I | INTRODUCTION |
Vermont, one of the six New England states and one of
the smaller states of the United States. It is bordered on the west by New York,
on the north by the Canadian province of Québec, on the east by New Hampshire,
and on the south by Massachusetts.
Despite its proximity to the coastal
settlements of the early colonists in the 17th century, Vermont did not receive
its first permanent settlement until 1724, and its population grew slowly for 50
years thereafter. Vermont entered the Union on March 4, 1791, the first new
state admitted after the nation’s founding by the 13 original states.
Most of Vermont lies outside the intense
economic and population concentrations that characterize the eastern seaboard.
Its economy is based on industry, although the large amounts of farmland and
pastureland give the state an agricultural appearance. Its urban centers are
small, as are most of the industrial enterprises. In recent years Vermont has
received increasing attention as a vacation area, both in summer and winter. Its
rural atmosphere and scenic beauty are highly attractive to residents of nearby
urban regions in both the United States and Canada.
The name of the state is derived from the
French words vert (green) and mont (mountain), and Vermont is
known as the Green Mountain State. Montpelier is the capital of Vermont.
Burlington is the largest city.
II | PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY |
Vermont ranks 45th in size among the states,
with a total area of 24,900 sq km (9,614 sq mi), including 947 sq km (366 sq mi)
of inland water. It is the third largest of the six New England states, ranking
next to Maine and Massachusetts. Vermont has a maximum length, from north to
south, of 251 km (156 mi) and varies in width from 60 km (37 mi) in the south to
143 km (89 mi) along the northern border. Average elevation is 300 m (1,000
ft).
A | Natural Regions |
Vermont lies within two natural regions,
or physiographic provinces, of the northeastern United States and Canada. The
New England province in Vermont is broken into the Green Mountain section, the
New England Upland, the Taconic section, and the White Mountain section. The St.
Lawrence Valley province extends into Vermont in the Champlain Valley. The
heavily forested Green Mountains cover much of the state. They run from the
Massachusetts border to Canada and contain Mount Mansfield, the highest point in
Vermont at 1,339 m (4,393 ft). The New England Upland, or Vermont Piedmont, is a
rolling upland with narrow valleys. It slopes gently downward to the east.
Isolated peaks, such as Mount Monadnock and Mount Ascutney, rise to above 900 m
(3,000 ft), but the plateau is generally between 340 and 640 m (1,100 and 2,100
ft) in elevation.
The Taconic section, located in the
southwest, is a mountain region that contains the state’s largest marble
deposits. The highest point in the Taconic Range is Mount Equinox at 1,163 m
(3,816 ft).
The White Mountains extend into
northeastern Vermont from New Hampshire. They are heavily forested residual
masses, with a solid core of granite that has resisted erosion.
The Champlain section of the St. Lawrence
Valley province lies between the western border of Vermont and the Green and
Taconic mountains. It is a rolling lowland region generally less than 150 m (500
ft) above sea level. Large areas are covered with thick deposits of clay and
sand left by glaciers.
B | Rivers and Lakes |
Most rivers in Vermont drain down the
eastern slopes of the Green Mountains into the Connecticut River or down the
western slopes of the mountains into Lake Champlain. Rivers in southwestern
Vermont drain into the Hudson River. The longest river is Otter Creek, which is
about 160 km (100 mi) long. Other rivers include the Mettawee, Batten Kill,
Winooski, Lamoille, Missisquoi, and the Passumpsic, White, Ottauquechee, and
West rivers.
Vermont contains more than 60 percent of
Lake Champlain, which is shared with New York and the province of Québec.
Another large lake, Lake Memphremagog, forms part of the boundary between
Vermont and Québec. About one-fourth of the lake lies in Vermont. There are
about 300 smaller lakes scattered throughout the state. The largest lake
entirely within the state is Lake Bomoseen. The highest lake is Lake of the
Clouds, situated at about 1,200 m (4,000 ft) on the slopes of Mount Mansfield.
