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The Vermont Republic officially known at the time as the State of Vermont, was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. [1] The state was founded in January 1777, when delegates from 28 towns met and declared independence from the jurisdictions and land claims of the British colonies of Quebec , New Hampshire , and New York .
Dec 1, 2019 · The negotiations between the Vermont Republic and New York were much more successful, and on October 7, 1790, an agreement was reached. Any claim to the present state of Vermont was ceded by New York in return for $30,000, which translates into slightly over $837,000 in today’s money. In present dollars, Vermont paid New York $87 per square mile.
- Overview
- Revolution and statehood
- Modern period
Although the region was explored long before the landing of the Pilgrims and was settled before the American Revolution, it began its early development not as a chartered royal colony but as a territory whose possession New Hampshire and New York disputed. In the decades before the Revolution, disputes—frequently escalating into armed conflicts—arose when land grants by New Hampshire conflicted with similar grants issued by New York. Between 1770 and 1775, many early settlers joined units of the Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allen, and repulsed the Yorkers (those who settled in Vermont under New York patents) who tried to control Vermont. Later, when the American Revolution began, the same Green Mountain Boys also asserted their independence from England. Their successful assault on Fort Ticonderoga, on the New York side of Lake Champlain in May 1775, has been called the first offensive action by American forces of the Revolution.
In 1777 Vermonters created an independent republic and adopted a constitution. By declaring its independence, Vermont created a revolution within the American Revolution and presented the new continental government with a host of problems. To recognize Vermont as a new state might encourage other separatist movements, would alienate New York, and could perhaps undermine the war effort. The Continental Congress refused to recognize Vermont, though Vermont’s importance to the success of the Revolution was widely acknowledged. At the Battle of Bennington in August 1777, Vermont troops helped defeat a British force, setting up the American victory at Saratoga in October.
Vermont’s government, faced with New York’s continued opposition and the refusal of the Continental Congress to offer recognition, followed an aggressive diplomacy that included temporarily annexing towns in New York and New Hampshire, as well as conducting discussions with the British in Canada on possible recognition of an independent Vermont. In 1790 New York finally gave up its claims to Vermont and the following year, after 14 years as an independent republic, Vermont was admitted into the union as the 14th state.
During the early 19th century, Vermont’s economy went through several cycles of boom and bust, including its rise and fall as a major sheep and wool producer. Vermont had an active Anti-Masonic Party, which controlled state government in the 1830s and carried the state for the Anti-Masonic presidential candidate William Wirt in 1832. Though the Whigs controlled the state government in the 1840s, their control was tenuous, with gubernatorial candidates frequently unable to attain a majority of the vote. In 1854 antislavery and temperance forces joined to form the Republican Party, the second organization by that name in the country. The Republicans would not lose a statewide election until 1958 and also dominated both houses of the legislature during that period.
More than 35,000 Vermonters fought in the American Civil War, more than 5,000 of whom died. Vermont became the site of the northernmost land action of the war when, in 1864, a band of Confederate soldiers crossed from Canada to raid St. Albans.
Following the war, dairying emerged as the primary agricultural activity. The Republican Party prevented factionalism and maintained control of state government through an elaborate informal mechanism that apportioned candidacies east and west of the Green Mountains and set tenure limits on some elective offices. The ongoing emigration of Vermonters helped maintain a low population and thus assured the continued rural character of Vermont.
Although the region was explored long before the landing of the Pilgrims and was settled before the American Revolution, it began its early development not as a chartered royal colony but as a territory whose possession New Hampshire and New York disputed. In the decades before the Revolution, disputes—frequently escalating into armed conflicts—arose when land grants by New Hampshire conflicted with similar grants issued by New York. Between 1770 and 1775, many early settlers joined units of the Green Mountain Boys, led by Ethan Allen, and repulsed the Yorkers (those who settled in Vermont under New York patents) who tried to control Vermont. Later, when the American Revolution began, the same Green Mountain Boys also asserted their independence from England. Their successful assault on Fort Ticonderoga, on the New York side of Lake Champlain in May 1775, has been called the first offensive action by American forces of the Revolution.
In 1777 Vermonters created an independent republic and adopted a constitution. By declaring its independence, Vermont created a revolution within the American Revolution and presented the new continental government with a host of problems. To recognize Vermont as a new state might encourage other separatist movements, would alienate New York, and could perhaps undermine the war effort. The Continental Congress refused to recognize Vermont, though Vermont’s importance to the success of the Revolution was widely acknowledged. At the Battle of Bennington in August 1777, Vermont troops helped defeat a British force, setting up the American victory at Saratoga in October.
