABSTRACT This research project will examine the concept of sovereignty in Vermont for the years 1750-1791. As with most conceptual studies, it is necessary to first examine the history of the concept. I begin with René Descartes (1596-1650), and his re- conceptualization of Man in a natural state.