Chittenden and Somerset reservoirs are the principal artificial water
bodies.
C | Climate |
In Vermont, winters are generally long and
cold and summers mostly short but warm. Average January temperatures range from
more than -6°C (22°F) in the extreme southwest corner to less than -10°C (14°F)
in the northeast. Temperatures below -18°C (0°F) are frequent during winter, and
they occasionally drop to -34°C (-30°F) or lower. July averages are usually
above 21°C (70°F) in the lowlands and are somewhat lower in mountainous areas.
There are few hot days, and summer nights are usually crisp and cool.
Precipitation in Vermont is well
distributed throughout the year. Less than 810 mm (32 in) of rain falls annually
in the Champlain Valley, the driest part of all the New England states, and more
than 1,300 mm (50 in) occurs in most of the mountainous areas. Snowfall normally
is about 2,300 mm (about 90 in)—equivalent to about 230 mm (about 9 in) of
rain–and remains on the ground through most of the winter. Snowfall in the
mountain region usually exceeds 3,000 mm (120 in) per year.
The growing season is more than 160 days
in some sections of the Champlain Valley lowland and less than 120 days in the
south and the northeast.
D | Soils |
Thin stony soils that are generally
infertile and difficult to farm cover most of Vermont. They are deficient in
mineral plant nutrients and require heavy applications of lime and fertilizer
when they are used for growing crops. Grass, however, thrives in this soil, and
Vermont has excellent pastureland. Deeper and more productive soils occur in the
Champlain Valley.
E | Plant Life |
Forests cover 78 percent of Vermont. Most
of the trees are deciduous, principally the maple, elm, birch, beech, oak,
hickory, ash, cherry, and butternut. The state tree is the sugar maple, which
provides Vermont’s famous maple syrup. Conifers are common in some mountain
areas and include mainly the white pine, red spruce, hemlock, and cedar. A great
variety of ferns have been found within the state. Among the more common
wildflowers that grow in Vermont are anemones, arbutuses, violets, lilacs,
daisies, buttercups, goldenrods, and gentians.
F | Animal Life |
White-tailed deer are common in the wooded
areas of the state, and bears, moose, and bobcats are present in some of the
higher mountain areas. Smaller animals include the muskrat, skunk, raccoon, and
mink, which are hunted for their pelts, and the rabbit, squirrel, and woodchuck.
Landlocked salmon and several kinds of trout are found in many rivers and small
lakes. Other fish include bass, northern pike, walleyed pike, perch, pickerel,
and smelt. Common birds include the robin, redwing blackbird, sparrow, blue jay,
chickadee, junco, and nuthatch. The principal game birds are the ruffed grouse,
ring-necked pheasant, woodcock, Canada goose, wild turkey, and various
ducks.
G | Conservation |
The principal state agency overseeing
Vermont’s environment is the Agency of Natural Resources. The umbrella agency
enforces the state’s hunting laws, manages state parks, and regulates
environmental protection. In 1970 Vermont enacted the Act 250 Land Use and
Development Law, one of the nation’s strictest.
In 2006 Vermont had 11 hazardous waste
sites on a national priority list for cleanup due to their severity or proximity
to people. Progress was being made in efforts to reduce pollution; in the period
1995–2000 the amount of toxic chemicals discharged into the environment was
reduced by 47 percent. Considerable attention has been focused recently on zebra
mussel infestations in Lake Champlain (see Mussel) and the heavy use of
water for snow making by Vermont ski areas.
III | ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES |
Farming was the main economic activity in
Vermont until the 20th century, when manufacturing took the lead. By the
mid-1990s the service sector, led by tourism, was the fastest growing segment of
the state’s economy.
