History of Vermont
Encyclopedia
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
begins more than 10,500 years before the present day.
Early history
Vermont was covered with shallow seas periodically from the CambrianCambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
to Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
periods. Most of the sedimentary rocks laid down in these seas were deformed by mountain-building. Fossils, however, are common in the Lake Champlain region. Lower areas of western Vermont were flooded again, as part of the St. Lawrence Valley an Champlain Valley
Champlain Valley
The Champlain Valley is a region of the United States around Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York extending slightly into Quebec, Canada as part of the St. Lawrence River drainage basin drained northward by the Richelieu River into the St...
by Lake Vermont
Lake Vermont
Lake Vermont, also called Glacial Lake Vermont, was a temporary lake created by the retreating glaciers during the close of the last ice age. The lake once included land in the Canadian province of Quebec and the American states Vermont and New York. It was a geographical predecessor of Lake...
whose northern boundary followed the melting glacier at the end of the last ice age, until it reached the ocean. This was replaced by Lake Vermont
Lake Vermont
Lake Vermont, also called Glacial Lake Vermont, was a temporary lake created by the retreating glaciers during the close of the last ice age. The lake once included land in the Canadian province of Quebec and the American states Vermont and New York. It was a geographical predecessor of Lake...
and the Champlain Sea
Champlain Sea
The Champlain Sea was a temporary inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, a paratropical subsea or epeiric sea created by the retreating glaciers during the close of the last ice age...
, when the land had not yet rebounded from the weight of the glaciers which were sometimes 2 miles (3.2 km) thick. Shells of salt-water mollusks, along with the bones of beluga whales, have been found in the Lake Champlain region.
Lake Vermont connected to a glacial western lake near what is now the Great Lakes. They allowed western fish to enter the state, which is why Vermont has more native species than any other New England State, 78. About half of these are western in origin.
Little is known of the pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
history of Vermont. Between 8500 to 7000 BC, glacial activity created the saltwater Champlain Sea. This brought eventually landlocked lamprey
Lamprey
Lampreys are a family of jawless fish, whose adults are characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. Translated from an admixture of Latin and Greek, lamprey means stone lickers...
, Atlantic salmon
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and the north Pacific....
, and rainbow smelt
Rainbow smelt
The rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax, is an anadromous species of fish of the family Osmeridae. The distribution of Osmerus mordax is circumpolar. The rainbow smelt was introduced to the Great Lakes, and from there has made its way to various other places. Walleye, trout, and other larger fish prey on...
.
Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
inhabited and hunted in Vermont. From 7000 to 1000 BC was the Archaic Period. During that era, Native Americans migrated year-round. From 1000 BC to 1600 AD was the Woodland Period
Woodland period
The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures was from roughly 1000 BCE to 1000 CE in the eastern part of North America. The term "Woodland Period" was introduced in the 1930s as a generic header for prehistoric sites falling between the Archaic hunter-gatherers and the...
, when villages and trade networks were established, and ceramic and bow and arrow
Bow (weapon)
The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.-Description:A bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles by means of elastic energy. Essentially, the bow is a form of spring powered by a string or cord...
technology were developed. The western part of the state became home to a small population of Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
-speaking tribes, including the Mohican
Mohican
-Native Americans:* Mahican , a Native American tribe who lived in and around the Hudson Valley* Mohegan, a functional confederation of several branches of Native Americans during the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century...
and Abenaki peoples. Sometime between 1500 and 1600, the Iroquois
Iroquois
The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...
drove many of the smaller native tribes out of Vermont, later using the area as a hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
ground and warring with the remaining Abenaki.
European outposts and settlements
The first European to see the area that is now Vermont is thought to be Jacques CartierJacques Cartier
Jacques Cartier was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big...
, in 1535.
On July 30, 1609, French explorer
French colonization of the Americas
The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America...
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain , "The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608....
claimed the area of what is now Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
, giving to the mountains the appellation of les Verts Monts (the Green Mountains
Green Mountains
The Green Mountains are a mountain range in the U.S. state of Vermont. The range extends approximately .-Peaks:The most notable mountains in the range include:*Mount Mansfield, , the highest point in Vermont*Killington Peak, *Mount Ellen,...
). Since in the French language adjectives normally come after the noun, the usual structure of this name would be "les Monts Verts." However, when an adjective is intended to be emphasized, it may be placed before the noun, which is the likely explanation for the origin of Vermont's name. It has been suggested that a possible alternative source of the name was "Vers Monts," meaning "towards mountains", so-called because Champlain approached the mountains from the relatively flat plains of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
To aid and impress his new Abenaki allies, Champlain shot and killed an Iroquois chief with an arquebus
Arquebus
The arquebus , or "hook tube", is an early muzzle-loaded firearm used in the 15th to 17th centuries. The word was originally modeled on the German hakenbüchse; this produced haquebute...
, July 29, 1609. While the Iroquois were already enemies with the Abenaki, they formed a permanent enmity with the French with this incident, ultimately costing the French their possessions in the New World, including the contested area of most of Vermont, at the conclusion of the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
in 1743.
France claimed Vermont as part of New France
New France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
, and erected Fort Sainte Anne
Fort Sainte Anne (Vermont)
In 1666, the French built a fort to protect Canada from the Iroquois. The fort was dedicated to Saint Anne. Fort Sainte Anne was the most vulnerable to attacks by the Iroquois, because it was the last of five forts stretching along the Richelieu River going south...
on Isle La Motte
Isle La Motte, Vermont
-Notable events:Around 480 Million Years ago when the Chazy Formation was flourishing, Strematoporoid colonies were among the most common builders of the reef.In 1609, Samuel de Champlain debarked on Isle La Motte July 9....
in 1666 as part of their fortification
Fortification
Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...
of Lake Champlain. This was the first European settlement in Vermont and the site of the first Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
.
During the latter half of the 17th century, non-French settlers began to explore Vermont and its surrounding area. In 1690, a group of Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
-British settlers from Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
under Captain Jacobus de Warm established the De Warm Stockade at Chimney Point
Chimney Point, Vermont
Chimney Point is an unincorporated community in the town of Addison in Addison County, Vermont, United States. It lies across Lake Champlain from Crown Point, New York. French settlers established the community of Hocquart near modern-day Chimney Point in 1730. This first settlement in Vermont...
