History of Vermont

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Immigration continued to the end of the century and resumed in the late 1910s and 1920s; it is the continued arrival of French Canadians and Irish that kept Vermont's population from dropping in the second half of the nineteenth century. French Canadians found employment in agriculture, in the factories of Burlington and Winooski, in the quarries of Rutland and Barre, in the rail yards of St. Johnsbury and St. Albans, and in other sectors. At times they clashed with the Irish over the control of Catholic Church resources and with various groups in labor disputes. The nativism with which they contended was often less overt than in other states.

112: 161: 751:, to protect the interests of the original New Hampshire settlers against the new migrants from New York. A significant standoff occurred at the Breakenridge farm in Bennington, when a sheriff from Albany arrived with a posse of 750 men to dispossess Breakenridge. The residents raised a body of about 300 armed men to resist. The Albany sheriff demanded Breakenridge, and was informed, "If you attempt it, you are a dead man." The sheriff returned to Albany. 919:, 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 4930: 24: 1046: 65: 967: 575:. Lands north of this line, including the entire Champlain Valley, were reserved for Indians. During this time French families were largely driven out, although scholars of the Vermont Archaeological Society have questioned if a French influence was removed completely, noting some remote farms may have eluded the notice of the British colonists. 655: 392:, 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 the bulk of their most developed possessions in the New World, including the contested area of most of Vermont, at the conclusion of the 1759:

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

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Vermont State Papers: Being a Collection of Records and Documents Connected with the Assumption and Establishment of Government by the People of Vermont, Together with the Journal of the Council of Safety, the First Constitution, the Early Journals of the General Assembly, and the Laws from the Year

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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,

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in the nation with 640,000 pounds (290,000 kg), second to New York. This crop conveniently arrived as a replacement for the disappearance of the Merino sheep trade. Hops, too, disappeared. A number of factors were involved: plant disease in 1909, migration of planting to California from 1853 to

1615:, 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. Up to six seats in the US House of Representatives gave ambitious politicians an ample stage for their talent. 1391:

In September 1941, it looked like America would be involved in the World War which had started in 1939 in Europe. Seizing on a declaration by the U.S. president, the legislature authorized wartime-like payments to citizens involved with the military. This led to facetious headlines that Vermont had

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caused widespread flooding, particularly in the southern part of the state, closing at least 260 roads. Federal assistance for recovery included $ 110 million for emergency relief and assistance, $ 102 million for federal highway repair, and $ 23 million for individual assistance within the state.

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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

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Vermonters lost a total of 1,832 soldiers 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.

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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 troops, nearly a third of his army, to seize the colonial storehouse there, unaware that General Stark's New

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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

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in the fall of that year blew down 15,000,000 acres (61,000 km) of trees, one-third of the total forest at the time in New England. Three billion board feet were salvaged. Today many of the older trees in Vermont are about 75 years old, dating from after this storm. By 2017, the old record

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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

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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"

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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

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immigration began in the first decades of the nineteenth century. Already, in the 1810s, Burlington had a French-Canadian population of approximately 100. Those numbers began to rise rapidly in the 1820s and 1830s as Lower Canada (present-day Quebec) navigated economic and political crises.

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The Battle of Bennington, 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

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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.

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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

1428:" redistricting on Vermont, giving cities an equitable share of votes in both houses for the entire country. Until that time, rural counties were often represented equally by area in state senates and were often unsympathetic to urban problems requiring increased taxes. 1137:. 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. 1780:

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.

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began staffing up. Recruiters were sent out all over New England, including Vermont. 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.

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Lake Vermont is 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.

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depleted, Vermont regularly provided recruits to bring the units in the field back up to normal strength. Many of the soldiers had never been out of their own county, much less the state. In the South, they felt like they were on another planet.

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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

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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 have flooded again, as part of the

1497:, 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. 674:. 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 900:" (August 16, the anniversary of the battle) is a legal holiday in Vermont. Under the portico of the Vermont Statehouse, next to a granite statue of Ethan Allen, there is a brass cannon that was captured at Bennington. 1545:

in the early 1820s. Vermont stopped voting Democratic in the 1830s, initially over a fear of Jacksonian return to political parties; later, perhaps, over increasing opposition to the spread of slavery. The state voted

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sleeps a widow!" In a desperate, all-day battle fought in intense summer heat, the army of Yankee farmers defeated the British, killing or capturing 900 soldiers. Burgoyne never recovered from this loss and eventually

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to fill the seat until a special election for the remainder of the term. The younger Gibson did not run, enabling Aiken's election to the seat. Instead Gibson devoted himself to preparing the state for entry into

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at one point, outnumbering residents. Contemporary reports indicate that almost 1,300 soldiers were treated for various ailments and over 100 died between May 1814 and April 1815. An expeditionary force of Quebec

1310:. 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. 2633: 1301:

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

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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

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rated Vermont last out of the 50 states for state government accountability and integrity. This was the result of the revelation of a continuing number of municipal scandals including the $ 1.6 million

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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Vermont is more heavily forested in 2017 than it was during the 19th and early 20th centuries. A new way of producing potash was found not requiring the intensive destruction of trees.

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number of maples tapped for sugar had not been reached; there were over 2 million trees tapped. However, more syrup was produced using more efficient and less labor-intensive methods.