Vermont’s labor force in 2006 was 361,000
people. The largest share of them—39 percent—held jobs in the service
industries, such as those catering to tourists. Another 19 percent worked in
wholesale or retail trade; 12 percent in manufacturing; 17 percent in federal,
state, or local government, including those in the military; 5 percent in
construction; 11 percent in finance, insurance, and real estate; 4 percent in
farming (including agricultural services), forestry, or fishing; 19 percent in
transportation or public utilities; and only 5.3 percent in mining. In 2005, 11
percent of Vermont’s workers were unionized.
A | Agriculture |
There were 6,300 farms in Vermont in
2005. Of those, 39 percent had annual sales of more than $10,000; many of the
others were sidelines for operators who also held jobs off the farm. Farmland
occupied 506,000 hectares (1.3 million acres), or about one-quarter of the
state’s land area. Crops were grown on 46 percent of the farmland; much of the
rest was pasture or woodland.
Dairying is still the dominant
agricultural activity, with the sale of dairy products and of cattle and calves
accounting for about four-fifths of total farm income. With its cool summers and
abundant rain, the state is one of the finest hay and pasture sections of the
United States. Vermont leads the New England states in the production of milk,
hay, and dairy cattle. The state’s other principal crops include apples,
Christmas trees, and vegetables, including sweet corn. Poultry and eggs are
locally important, as are greenhouse and nursery items. Vermont leads the nation
in the production of maple sugar and syrup.
B | Forestry |
More than three-fourths of Vermont land
is forested. Much of it is farm woodlots, however, and is not operated as a
regular source of income. The principal hardwoods are the sugar maple, beech,
and yellow birch; the principal softwoods are spruce, fir, and white pine.
Lumber-processing and wood-processing plants employ about 3,200 workers.
C | Mining |
Stone, including granite, marble,
limestone, and slate, accounts for much of the total value of mineral production
in Vermont. The state is noted for its fine granite and marble. Granite
production is centered chiefly around Barre, but excellent gray monumental
granite is abundant in many areas east of the Green Mountains. Pink granite
occurs in quantity east of Newport. The so-called marble belt is in western
Vermont, chiefly in Rutland County. This region also produces slate. The
Champlain Valley is a source of limestone.
Vermont has been a major producer of
asbestos, and much of the U.S. supply came from Belvidere Mountain, in the
northern part of the state. Talc is produced principally in the Green
Mountains.
D | Manufacturing |
The chief industry in Vermont is the
manufacture of electrical equipment, especially electronic components, which
accounted for nearly one-third of the income generated by industrial activity in
the mid-1990s. The leading employers in the electronics sector are the
manufactures of semiconductors and related devices. Other leading industries
include printing and publishing; food processing, particularly the making of
cheese and other dairy products; machinery manufactures, primarily firms making
metalworking machinery; manufactures of fabricated metals, led by the makers of
small weapons; and paper and paperboard manufactures. Other large employers
include firms making aircraft engines and parts and wood household
furniture.
Some types of manufacturing are widely
dispersed, such as furniture making and food processing. The state’s distinctive
cheddar cheese is made locally in rural areas. The machine-tool industry,
however, is concentrated in the Springfield-Windsor area of the Connecticut
Valley. Another complex is in the Burlington area of northwestern Vermont, where
the production of electrical goods and business machines predominates. The
decline of Burlington’s textile and clothing industry has been compensated for
by growth in the plastic and electronic industries.
E | Electricity |
Vermont’s sole nuclear power plant opened
in Vernon in 1972, and in 2005 it produced 71 percent of the state’s
electricity. Another 21 percent came from hydroelectric facilities. Wood fueled
plants operate in Burlington and Ryegate.
F | Tourist Industry |
Tourism has become an important source of
income for Vermont. Initially most tourists visited in summer. However, with the
expansion of winter sports activities, tourism has become a year-round industry.
Because of tourism, roads have been improved and more permanent residents have
settled. Many of the visitors are Canadians. In terms of dollars spent, skiing
is now Vermont’s single most important tourist industry.