(eight miles west of Addison
Addison, Vermont
Addison is a town in Addison County, Vermont, United States. It was founded October 14, 1761. The population was 1,393 at the 2000 census.-History:Addison was chartered on October 14, 1761...
). This settlement and trading post was directly across the lake from Crown Point, New York
Crown Point, New York
Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, USA. The population was 2,119 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, "Point au Chevalure."...
(Pointe à la Chevelure).
There were regular periods of skirmishing between English colonies to the south and the French colony to the north, and the area of Vermont was an unsettled frontier. In 1704, De Rouville passed up the Winooski (Onion) River
Winooski River
The Winooski River is a tributary of Lake Champlain, approximately long, in northern Vermont in the United States. Although not Vermont's longest river, it is one of the state's most significant, forming a major valley way from Lake Champlain through the Green Mountains towards the Connecticut...
, to reach the Connecticut
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
, and then down to Deerfield, Massachusetts
Deerfield, Massachusetts
Deerfield is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,750 as of the 2000 census. Deerfield is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area in Western Massachusetts, lying only north of the city of Springfield.Deerfield includes the...
, which he raided.
The first permanent British settlement was established in 1724 with the construction of Fort Dummer
Fort Dummer
Fort Dummer was a British fort built in 1724 by the colonial militia of the Province of Massachusetts Bay under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight in what is now the Town of Brattleboro in southeastern Vermont. The fort was the first permanent European settlement in Vermont...
in Vermont's far southeast under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight of Connecticut. This fort protected the nearby settlements of Dummerston
Dummerston, Vermont
Dummerston is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,915 at the 2000 census. Dummerston is home to the longest covered bridge still in use inside the state borders of Vermont.-History:...
and Brattleboro
Brattleboro, Vermont
Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located in the southeast corner of the state, along the state line with New Hampshire. The population was 12,046 at the 2010 census...
in the surrounding area. These settlements were made by people from Massachusetts and Connecticut. The second British settlement at Bennington in the southwest corner of Vermont would not be made until after 37 years of conflict in the region.
In 1725, 60 armed men entered Vermont with rough maps, with the goal of attacking the Village of St. Francis
Saint-François-du-Lac, Quebec
Saint-François-du-Lac is a community in the Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 2,002...
, but turned back at Crown Point.
In 1731, the French arrived at Chimney Point, near Addison. Here they constructed a small temporary wooden stockade (Fort de Pieux) until work on Fort St. Frédéric
Fort St. Frédéric
Fort St. Frédéric was a French fort built on Lake Champlain at Crown Point to secure the region against British colonization and to allow the French to control the use of Lake Champlain....
began in 1734. When this fort was completed, Fort de Pieux was abandoned as unseeded.
There was another period of conflict from 1740 to 1748, the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
or King George's War
King George's War
King George's War is the name given to the operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession . It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in the British provinces of New York, Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia...
. There were raids at a private defensive work, Bridgeman's Fort, in Vernon, Vermont
Vernon, Vermont
Vernon is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,141 at the 2000 census. Vernon is the home of Vermont Yankee, Vermont's only nuclear power plant.-Geography:...
.
During the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
, 1755–1761, some Vermont settlers joined the colonial militia assisting the British in attacks on the French at Fort Carillon
Fort Ticonderoga
Fort Ticonderoga, formerly Fort Carillon, is a large 18th-century fort built by the Canadians and the French at a narrows near the south end of Lake Champlain in upstate New York in the United States...
.
Rogers' Rangers
Rogers' Rangers
Rogers' Rangers was an independent company of colonial militia, attached to the British Army during the Seven Years War . The unit was informally trained by Major Robert Rogers as a rapidly deployable light infantry force tasked with reconnaissance and conducting special operations against distant...
staged an attack
St. Francis Raid
The St. Francis Raid was an attack in the French and Indian War by Robert Rogers and a band of his Rangers on the primarily Abenaki village of St. Francis, near the southern shore of the Saint Lawrence River in what was then the French province of Canada, on October 4, 1759...
against the Abenaki village of Saint-Francis, Quebec
Saint-François, Quebec
Saint-François is the second largest neighbourhood of Laval, Quebec, Canada, after Duvernay. It was a separate city until the municipal mergers on August 6, 1965.Agriculture occupies most of the land area....
from Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain is a natural, freshwater lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States but partially situated across the Canada—United States border in the Canadian province of Quebec.The New York portion of the Champlain Valley includes the eastern portions of...
in 1759. Separating afterwards, they fled the angered French and Abenakis through northern Vermont back to safety in Lake Champlain and New Hampshire
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire is a name first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was formally organized as an English royal colony on October 7, 1691, during the period of English colonization...
.
Following France's loss in the French and Indian War, the 1763 Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1763)
The Treaty of Paris, often called the Peace of Paris, or the Treaty of 1763, was signed on 10 February 1763, by the kingdoms of Great Britain, France and Spain, with Portugal in agreement. It ended the French and Indian War/Seven Years' War...
gave control of the whole region to the British. Colonial settlement was limited by the British to lands east of the Appalachians, and Vermont was divided nearly in half in a jagged line running from Fort William Henry
Fort William Henry
Fort William Henry was a British fort at the southern end of Lake George in the province of New York. It is best known as the site of notorious atrocities committed by Indians against the surrendered British and provincial troops following a successful French siege in 1757, an event which is the...
on Lake George
Lake George (New York)
Lake George, nicknamed the Queen of American Lakes, is a long, narrow oligotrophic lake draining northwards into Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence River Drainage basin located at the southeast base of the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York, U.S.A.. It lies within the upper region of the...
diagonally north-eastward to Lake Memphremagog
Lake Memphremagog
Lake Memphremagog is a fresh water glacial lake located between Newport, Vermont, United States and Magog, Quebec, Canada. The lake is long with 73 percent of the lake's surface area in Quebec, where it drains into the Magog River. However, three-quarters of its watershed, , is in Vermont. The...