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estimated as many as 80,301 Vermonters were members as of 1925; historians typically place the figure much lower, at between 2,000 and 10,000. The main target of their hatred were the

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Vellum manuscript of the Constitution of Vermont, 1777. This constitution was amended in 1786, and again in 1793, two years after Vermont's admission to the federal union in 1791. See

1002:, the British governor of Quebec over the possibility of Vermont becoming a British province. These negotiations ultimately failed in part due to the timely surrender of Cornwallis 1417:. The pesticide was banned in 1972 eventually leading to the restoration of many birds and larger mammals. For example, the bear population doubled from the 1980s to 6,000 in 2013. 678:

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

1997: 3004: 3392: 4966: 2974: 5371: 1042:, 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. 385:(Green Mountain) to the region he found, on a 1647 map. Evidence suggests that this name came into use among English settlers, before it morphed to "Vermont", ca. 1760. 1618:

Until 1870, all state officials were elected for one-year terms. In 1870, the term was changed to two-years. Governors then normally served just one term of two years.

651:(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. 801:

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

3208: 793:, 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 1483:, about 25% of U.S. production. For 2005 that number was 410,000 US gallons (1,600,000 L; 340,000 imp gal) accounting for 37% of national production. 1267:

During the two decades following the end of the American Civil War (1865–1885) there was both economic expansion and contraction, and fairly dramatic social change.

4075: 2625: 1899: 1687: 709:, as it then existed, implicitly gained the land presently known as Vermont. Although disputes occasionally broke out later, this line became the boundary between 3684: 2907: 935:, just across the border from Bennington. General Stark reportedly challenged his troops to fight to the death, telling them that: "There are your enemies, the 1490:, the state nevertheless had the highest rate of war-related deaths in the nation. This was due to volunteers and participation by the Vermont National Guard. 86: 4780: 3918: 3044: 3140:

Murphy, Ronald C.; Potash, Jeffrey (1984). "The 'Highgate Affair': An Episode in Establishing the Authority of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington".

2500: 1678:. There was a tsunami in 1946 in American politics. Returning veterans were popular. Gibson ran an unprecedented campaign against the incumbent Governor, 1021:

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.

931:, together with the local Vermont and western Massachusetts militia. The combined American forces, under Stark's command, attacked the British column at 589:

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.

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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

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Note that the act allowing Kentucky to join the union passed prior to the one for Vermont. However, Vermont qualified first making it the 14th state.

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Prior to 1935, 5.5 million sugar maples were tapped for syrup. Less expansive softwood was used to boil the sap to condense it to maple syrup. The

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In 1731, the French arrived at Chimney Point, near Addison. Here they constructed a small temporary wooden stockade (Fort de Pieux) until work on

2745: 2441: 1923: 1718: 777:." On January 15, 1777, representatives of the New Hampshire Grants convened in Westminster and declared their land an independent republic, the 1959: 2928: 1165:

In 1853, Vermont passed a strict law prohibiting the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Some towns followed the law, while others ignored it.

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Hampshire troops were then traversing the Green Mountains to join up at Bennington with the Vermont continental regiments commanded by Colonel

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in present Vermont), dissatisfied colonists organized in opposition, which led to the proclamation of independent Vermont on January 15, 1777.

3297:"Upstate Chunk & Paradigm Company, LLC - Richard Vang - The Past, Present, and Yes, Future of the Hops Industry in Upstate Alive magazine" 1371:

The US Supreme Court decided that New Hampshire's boundary included most of the Connecticut River, establishing Vermont's eastern boundary in

3622: 3175: 2538: 263:, 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 1413:

to exterminate insect pests after the war led to the reduction of various wildlife, noticeably birds and larger wildlife, such as moose and

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The "normal" path to the governorship for Republicans, which Ernest Gibson Jr. explicitly campaigned against in 1946, was to serve in the

5287: 4952: 4038: 3247: 1843: 2161:. Vol. I. Cambridge, Mass.: National Assessment and Dissemination Center, Lesley College; US Department of Education. p. 208. 717:, and is the modern boundary. When New York refused to recognize land titles through the New Hampshire Grants (towns created earlier by 552:

in 1759. Separating afterwards, they fled the angered French and Abenakis through northern Vermont back to safety in Lake Champlain and

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in Vermont's far southeast under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight of Connecticut. This fort protected the nearby settlements of

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During the latter half of the 17th century, non-French settlers began to explore Vermont and its surrounding area. In 1690, a group of

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Lefebvre, Paul (February 3, 2010). "Historical fences may be the most difficult to mend". Barton, Vermont: the Chronicle. p. 12.

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whose northern boundary followed the melting glacier at the end of the last ice age until it reached the ocean. This was replaced by

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Olsen, Kelly (26 June 2010). "The two Koreas mark 60th anniversary of war". Burlington, Vermont: Burlington Free Press. pp. 3A.

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In 1984, the state had 2,500 square miles (6,500 km) in farmland. This declined to 1,900 square miles (4,900 km) in 2013.

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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".

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in the surrounding area. These settlements were made by people from Massachusetts and Connecticut. The second British settlement at

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In 1968, the state took over welfare support for the indigent. This had formerly been the responsibility of the towns, under the

806: 3902: 888:. They were the first major defeat of a British army and convinced France that the American rebels were worthy of military aid. 732:

forbade New York from selling land in Vermont that was in conflict with grants from New Hampshire, reversing the 1764 decision.

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with no personnel casualties. The war, fought over what seemed like obscure maritime considerations to landlocked Vermont, was

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A large proportion of Vermont's state and national-level politicians for several decades after the Civil War were veterans.

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is visible for many miles around the city. This is the third State House on the site, and like the second, was built in the

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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,

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signed into law H.0847, which provided the state-sanctioned benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples in the form of

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In 1778, David Redding, convicted of being a traitor to the colonies and a spy for the British, was hanged in Bennington.

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McLean, Dan (30 September 2009). "Census:Vt. income drops 10%". Burlington, Vermont: Burlington Free Press. pp. 1A.

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history of Vermont. Between 8500 and 7000 BC, glacial activity created the saltwater Champlain Sea. This event caused

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