The Haldimand Affair (also called the Haldimand or Vermont Negotiations) was a series of negotiations conducted in the early 1780s (late in the American Revolutionary War) between Frederick Haldimand, the British governor of the Province of Quebec, his agents, and several people representing the independent Vermont Republic. Vermonters had been battling Indian raids sponsored by the British, as well as engaging in a long-running dispute with New York State over jurisdiction of the territory. At issue was Vermont officially joining the British. Just as Haldimand offered generous terms for reunion in 1781, the main British army surrendered at Yorktown, and it was clear that the United States would achieve independence. Vermont, surrounded on three sides by American territory, rejected the Br