. Lands north of this line, including the entire Champlain Valley, were reserved for Indians.
New Hampshire Grants, New York's claim, and the Vermont Republic
The end of the war brought new settlers to Vermont. The first settler of the grants was Samuel Robinson, who began clearing land in Bennington in 1761.In the 28 years from 1763 to 1791, the non-Indian population of Vermont rose from 300 to 85,000.
A fort at Crown Point
Crown Point, New York
Crown Point is a town in Essex County, New York, USA. The population was 2,119 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is a direct translation of the original French name, "Point au Chevalure."...
had been built in 1759, and the Crown Point Military Road
Crown Point Road
In 1759, the British built the Crown Point Road following the defeat of French forces at Forts Carillon and St. Frederic on Lake Champlain during the French and Indian War. The Crown Point Road connected the Fort at Crown Point on Lake Champlain to Fort No. 4 at Charlestown, New Hampshire. Today,...
stretched across the Green Mountains from Springfield
Springfield, Vermont
Springfield is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 9,373 at the 2010 census.-History:One of the New Hampshire grants, the township was chartered on August 20, 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth and awarded to Gideon Lyman and 61 others...
to Chimney Point, making traveling from the neighboring British colonies easier than ever before. Three colonies laid claim to the area. The Province of Massachusetts Bay
Province of Massachusetts Bay
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...
claimed the land on the basis of the 1629 charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, situated around the present-day cities of Salem and Boston. The territory administered by the colony included much of present-day central New England, including portions...
. The Province of New York
Province of New York
The Province of New York was an English and later British crown territory that originally included all of the present U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Vermont, along with inland portions of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maine, as well as eastern Pennsylvania...
claimed Vermont based on land granted to the Duke of York
Duke of York
The Duke of York is a title of nobility in the British peerage. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of the British monarch. The title has been created a remarkable eleven times, eight as "Duke of York" and three as the double-barreled "Duke of York and...
(later King James II
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...
) in 1664. The Province of New Hampshire
Province of New Hampshire
The Province of New Hampshire is a name first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was formally organized as an English royal colony on October 7, 1691, during the period of English colonization...
, whose western limits had never been determined, also claimed Vermont, in part based upon a decree of George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
in 1740. 0n March 5, 1740, George II ruled that Massachusetts's northern boundary
Northern boundary of Massachusetts
The northern boundary of the U.S. state of Massachusetts adjoins two other states - Vermont and New Hampshire. The majority of the line is roughly a straight line from the northwest corner of the state east to a point north of Lowell...
in this area would be from a point near the Merrimack River
Merrimack River
The Merrimack River is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Massachusetts, and then flows northeast until it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Newburyport...
due west (its present location). The boundary was surveyed by Richard Hasen in 1741, and Fort Dummer
Fort Dummer
Fort Dummer was a British fort built in 1724 by the colonial militia of the Province of Massachusetts Bay under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight in what is now the Town of Brattleboro in southeastern Vermont. The fort was the first permanent European settlement in Vermont...
(Brattleboro), was found to be north of the line. Provisions and support for Fort Dummer were ordered by the Colonial Office from New Hampshire in the following years.
Benning Wentworth
Benning Wentworth was the colonial governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1766.-Biography:The eldest child of the John Wentworth who had been Lieutenant Governor, he was born and died in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Wentworth graduated from Harvard College in 1715...
, issued a series of 135 land grant
Land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate – land or its privileges – made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service...
s between 1749 and 1764 called the New Hampshire Grants
New Hampshire Grants
The New Hampshire Grants or Benning Wentworth Grants were land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by the provincial governor of New Hampshire, Benning Wentworth. The land grants, totaling about 135 , were made on land claimed by New Hampshire west of the Connecticut River, territory that was also...
. Many of these were in a large valley on the west (or New York side) of the Green Mountains and only about forty miles from Albany. The town was laid out in 1749 and was settled after the war in 1761. The town was named Bennington for Wentworth. The location of the town was well north of the Massachusetts limit set by decree in 1740, and east of the known eastern limit of New York, twenty miles east of the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
. Ultimately, by 1754, Wentworth had granted lands for 15 towns.
On July 20, 1764, King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
established the boundary between New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
and New York along the west bank of the Connecticut River
Connecticut River
The Connecticut River is the largest and longest river in New England, and also an American Heritage River. It flows roughly south, starting from the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. After flowing through the remaining Connecticut Lakes and Lake Francis, it defines the border between the...
, north of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and south of 45 Degrees north latitude. Under this decree, Albany County, New York
Albany County, New York
Albany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, and is part of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy Metropolitan Statistical Area. The name is from the title of the Duke of York and Albany, who became James II of England . As of the 2010 census, the population was 304,204...
, as it then existed, implicitly gained the land presently known as Vermont. Although disputes occasionally broke out later, this line became the boundary between New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, and is the modern boundary. When New York refused to recognize land titles through the New Hampshire Grants (towns created earlier by New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
in present Vermont), dissatisfied colonists organized in opposition, which led to the creation of independent Vermont on January 15, 1777.
New York took the declaration of 1764 to apply retroactively, and considered the New Hampshire grants invalid. It therefore required land holders to purchase new grants for the same land from New York. New York then created counties in the region, with courthouses, sheriffs, and jails, and began judicial proceedings against those who held land solely by New Hampshire grants.
In 1767, the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
forbade New York from selling land in Vermont that was in conflict with grants from New Hampshire, reversing the 1764 decision.
In 1770, Ethan Allen
Ethan Allen
Ethan Allen was a farmer, businessman, land speculator, philosopher, writer, and American Revolutionary War patriot, hero, and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of the U.S...
—along with his brothers Ira
Ira Allen
Ira Allen was one of the founders of Vermont, and leaders of the Green Mountain Boys; and was the brother of Ethan Allen.-Biography:...
and Levi, as well as Seth Warner
Seth Warner
Seth Warner was born in Roxbury, Connecticut. In 1763, he removed with his father to Bennington in what was then known as the New Hampshire Grants. He established there as a huntsman....