G | Transportation |
Vermont’s inland and border location, its
hilly terrain, and its hard winters have handicapped the development of
transportation. There are few good east-to-west roads across the Green
Mountains. However, expanded interstate highway programs have given better truck
and automobile transportation. White River Junction, Montpelier, Saint
Johnsbury, Rutland, and Burlington are transportation hubs. By 2005 the state
had 23,170 km (14,397 mi) of highways, of which 515 km (320 mi) were part of the
interstate highway system.
Vermont had 914 km (568 mi) of railroad
track in 2004. Stone made up 92 percent of the tonnage of goods shipped by rail
and originating in the state, and wood and wood products accounted for 2
percent. About half the railroad mileage is state owned.
Three airports, at Burlington and Rutland
and in the Barre-Montpelier area, handle much of the state’s commercial air
traffic. Lake Champlain is a link in a waterway system extending from the St.
Lawrence River in Canada to New York City.
H | Trade |
As a border state, Vermont has many trade
ties with Canada. Saint Albans, near the Canadian border, is a port of entry for
international rail-freight traffic, and a considerable amount of Canadian lumber
and animal feed for New England farms passes through. Burlington, on Lake
Champlain, is a port of entry for waterborne freight, especially fuel oil.
Burlington is the principal business center.
IV | THE PEOPLE OF VERMONT |
A | Population Patterns |
In 2007 Vermont ranked 49th among the
states, with a total population of 621,254. This figure represented an increase
of 8.2 percent over the 1990 census figure of 562,758. The average population
density was 26 persons per sq km (67 per sq mi) in 2006. Vermont’s population
is, proportionately, more rural than that of any other U.S. state; only 38
percent of Vermont residents lived in areas defined as urban in 2000. All
Vermont urban centers are small. The largest, Burlington, accounts for less than
one-tenth of the population, although Burlington and its surrounding Chittenden
County region contain one-fourth of the people in the state. The fastest-growing
areas are in the Champlain Valley and southern Vermont. The Green Mountains and
northern Vermont had less growth, and some communities, notably Rutland and
Barre, lost population.
B | Principal Cities |
The dominant city by far is Burlington,
which had a 2006 population of 38,358. This 200-year-old port on Lake Champlain
is a trade and transportation center, the seat of the state’s oldest university,
and a summer resort. It also has a diversity of industries. Rutland (16,964), in
eastern Vermont, is the center of the state’s marble-quarrying belt. Barre
(9,078), in north central Vermont, is the center of what are believed to be the
world’s largest granite quarries. Montpelier, with 7,954 inhabitants, is the
smallest state capital in the nation.
The largest immigrant group in Vermont is
French Canadian. Whites constitute 96.8 percent of the population, Asians 0.9
percent, blacks 0.5 percent, and Native Americans 0.4 percent. Those of mixed
heritage or not reporting race are 1.4 percent. Native Hawaiians and other
Pacific Islanders number 141. Hispanics, who may be of any race, make up 0.9
percent of Vermont’s people.
C | Religion |
Vermont church members are predominantly
Roman Catholics. The leading Protestant denominations are Methodists and
Baptists. The first church services held in what is now Vermont were Roman
Catholic Masses at Fort Saint Anne on Isle La Motte in 1666. The Roman Catholic
influence in the area originated in Québec and lapsed after the fall of Québec
in 1759. Settlers from other New England colonies brought with them
Congregational, Baptist, and Episcopal beliefs, and Methodists won many converts
in the state in the early l9th century. Roman Catholicism appeared in the state
before the Civil War as Irish and French Canadian settlers arrived. Italian
populations are a dominant element in the quarry towns.
V | EDUCATION AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS |
A | Education |
With the passage of the original
constitution in 1777, Vermont became the first state to provide a clear plan for
the establishment of a statewide educational system beginning with the primary
school and extending through the university level. The first school law was
enacted in 1782, and provisions for statewide taxation to support free public
schools were enacted in 1826. The first academy in the state was founded at
Bennington in 1780, and public high schools were established rapidly after 1840.