Vermont’s government, faced with New York’s continued opposition and the refusal of the Continental Congress to offer recognition, followed an aggressive diplomacy that included temporarily annexing towns in New York and New Hampshire, as well as conducting discussions with the British in Canada on possible recognition of an independent Vermont. In 1790 New York finally gave up its claims to Vermont and the following year, after 14 years as an independent republic, Vermont was admitted into the union as the 14th state.
During the early 19th century, Vermont’s economy went through several cycles of boom and bust, including its rise and fall as a major sheep and wool producer. Vermont had an active Anti-Masonic Party, which controlled state government in the 1830s and carried the state for the Anti-Masonic presidential candidate William Wirt in 1832. Though the Whigs controlled the state government in the 1840s, their control was tenuous, with gubernatorial candidates frequently unable to attain a majority of the vote. In 1854 antislavery and temperance forces joined to form the Republican Party, the second organization by that name in the country. The Republicans would not lose a statewide election until 1958 and also dominated both houses of the legislature during that period.
More than 35,000 Vermonters fought in the American Civil War, more than 5,000 of whom died. Vermont became the site of the northernmost land action of the war when, in 1864, a band of Confederate soldiers crossed from Canada to raid St. Albans.
Following the war, dairying emerged as the primary agricultural activity. The Republican Party prevented factionalism and maintained control of state government through an elaborate informal mechanism that apportioned candidacies east and west of the Green Mountains and set tenure limits on some elective offices. The ongoing emigration of Vermonters helped maintain a low population and thus assured the continued rural character of Vermont.
Former Massachusetts governor Calvin Coolidge became U.S. president in 1923, famously taking the oath of office by lamplight in the family home in Plymouth, Vermont; he served until 1929. By the 1930s Vermont had committed to a sustained effort to attract tourism and develop a recreation industry. Traditional summer tourism was augmented by the development of ski areas in the 1930s, making Vermont a year-round attraction. An influx of new residents ended population stagnation and eroded traditional loyalties to the Republican Party. In 1958 a Democrat captured Vermont’s lone congressional seat for one term, and in 1962 the Democratic Party captured the governorship for the first time since 1853. In 1965, under court order, the General Assembly abandoned its one town–one representative apportionment scheme, shifting the balance of power from the many small, rural towns to the state’s population centres. In 1985 Vermont elected its first female governor, Madeleine Kunin, who served for three terms.
In the 1990s Vermont’s national delegation included a Democratic senator, a Republican senator, and an independent U.S. representative, Bernie Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist. Sanders was the first independent to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives in 40 years, and he remained an independent when he ran for, and won, a Senate seat in 2006. Former governor Howard Dean ran for U.S. president in 2004, as did Sanders in 2016.
In 2000 Vermont passed a law recognizing same-sex civil unions (the first such law in the United States). In April 2009 an attempt by the governor to veto a bill permitting same-sex couples to marry was overturned by the legislature, and Vermont became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriages—and the first to do so through the legislature rather than the courts.
Population growth, changing settlement patterns, and changing economic realities have all influenced Vermont in contemporary times. Despite these changes, Vermont has retained much of its earlier character and its strong independent streak. D. Gregory Sanford
The 1777 Vermont Constitution Vermont’s constitution was written to legitimize the state in the eyes of the people of the Grants and the Continental Congress. The writers gave as their reason for creating the new state the premise that governments were created to provide for the security, support, and protection of the community and the natural rights of individuals.
Mar 15, 2010 · Choose another date Current one is: January 15. Enter a date in the format M/D (e.g., 1/1) ... Vermont remained an independent nation even two years after George Washington became president of the ...
- Missy Sullivan
- 2 min
Feb 4, 2023 · The Republic of Vermont, as it was called, was a trailblazer of sorts. Per the Journal of the American Revolution , in its short, 14-year existence, the republic guaranteed universal male suffrage, abolished slavery, and established public funding for education — all of this enshrined in the national constitution, which predated its American counterpart by a decade.
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with statements about Vermont as an independent nation. He writes, for example, that the "roots of the Republic of Vermont go deep. Like the history of other nations in the long stretch of time ... "4 Vermont historian Charles T. Morrissey writes that Vermonters were living in a "self proclaimed republic" 5 without defining his terms ...