—recruited an informal militia, the Green Mountain Boys
Green Mountain Boys
The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization first established in the 1760s in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants...
, to protect the interests of the original New Hampshire settlers against the new migrants from New York. A significant standoff occurred at the Breckinridge farm in Bennington, when a sheriff from Albany arrived with a posse of 750 men to dispossess Breckinridge. The residents raised a body of about 300 armed men to resist. The Albany sheriff demanded Breckinridge, and was informed, "If you attempt it, you are a dead man." The sheriff returned to Albany.
When a New York judge arrived in Westminster
Westminster (town), Vermont
Westminster is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,210 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 46.1 square miles , of which 46.1 square miles is land and 0.04 square mile is...
with New York settlers in March 1775, violence broke out as angry citizens took over the courthouse
Courthouse
A courthouse is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English speaking countries, buildings which house courts of law are simply...
and called a sheriff's posse. This resulted in the deaths of Daniel Houghton and William French in the "Westminster Massacre".
In the summer of 1776, the first general convention of freemen of the New Hampshire Grants met in Dorset, Vermont
Dorset, Vermont
Dorset is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,036 at the 2000 census. Dorset is famous for being home to America's oldest marble quarry and for being the birth place of Alcoholics Anonymnous co-founder Bill W...
, resolving "to take suitable measures to declare the New Hampshire Grants a free and independent district." On January 15, 1777, representatives of the New Hampshire Grants convened in Westminster and declared their land an independent republic. For the first six months of the republic's existence, the state was called New Connecticut.
On June 2, a second convention of 72 delegates met at Westminster, known as the "Westminster Convention". At this meeting, the delegates adopted the name "Vermont" on the suggestion of Dr. Thomas Young of Philadelphia, a supporter of the delegates who wrote a letter advising them on how to achieve statehood. The delegates set the time for a meeting one month later. On July 4, the Constitution of Vermont
Constitution of Vermont
The Constitution of the State of Vermont is the fundamental body of law of the U.S. State of Vermont. It was adopted in 1793 following Vermont's admission to the Union in 1791 and is largely based upon the 1777 Constitution of Vermont which was ratified at Windsor in the Old Constitution House. At...
was drafted during a violent thunderstorm at the Windsor Tavern
Old Constitution House
The Old Constitution House located at Windsor in the U.S. state of Vermont is the birthplace of the Vermont Republic and the Constitution of the State of Vermont. A mid-18 century building built in a simple Georgian architectural style, the Old Constitution House was originally called the Windsor...
owned by Elijah West. It was adopted by the delegates on July 8 after four days of debate. This was the first written constitution in North America to provide for the abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
of slavery
History of slavery in the United States
Slavery in the United States was a form of slave labor which existed as a legal institution in North America for more than a century before the founding of the United States in 1776, and continued mostly in the South until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in...
, suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
for men who did not own land, and public schools. The tavern has been preserved as the Old Constitution House
Old Constitution House
The Old Constitution House located at Windsor in the U.S. state of Vermont is the birthplace of the Vermont Republic and the Constitution of the State of Vermont. A mid-18 century building built in a simple Georgian architectural style, the Old Constitution House was originally called the Windsor...
, administered as a state historic site.
Religion
In colonial times, like many of its neighboring states, Vermont's largest religious affiliation was CongregationalismCongregational church
Congregational churches are Protestant Christian churches practicing Congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its own affairs....
. In 1776, 63% of affiliated church members in Vermont were Congregationalists. At that time, however, only 9% of people belonged to a specific church due to the remoteness of population centers.
Revolutionary War
The Battle of BenningtonBattle of Bennington
The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary War that took place on August 16, 1777, in Walloomsac, New York, about from its namesake Bennington, Vermont...
, fought on August 16, 1777, was a seminal event in the history of the state of Vermont. The nascent republican government, created after years of political turmoil, faced challenges from New York, New Hampshire, Great Britain and the new United States, none of which recognized its sovereignty.
During the summer of 1777, the invading British army of General John Burgoyne
John Burgoyne
General John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762....
slashed its way southward through the thick forest, from Quebec
Province of Quebec (1763-1791)
The Province of Quebec was a colony in North America created by Great Britain after the Seven Years' War. Great Britain acquired Canada by the Treaty of Paris when King Louis XV of France and his advisors chose to keep the territory of Guadeloupe for its valuable sugar crops instead of New France...
to the Hudson River, captured the strategic stronghold of Fort Ticonderoga, and drove the Continental Army into a desperate southward retreat. Raiding parties of British soldiers and native warriors freely attacked, pillaged and burned the frontier communities of the Champlain Valley and threatened all settlements to the south. The Vermont frontier collapsed in the face of the British invasion. The New Hampshire legislature, fearing an invasion from the west, mobilized the state's militia under the command of General John Stark
John Stark
John Stark was a New Hampshire native who served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.-Early life:John Stark was born in Londonderry, New...
.
General Burgoyne received intelligence that large stores of horses, food and munitions were kept at Bennington, which was the largest community in the land grant area. He dispatched 2,600 men, nearly a third of his army, to seize the colonial storehouse there, unaware that General Stark's New Hampshire troops were then traversing the Green Mountains to join up at Bennington with the Vermont continental regiments commanded by Colonel Seth Warner
Seth Warner
Seth Warner was born in Roxbury, Connecticut. In 1763, he removed with his father to Bennington in what was then known as the New Hampshire Grants. He established there as a huntsman....
, together with the local Vermont and western Massachusetts militia. The combined American forces, under Stark's command, attacked the British column at Hoosick, New York
Hoosick, New York
Hoosick is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The population was 6,759 at the 2000 census.The Town of Hoosick is in the northeast corner of the county.- History :...
, just across the border from Bennington. General Stark reportedly challenged his men to fight to the death, telling them that: "There are your enemies, the redcoats
Red coat (British army)
Red coat or Redcoat is a historical term used to refer to soldiers of the British Army because of the red uniforms formerly worn by the majority of regiments. From the late 17th century to the early 20th century, the uniform of most British soldiers, , included a madder red coat or coatee...
and the Tories
Loyalist (American Revolution)
Loyalists were American colonists who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during the American Revolutionary War. At the time they were often called Tories, Royalists, or King's Men. They were opposed by the Patriots, those who supported the revolution...
. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark
Molly Stark
Molly Stark, née Elizabeth Page, was the wife of American Revolutionary War general John Stark.She was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, moved with her family to Dunbarton, New Hampshire, around 1755, and was the daughter of the first postmaster of New Hampshire, Caleb Page, and his wife Ruth. She...
sleeps a widow!" In a desperate, all-day battle fought in intense summer heat, the army of Yankee
Yankee
The term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...
farmers killed or captured 900 men from the British detachment. General Burgoyne never recovered from this loss and eventually surrendered the remainder of his 6,000-man force at Saratoga, New York
Saratoga, New York
Saratoga is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 5,141 at the 2000 census. It is also the commonly used, but not official, name for the neighboring and much more populous city, Saratoga Springs. The major village in the town of Saratoga is Schuylerville which is...
, on October 17.
The battles of Bennington and Saratoga are recognized as the turning point in the Revolutionary War because they were the first major defeat of a British army and convinced the French that the Americans were worthy of military aid. Stark became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington", and the anniversary of the battle is still celebrated in Vermont as a legal holiday known as "Bennington Battle Day
Bennington Battle Day
Bennington Battle Day is a state holiday unique to Vermont which commemorates the American victory at the Battle of Bennington during the American Revolutionary War in 1777. The holiday's date is fixed, and occurs on August 16 every year.In Bennington, there is a battle re-enactment put on by the...
". Under the portico of the Vermont Statehouse, next to an heroic granite statue of Ethan Allen, there is a brass cannon that was captured from the British troops at the Battle of Bennington.
In 1778, David Redding, convicted of being a traitor to the colonies and a spy for the British, was hanged in Bennington.
The first printing press in the state was established in Dresden in 1779.
Statehood and the ante-bellum era
Windsor, Vermont
Windsor is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,756 at the 2000 census.-History:One of the New Hampshire grants, Windsor was chartered as a town on July 6, 1761 by Colonial Governor Benning Wentworth. It was first settled in August 1764 by Captain Steele Smith and...
for 14 years. Thomas Chittenden
Thomas Chittenden
Thomas Chittenden was an important figure in the founding of Vermont.Chittenden was born in East Guilford, Connecticut and moved to Vermont in 1774, where he founded the town of Williston. During the American Revolution, Chittenden was a member of a committee empowered to negotiate with the...
acted as chief magistrate of Vermont from 1778 to 1789 and from 1790 to 1791. In the 1780s Chittenden, the Allen brothers, and other political leaders engaged in negotiations
Haldimand Affair
The Haldimand Affair was a series of negotiations conducted in the early 1780s between Frederick Haldimand, then serving as governor of the British Province of Quebec, his agents, and several people representing, or claiming to represent, the independent Vermont Republic...
with Frederick Haldimand
Frederick Haldimand
Sir Frederick Haldimand, KB was a military officer best known for his service in the British Army in North America during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War...
, the British governor of Quebec over the possibility of Vermont becoming a British province. These negotiations, which drew accusations of treason from a variety of observers, ultimately failed in part due to the timely surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown
Siege of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Yorktown, or Surrender of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis...
in 1781.
The first General Assembly voted to establish two counties, Bennington in the west and Unity in the east. It adopted the common law of England
English law
English law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countries and the United States except Louisiana...
as the basis for its legal system. It voted to confiscate Tory lands and sell them to finance the militia. This was the first "tax" passed in the state.
The first newspaper was published in the state in 1781, the weekly Vermont Gazette.
In 1784, the state established a postal service linking several towns and Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
.
In 1786, the Vermont governor replied to requests from Massachusetts about the Shays' Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion
Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in central and western Massachusetts from 1786 to 1787. The rebellion is named after Daniel Shays, a veteran of the American Revolutionary War....
, saying that he was willing to extradite members of the rebellion, though his response was "pro forma" only since the state could ill afford to discourage immigration.
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, which was admitted to the Union later the same year.
In June 1791, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
tour the state.
Because of the proximity of Canada, Vermonters were somewhat alarmed during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. Five thousand troops were stationed in Burlington
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
at one point, outnumbering residents. About 500 of these died of disease. An expeditionary force of Quebec Eastern Townships
Eastern Townships
The Eastern Townships is a tourist region and a former administrative region in south-eastern Quebec, lying between the former seigneuries south of the Saint Lawrence River and the United States border. Its northern boundary roughly followed Logan's Line, the geologic boundary between the flat,...
’ volunteers destroyed a barracks built at Derby
Derby, Vermont
Derby is a town in Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 4,604 at the 2000 census. The town contains four unincorporated villages: Beebe Plain, Clyde Pond, Lake Salem and North Derby; and two incorporated villages: Derby Center and Derby Line...
with no personnel casualties. The war, fought over what seemed like obscure maritime considerations to landlocked Vermont, was not popular
Opposition to the War of 1812
Opposition to the War of 1812 was widespread in the United States, especially in New England. Many New Englanders opposed the conflict on political, economic, and religious grounds.- Background :...
.
In July 1830, the state experienced what turned out to be the worst flood of the 19th century. It was called the "Torrent of 1830."
Merino sheep were introduced in 1812. This ultimately resulted in a boom-bust cycle for wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
. Wool reached a price of 57 cents/pound in 1835. By 1837, there were 1,000,000 sheep in the state. The price of wool dropped to 25 cents/pound in the late 1840s. The state could not withstand more efficient competition from western states, and sheep raising collapsed.
Vermont had a unicameral
Unicameralism
In government, unicameralism is the practice of having one legislative or parliamentary chamber. Thus, a unicameral parliament or unicameral legislature is a legislature which consists of one chamber or house...
legislature until 1836.
In 1846, the ground was broken for the construction of the first railroad in Vermont, Central Vermont Railway
Central Vermont Railway
The Central Vermont Railway was a railroad that operated in the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec....