Vermont was the site of the first normal school in the United States, founded at
Concord Corner in 1823. The state system of public education is supervised by a
state board of education and a commissioner of education. Education in Vermont
is compulsory for children from age 6 to 16. Private schools enroll 12 percent
of the state’s children.
In the 2002–2003 school year Vermont spent
about $11,075 on each student’s education, compared to a national average of
$9,299. There were 11.3 students for every teacher (the national average was
15.9 students). Of those older than 25 years of age in 2006, 89.8 percent had a
high school diploma, compared to the national norm of 84.1.
B | Higher Education |
The state’s first institution of higher
learning was the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, in
Burlington, chartered in 1791. Vermont had 6 public and 19 private institutions
of higher education in 2004–2005. Among these institutions were Bennington
College, in Bennington; Goddard College, in Plainfield; Green Mountain College,
in Poultney; Marlboro College, in Marlboro; Middlebury College, in Middlebury;
Norwich University, in Northfield; Saint Michael’s College, in Colchester; and
the School for International Training, in Brattleboro. The state’s college
system comprises Castleton State College, in Castleton; Johnson State College,
in Johnson; Lyndon State College, in Lyndonville; Vermont Technical College, in
Randolph Center; and the Community College of Vermont, with locations throughout
the state.
C | Libraries and Museums |
The first public library in Vermont was
founded at Brookfield in 1791. The state is served by 189 tax-supported
libraries. Each year the libraries circulate an average of 6.7 books for each
resident. Among the largest libraries in the state are the Fletcher Free
Library, in Burlington, and the Rutland Free Library, in Rutland. The State
Library is located in Montpelier, and the library of the Vermont Historical
Society resides in Barre. The largest university library in the state is that of
the University of Vermont.
Fine arts museums in Vermont include the
Bennington Museum, in Bennington, and the Robert Hull Fleming Museum, at the
University of Vermont. There are a number of historical museums housing Vermont
memorabilia. The most noted are the museum of the Vermont Historical Society, in
Montpelier; the Shelburne Museum, in Shelburne; and the Henry Sheldon Museum of
Vermont History, in Middlebury.
D | Communications |
In 2002 Vermont had 45 newspapers,
including 9 dailies. The first newspaper founded in Vermont was the Vermont
Gazette, or Green Mountain Post-Boy, established at Westminister in
1781. The Windsor Vermont Journal followed in 1783. The largest daily
newspaper published in Vermont is the Burlington Free Press,
followed by the Rutland Herald and the Barre-Montpelier Times
Argus. There were 13 AM and 36 FM radio stations and 7 television stations
operating in Vermont in 2002.
E | Music and Theater |
The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is supported
by the state and performs throughout Vermont. In the summer, Mozart and jazz
festivals are held in Burlington, and Marlboro College hosts the independent
Marlboro Music School and Festival. Pianist Rudolf Serkin was a cofounder of the
nationally recognized program, which brings master and young musicians together
for study and performances. Bennington College has a noted modern dance program.
Brattleboro is home to the Vermont Theatre Company, which presents an annual
summer Shakespeare festival. There are also flourishing summer theaters in
Dorset, Stowe, Weston, and at Saint Michael’s College.
VI | RECREATION AND PLACES OF INTEREST |
Vermont’s scenery and recreational
facilities make the state a popular year-round vacation area. Residents and
tourists alike enjoy the many scenic areas and picturesque communities in the
state, especially during the weeks of the fall foliage. During the winter the
state’s many ski areas attract skiers from all over the East Coast. Other
favorite activities include year-round fishing in the state’s ponds, lakes, and
streams; hunting; and visiting Vermont’s numerous historic sites.