, in Northfield.
In 1853, Vermont passed a strict law prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Some towns followed the law, while others ignored it.
French-Canadian migration started before the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and accelerated during the 1860s.
Civil War era
In June 1843, escaped slaves hid at a ShaftsburyShaftsbury, Vermont
Shaftsbury is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 3,767 at the 2000 census. The town was chartered on August 20, 1761...
farm, in the first recorded instance in Vermont of the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
.
An 1854 Vermont Senate
Vermont Senate
The Vermont Senate is the upper house of the Vermont General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Vermont. The Senate consists of 30 members. Senate districting divides the 30 members into three single-member districts, six two-member districts, three three-member districts, and one...
report on slavery echoed the Vermont Constitution's first article, on the rights of all men, questioning how a government could favor the rights of one people over another. The report fueled growth of the abolition movement in the state, and in response, a resolution from the Georgia General Assembly
Georgia General Assembly
The Georgia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is bicameral, being composed of the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia Senate....
authorized the towing of Vermont out to sea. The mid to late 1850s saw a transition from Vermonters mostly favoring slavery's containment, to a far more serious opposition to the institution. As the Whig
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
party shriveled, Vermont changed its allegiance to the emergent Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. In 1860, it voted for President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, giving him the largest margin of victory of any state.
More than 28,100 Vermonters served in Vermont volunteer units. Vermont fielded 17 infantry regiments, one cavalry regiment, three light artillery batteries, one heavy artillery company, three companies of sharpshooters, and two companies of frontier cavalry. Instead of replacing units as they were depleted, Vermont regularly provided recruits to bring the units in the field back up to normal strength.
In 1863, there was rioting in West Rutland
West Rutland, Vermont
West Rutland is a town in Rutland County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,326 at the 2010 census. The town center, located in the south central portion of the town and where about 87% of the population resides, is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place...
after the state instituted a draft.
Nearly 5,000 Vermonters served in other states' units, in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
or the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. The 54th Massachusetts Infantry (Colored)
54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry
The 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that saw extensive service in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment was one of the first official black units in the United States during the Civil War...
included 66 Vermont blacks; a total of 166 black Vermonters served out of a population of 709 in the state. Vermonters, if not Vermont units, participated in every major battle of the war.
Vermonters suffered a total of 1,832 men killed or mortally wounded in battle; another 3,362 died of disease, in prison or from other causes, for a total loss of 5,194. More than 2,200 Vermonters were taken prisoner during the war, and 615 of them died in, or as a result of, their imprisonment.
Among the most famous of the Vermont units were the 1st Vermont Brigade
1st Vermont Brigade
The First Vermont Brigade, or "Old Brigade" was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. It suffered the highest casualty count of any brigade in the history of the United States Army, with some 1,172 killed in action...
, the 2nd Vermont Brigade
2nd Vermont Brigade
The 2nd Vermont Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War.- Composition and commanders :...
, and the 1st Vermont Cavalry
1st Vermont Cavalry
The 1st Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Cavalry was a three years' cavalry regiment in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It served in the Eastern Theater from November 1861 to August 1865, in the Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac....
.
A large proportion of Vermont’s state and national-level politicians for several decades after the Civil War were veterans.
The northernmost land action of the war, the St. Albans Raid
St. Albans raid
The St. Albans Raid was the northernmost land action of the American Civil War, taking place in St. Albans, Vermont on October 19, 1864.-Background:In this unusual incident, Bennett H. Young led Confederate States Army forces...
, took place in Vermont.
Postbellum era and beyond
The two decades following the end of the American Civil War (1864–1885) saw both economic expansion and contraction, and fairly dramatic social change.Mills in Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell, Massachusetts
Lowell is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 106,519. It is the fourth largest city in the state. Lowell and Cambridge are the county seats of Middlesex County...
began staffing up. Recruiters were sent out all over New England. Initially they found ample workers from new widows, single parent heads of family. This demand was filled by August 1865, and recruiting Americans from Lowell ceased abruptly.
Vermont's system of railroads
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
expanded and was linked to national systems, agricultural output and export soared and incomes increased. But Vermont also felt the effects of recessions and financial panics, particularly the Panic of 1873
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
which resulted in a substantial exodus of young Vermonters. The transition in thinking about the rights of citizens, first brought to a head by the 1854 Vermont Senate report on slavery, and later Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
Gettysburg Address
The Gettysburg Address is a speech by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and is one of the most well-known speeches in United States history. It was delivered by Lincoln during the American Civil War, on the afternoon of Thursday, November 19, 1863, at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery...
in changing how citizens perceived civil rights, fueled agitation for women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
. The first election in which women were allowed to vote was on December 18, 1880, when women were granted limited suffrage and were first allowed to vote in town elections, and then in state legislative races.
Starting around 1870, a number of Vermont towns dressed satirically for Independence Day in an Ancient and Horribles Parade
Ancient and Horribles Parade
Ancient and Horribles Parade, founded in 1927, is a nationally known Fourth of July parade on U.S. Route 44 in the village of Chepachet, Rhode Island in the town of Glocester...
. The intent was to deride politicians and other well-known figures. This largely died out by 1900.
The twentieth century
In 1902, Vermonters approved a law for local option on the sale of alcoholic beverages, countermanding the prior law of 1853 which banned them entirely. That year 94 towns approved the sale of alcoholic beverages locally. The number of approving towns fell each year until there were only 18 in 1917, shortly before national prohibitionProhibition in the United States
Prohibition in the United States was a national ban on the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, in place from 1920 to 1933. The ban was mandated by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, and the Volstead Act set down the rules for enforcing the ban, as well as defining which...
became law.
In 1923, the state passed a law limiting the regular workweek of women and children to 58 hours.
Large-scale flood
Flood
A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ing occurred in early November 1927. During this incident, 85 people died, 84 of them in Vermont. Another flood occurred in 1973, when the flood caused the death of two people and millions of dollars in property damage.
A eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
project apparently targeted Indians, Indian-French Canadians, and Afro-Americans in the state for forced sterilization between 1931 and 1936.
94 Vermonters died fighting the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
In 1964, the US Supreme Court forced “one-man, one-vote
Reynolds v. Sims
Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 was a United States Supreme Court case that ruled that state legislature districts had to be roughly equal in population.-Facts:...
” redistricting on Vermont, giving cities an equitable share of votes in both houses for the entire country. Until that time, counties were often represented by area in state senates and were often unsympathetic to urban problems requiring increased taxes.
In 1965, the worst electrical power failure in history
Northeast Blackout of 1965
The Northeast blackout of 1965 was a significant disruption in the supply of electricity on November 9, 1965, affecting Ontario, Canada and Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, and New Jersey in the United States...
left Vermont without electricity for about 12 hours.
In 1968, the state took over welfare support for the indigent. This had formerly been the responsibility of the towns, under the Overseer of the Poor
Overseer of the Poor
An Overseer of the Poor was an official who administered poor relief such as money, food, and clothing in England and various other countries which derived their law from England.-England:...
. This had been a nearly insupportable burden for many small towns.
On April 25, 2000, as a result of the Vermont Supreme Court
Vermont Supreme Court
The Vermont Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority of the U.S. state of Vermont and is one of seven state courts of Vermont.The Court consists of a chief justice and four associate justices; the Court mostly hears appeals of cases that have been decided by other courts...
's decision in Baker v. Vermont
Baker v. Vermont
Baker v. Vermont, 744 A.2d 864 , was handed down on December 20, 1999 by the Vermont Supreme Court. The decision represented one of the first high-level judicial affirmations of same-sex couples' right to treatment equivalent to that of traditionally married couples...
, the Vermont General Assembly
Vermont General Assembly
The Vermont General Assembly is the legislative body of the U.S. state of Vermont. The Legislature is formally known as the "General Assembly," but the style of "Legislature" is commonly used, including by the body itself...
passed and Governor Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
signed into law H.0847, which provided the state-sanctioned benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples in the form of civil union
Civil union
A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights,...
s. Controversy over the civil unions bill was a central issue in the subsequent 2000 elections.
In 2007, with three-quarters of the state opposing the Iraq War, the state nevertheless had the highest rate of deaths there in the nation. This was due to volunteers and participation by the Vermont National Guard.
During the late-2000s recession, state median household income dropped furthest, or second furthest, depending on how it is computed, of any state in the nation; from -3.2% or -10%, depending on whether a two-year or three-year moving average was used.
Twenty-first century
In 2011, Tropical Storm Irene caused widespread flooding, particularly in the southern part of the state, closing at least 260 roads.The electoral scene 1791–1830
Vermont preferred the Jeffersonian Party in its early existence, which became the Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in the early 1820s. Along with many other dissidents Vermont stopped voting Democratic, reacting to the personality of Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, and not for objective reasons. The state voted Anti-Jackson, Whig
Whig Party (United States)
The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from the early 1830s to the mid-1850s, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and his Democratic...
, then Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
. It did so consistently until 1962.
The Vermont legislature chose presidential electors through the general election of 1824
United States presidential election, 1824
In the United States presidential election of 1824, John Quincy Adams was elected President on February 9, 1825, after the election was decided by the House of Representatives. The previous years had seen a one-party government in the United States, as the Federalist Party had dissolved, leaving...
. Vermont citizens first started voting directly for presidential electors in 1828
United States presidential election, 1828
The United States presidential election of 1828 featured a rematch between John Quincy Adams, now incumbent President, and Andrew Jackson, the runner-up in the 1824 election. With no other major candidates, Jackson and his chief ally Martin Van Buren consolidated their bases in the South and New...
.
Upward mobility for politicians 1830–1916
Politicians aspiring to statewide office in Vermont normally had to be nominated at a state convention or “caucus.” Factions dominated these caucuses. Some of these were family. A look at the list of GovernorsGovernor of Vermont
The Governor of Vermont is the governor of the U.S. state of Vermont. The governor is elected in even numbered years by direct voting for a term of two years; Vermont and bordering New Hampshire are the only states to hold gubernatorial elections every two years, instead of every four...
, Senators and Representatives over time shows the Chittendens, Fairbanks, Proctors, and Smiths. Nomination was tantamount to election. The state legislature chose US senators until 1913. Governors normally served just one term of two years. Up to six seats in the US
House of Representatives gave ambitious politicians an ample stage for their talent.
The Green Mountains effectively split Vermont in two. Culturally the eastern Vermonters were often descended from immigrants from New Hampshire. Western Vermonters often had their roots in New York. Recognizing this as a source of potential problems, politicians began following an unwritten “mountain rule,” rotating the Lieutenant Governor and Governor residing in opposite sides of the state.
The first election in which women were allowed to vote was on December 18, 1880, when women were granted limited suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
and were allowed to vote in school board
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
elections.
Primaries 1916–1946
General annoyance with this system of selecting leadership by a few people, led to statewide primaries in 1916. Down to only one congressional seat to compete for, Governors started trying to serve two terms, beginning with Governor WeeksJohn E. Weeks
John Eliakim Weeks was an American politician from Vermont. He served as the 61st Governor of Vermont from 1927 to 1931. He served as a Vermont state court judge from 1884 to 1886, and 1902 to 1904...
in 1927. This worked until World War II.
Senator Ernest Gibson
Ernest Willard Gibson
Ernest Willard Gibson was a United States Representative and Senator from Vermont.Gibson graduated from Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont in 1894 where he was a member of Theta Chi Fraternity, and from the University of Michigan Law School. He was elected to the Vermont House of...
died in 1940. The governor appointed the late Senator's son, Ernest W. Gibson, Jr.
Ernest W. Gibson, Jr.
Ernest William Gibson, Jr. was the 67th Governor of Vermont, a United States Senator and a U.S. federal judge. He was the son of Vermont Senator Ernest W...
to fill out the remainder of his term. With little prior political experience on his own merits, Gibson did not run for reelection. Instead he devoted himself to preparing the state for war. He served in the South Pacific and emerged as a colonel. There was a tsunami in 1946 in American politics. Returning veterans were popular. Gibson ran an unprecedented campaign against the incumbent Governor, Mortimer R. Proctor
Mortimer R. Proctor
Mortimer Robinson Proctor , known as Mortimer R. Proctor, was an American politician from Vermont. He served as the 66th Governor of Vermont from 1945 to 1947, and as the 60th Lieutenant Governor of Vermont from 1941 to 1945...