A | National and State Forests |
Green Mountain National Forest covers an
area of 140,000 hectares (345,000 acres) in two sections along the crest of the
Green Mountains. The forest, which includes winter sports areas and a wide
variety of recreational facilities, is a rugged and scenic area traversed by
about 130 km (about 80 mi) of the Long Trail, a hiking path extending from
Massachusetts to Canada. The largest of Vermont’s six state forests is Mount
Mansfield State Forest. Located in the north central part of the state, the
forest includes a popular New England ski resort. Among the mountain’s scenic
attractions is Smugglers Notch, a scenic gorge through which contraband goods
were smuggled from Canada to New England during the War of 1812. Within the
state forests are state recreation areas. These areas have facilities for such
outdoor activities as picnicking, camping, hiking, and riding.
B | State Parks |
Parks covering about 36,000 hectares
(about 90,000 acres) are operated by the department of forests and parks. These
parks have facilities for various outdoor activities, such as camping, hiking,
swimming, and picnicking. Some of the state parks, including Crystal Lake,
Bomoseen, and Branbury, are located along the shorelines of small lakes. Others,
such as Grand Isle, Sand Bar, North Hero, and Button Bay, lie on the shore of
Lake Champlain. Parts of some state forests, such as Calvin Coolidge State
Forest, have been developed for use as state parks and forest recreation
areas.
Among the most popular places to visit in
the state are Vermont’s state monuments. Old Constitution House, in Windsor, was
the site of the framing and adoption of the state’s first constitution on July
8, 1777. Hubbardton Battlefield and Bennington Battle Monument (see
Bennington, Battle of) commemorate battles of the American Revolution
(1775-1783). In the small community of Plymouth Notch is the President Coolidge
Homestead, where Calvin Coolidge lived and where he was sworn in as president in
1923. The replica of the birthplace of President Chester A. Arthur is a state
monument located in Fairfield, in northern Vermont, near the Canadian
border.
C | Other Places to Visit |
Among the many historic places of interest
in Vermont is the State Capitol, in Montpelier, which dates from the mid-19th
century. The Old First Church in Bennington dates from 1805. The interior of the
church has been restored to its original 19th-century appearance. Old Round
Church in Richmond, dating from 1813, is an unusual 16-sided building topped by
a cupola. Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial, on the town line between Sharon and
Royalton, marks the site of the farm where the Mormon leader was born.
In the Barre area, visitors may watch the
quarrying, finishing, and polishing of Vermont granite. The Vermont Marble
Exhibit in Proctor has displays of numerous varieties of native and foreign
marble in addition to marble sculptures. Maple Grove Maple Museum near Saint
Johnsbury illustrates the process and history of the local maple sugaring.
D | Annual Events |
Each year during the winter months,
Vermont’s numerous ski resorts attract many vacationers. There are numerous ski
meets and winter carnivals at the various resorts and on the college campuses.
Town Meeting Day is celebrated throughout the state on the first Tuesday in
March. In April the Annual Sugar Slalom is held at Stowe. Throughout August and
September there are numerous county fairs, the principal ones being the Rutland
Fair and the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction. Both are held in
early September.
VII | GOVERNMENT |
Since it declared its independence from
Great Britain in 1777, Vermont has had three constitutions. The first was
adopted in 1777, the second in 1786, and the third and present one in 1793, two
years after Vermont was admitted to the Union. Vermont’s constitution is the
shortest of all functioning state constitutions, with about 7,600 words.
Amendments may be proposed only once every four years. An amendment is proposed
by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. It must then pass the House of
Representatives by a majority vote in the same session. At the next session it
must pass both houses by a majority vote. Final adoption is only after a popular
vote approves the amendment by a majority. The process takes five years.
A | Executive |
The state’s chief executive, the
governor, is elected for two years. The governor appoints about 300 state
officials, about one-third of them with the approval of the state Senate, and is
responsible for the preparation of the state budget. The governor may veto all
bills passed by the state legislature, but the legislature can override a veto
by a two-thirds vote of those present in each house. Other elected officials in
the executive branch include the lieutenant governor, secretary of state,
attorney general, state treasurer, and auditor of accounts. All are elected for
two years.