, and ousted him in the primary.
Interregnum — Liberal Republicans prevail 1946–1962
Gibson was the first of the liberal Republicans. While conservatives like Harold Arthur and Lee Emerson were elected to Governor, they seem, in retrospect, to be transitory figures.A "normal" path to the top became: state representative, Speaker of the House, state senator, Speaker Pro Tem, Lieutenant Governor, Governor, US Representative, and US Senator.
In 1962, Philip Hoff
Philip H. Hoff
Philip Henderson Hoff is an American politician from the U.S. state of Vermont where he served as the 73rd Governor of Vermont from 1963 to 1969. At the time of his election, he was the first Democrat elected Governor of Vermont in 108 years.-Life and career:Hoff was born in Turners Falls,...
was elected Governor, the first Democrat since before the Civil War.
Democratic dominance 1962– current
The demographics of the state had changed. In 1960, 25% of the population was born outside the state. Most of these immigrants were from Democratic states and brought their voting inclinations with them. Anticipating this change, the Republicans conducted a massive free-for-all in 1958, the last good chance many of them saw to capture a congressional seat. They were wrong. Democrat William H. MeyerWilliam H. Meyer
William Henry Meyer , was a Member of the United States House of Representatives from Vermont....
won, the first from his party in 102 years.
While the climate had changed, the legislature had not. With one representative per town and two senators per county, the rural areas dominated and set the agenda much to the frustration of urban areas, particularly Chittenden County. In 1964, the US Supreme Court forced “one-man, one-vote” redistricting on Vermont, giving cities an equitable share of votes in both houses.
Unlike yesteryear, no party nominee can be assured of election. The unwritten “two term” rule has been jettisoned. Governors usually serve as long as they can, not being able to guarantee that their policies will be continued after they leave office. Vermonters have alternated parties in the Governor’s office since 1962. Democratic governors have served longer.
Infrastructure history
Transportation around this mountainous state was a challenge to the original colonists. While this challenge has been met in the current era by turnpikes and limited rail service, public transportation for the majority of Vermonters has often remained elusive.The state highway system was created in 1931.
In 2008, the Vermont Transit Lines
Vermont Transit Lines
Vermont Transit Lines was a bus carrier company serving New England. Founded in 1929 by William Appleyard, it originally linked the towns of Barre and Burlington, Vermont, with stops along the route...
, a subsidiary of Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines
Greyhound Lines, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas, is an intercity common carrier of passengers by bus serving over 3,700 destinations in the United States, Canada and Mexico, operating under the well-known logo of a leaping greyhound. It was founded in Hibbing, Minnesota, USA, in 1914 and...
went out of business. It had begun operating in 1973. Limited service continued under the direct aegis of Greyhound. This has been replaced by subsidized regional NGO corporations which provide limited service for most, but adequate service for those needing medical treatment.
See also
- History of New EnglandHistory of New EnglandThis article presents the History of New England, the oldest clearly defined region of the United States, unique among U.S. geographic regions in that it is also a former political entity. While New England was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples, English Pilgrims and especially Puritans,...
- List of forts in Vermont
- List of Governors of Vermont
- List of United States Representatives from Vermont
- List of United States Senators from Vermont
- List of all Attorneys General for VermontVermont Attorney GeneralThe Vermont Attorney General is one of five cabinet-level constitutional officers in the U.S. state of Vermont which are elected every two years. It was created by an act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1790, repealed in 1797, and revived in 1904. The office began as a one-person operation...
, - Southern boundary of Vermont
Further reading
- 1778-1851 catalogue of the principal officers of Vermont
- Adams, James Truslow. Revolutionary New England, 1691–1776 (1923)
- Adams, James Truslow. New England in the Republic, 1776–1850 (1926)
- Benedict, G. G., Vermont in the Civil War. A History of the part taken by the Vermont Soldiers And Sailors in the War For The Union, 1861–5, Burlington, VT: The Free Press Association, 1888.
- Bidwell, P. W. and John Falconer, The History of Agriculture in the Northern United States to 1860 (1925)
- Black, John Donald. 'The Rural Economy of New England: A Regional Study (1950).
- Cumbler, John T. Reasonable Use: The People, the Environment, and the State, New England, 1790–1930 (1930)
- Lowenthal, David. George Perkins Marsh: Versatile Vermonter (1958)
- Conforti, Joseph A. Imagining New England: Explorations of Regional Identity from the Pilgrims to the Mid-Twentieth Century (2001)
- Carmer, Carl and Ralph Nading Hill. Yankee Kingdom: Vermont and New Hampshire (1960)
- Duffy, John J. and Vincent Feeney. Vermont: An Illustrated History (2000)
- Flanders, Ralph E. Senator from Vermont (1961) autobiography
- Harrison, Blake. "The View from Vermont: Tourism and the Making of an American Rural Landscape" (Hanover: University Press of New England, 2006).
- Holbrook, Stewart H. Ethan Allen (1940)
- Klyza, Christopher McGrory and Stephen C. Trombulak. The Story of Vermont: A Natural and Cultural History (Middlebury Bicentennial Series in Environmental Studies) (1999)
- Squires, James Duane. The Granite State of the United States: A History of New Hampshire from 1623 to the Present - Vol. 1 (1956) has material on Vermont
- Van de Water, Frederic F. Reluctant Republic: Vermont, 1724–1791 (1941)
- Welter, Rush, Bennington, Vermont an Industrial History (1959)
- Wilson, H. F. The Hill Country of Northern New England: Its Social and Economic History, 1790–1930 (1936)
- WPA. Guide to Vermont (1939)
- Zimmerman, Joseph F. The New England Town Meeting: Democracy in Action (1999)
- 1914 Industrial snapshot of each town in Vermont