B | Legislative |
Vermont’s state legislature, known as the
General Assembly, is bicameral, consisting of a Senate and a House of
Representatives. In 1965 the General Assembly acted under order of a federal
district court and reapportioned itself. It now has 150 representatives; the
membership of the Senate was kept to its original 30. All members of the General
Assembly are elected for two years. Regular sessions of the legislature are held
annually. The governor may call special sessions.
C | Judicial |
Vermont’s highest court, the Supreme
Court, consists of a chief justice and four associate justices. All are
appointed for six years by the governor with the consent of the Senate. The
governor, with the consent of the Senate, also appoints superior court judges
for six-year terms. They preside in rotation over the court of chancery and over
county courts in each of the 14 counties. Lesser judges include court judges,
assistant judges of the county courts, and probate judges. All are elected to
serve two-year terms except for district judges, who are appointed for six-year
terms by the governor with the consent of the Senate.
D | Local Government |
In Vermont, counties are relatively
unimportant governing units. The 14 counties serve mainly as state
law-enforcement and judicial districts. The nearly 250 towns and cities in
Vermont are the major local governmental units. Since colonial times the major
business of town government has been conducted at annual town meetings. The
entire town citizenry is eligible to participate in such meetings, but because
of increasing populations, many towns have found the town meeting to be an
awkward way of conducting business. As a result, in 1961, Brattleboro
inaugurated an experimental town meeting, at which business was conducted by
selected representatives.
A town may be incorporated as a city by
the state legislature on the petition of the town’s citizens. Vermont has nine
cities, some with the mayor and city council form of municipal government and
some with the city manager form. Vermont also has about 45 incorporated
villages, which are subject to the jurisdiction of the towns in which they are
located.
E | National Representation |
Vermont elects two U.S. senators and one
member of the House of Representatives. The state has three electoral
votes.
VIII | HISTORY |
A | Native Americans |
When Europeans arrived in Vermont in
the early 17th century, the land was held largely by the Western Abenaki, an
Algonquian-speaking people, although some portions of the Lake Champlain basin
were occupied by the Iroquois Confederacy. The Iroquois had pushed several
smaller Algonquian-speaking groups out of the region before 1600, and the
Iroquois and Abenaki continued to struggle for control of the area. The Native
American population was never very large, and it supported itself mainly by
hunting and fishing.
The first European known to have
reached the region was the French explorer Samuel de Champlain, who arrived in
1609 and reached the lake that now bears his name. He took the side of the
Montagnais and Algonquin, Algonquian-speaking peoples, in their struggle with
the Mohawk, defeating a Mohawk war party through the use of firearms. With the
French as allies, the Abenaki were able to reestablish control over their lost
territories, including Vermont. However, Champlain claimed the region for
France. For the next 150 years the French fought sporadically with both the
Iroquois and the English for control of northern New England.
B | Settlement |
For more than 100 years after
Champlain’s visit, virtually no Europeans settled in Vermont. In 1666 the French
built Fort Sainte Anne on Isle La Motte, in Lake Champlain, but the fort was
soon abandoned. In 1690 Dutch settlers from Albany, New York, erected a
temporary outpost at Chimney Point. The French built forts in 1731 at Crown
Point and in 1755 at Ticonderoga, which they called Fort Carillon.
Great Britain also claimed Vermont, and
the first permanent British settlement was made there in 1724 by colonists from
Massachusetts. They established Fort Dummer on the site of present-day
Brattleboro.
As a frontier region, Vermont was often
a battleground as France and Britain fought for control of North America between
1689 and 1763. The French continued their alliance with the Abenaki, while the
British formed agreements with the Iroquois, who had long fought both French
trappers and the Abenaki over the profitable fur trade. The last of a series of
wars, the French and Indian War, ended with a British victory in 1763, ejecting
France from the continent and opening up Vermont to increased settlement.
The few settlers in Vermont in 1763 had
come from colonies that competed for control of the region. The British king had
made various charter grants to New Hampshire and New York that resulted in
conflicting claims of land in Vermont. In 1741 the king had declared New
Hampshire’s western boundary to be wherever it met the boundaries of other
colonies. New Hampshire claimed that this boundary was at Lake Champlain and a
line 32 km (20 mi) east of the Hudson River. From 1749 to 1763, New Hampshire’s
governor, Benning Wentworth, made 138 grants in this region, which came to be
called the New Hampshire Grants.
After the British victory over the
French, King George III and his council ruled in 1764 that New York had
jurisdiction over Vermont. However, Wentworth claimed that the ruling failed to
clarify the status of titles he had granted. Meanwhile, New York issued new
patents in Vermont, insisting that Wentworth’s grants were worthless, and tried
to get New Hampshire grant holders to purchase reconfirmation of their titles.
Title to the land was further complicated by speculators who bought disputed
claims.
In 1770 New York courts ruled that
Vermont settlers without New York grants would be removed from their property.
This ruling led the more radical owners of New Hampshire grants to rebel. Ethan
Allen, his brothers, Ira and Levi, and Seth Warner helped organize various local
militias into the Green Mountain Boys to fight New Yorkers who came to enforce
the court decree. New York offered a reward for the capture of leaders of the
Green Mountain Boys, and many violent clashes occurred. For five years the
Vermonters, especially those west of the Green Mountains, refused to submit to
the threats of New York or to the pleas of colonial leaders who wished to end
the continual raids.
C | The American Revolution |
When the American Revolution broke out
in 1775, the Green Mountain Boys suspended their struggles with New York to
fight against British rule. Under the joint command of militia leader Benedict
Arnold and Ethan Allen, they attacked the British, capturing Fort Ticonderoga
and Crown Point. The British captured Ethan Allen later that year, when he made
an ill-considered attack on Montréal. In 1777 the Americans abandoned
Ticonderoga to British troops under General John Burgoyne. But on August 16,
1777, Vermont and New Hampshire militiamen, led by General John Stark,
decisively defeated a British contingent in the Battle of Bennington. This
victory delayed and weakened the British force, which surrendered at Saratoga,
New York, two months later (see Saratoga, Battles of).
D | Independence and Statehood |
On January 15, 1777, Ira Allen and
representatives of towns in the New Hampshire Grants declared their independence
from Great Britain and established an independent republic. They first called it
New Connecticut, then Vermont. At a convention held July 2 to 8, Vermont adopted
a liberal constitution, which was the first in America to prohibit slavery. It
also gave all adult males, not just those who owned property, the right to vote.
A council of safety was appointed to administer the republic until elections
were held. Thomas Chittenden became the first governor in 1778.
Throughout the 1780s Vermont remained
independent, devising various schemes to force New York and New Hampshire to
agree to allow Vermont to join the Union. Vermont coined its own money,
established a government structure, announced plans to annex border towns in New
Hampshire and New York, and considered the possibility of uniting with Canada.
However, after the Constitution of the United States was adopted in 1789, the
Congress of the United States looked more favorably on admitting Vermont. In
1790 New York agreed to give up its claims in Vermont in exchange for
compensation of $30,000. On March 4, 1791, Vermont became the 14th state.
During the period of independence and
early statehood, Vermont’s legislature met in communities east and west of the
Green Mountains in alternate years until Montpelier was agreed upon as the
permanent state capital in 1805. The first statehouse was built in 1808.
E | Growth of the State |
Vermont’s population increased rapidly,
from about 85,000 in 1791 to 217,895 in 1810. Most of the new residents came
from southern New England to settle frontier farms. The state’s economy was
based on agriculture, especially wheat, but light industry developed during this
period, producing textiles, iron, lumber, and potash, a wood byproduct used for
making soap and glass and preparing wool. A thriving trade also grew, mostly
with Canada, in beef, grain, lumber, and other goods, and for a time the state
was relatively self-sufficient. The War of 1812 (1812-1815), fought between the
United States and Britain over the maritime rights of neutral parties, created
an economic problem for Vermont. Many residents defied a federal embargo that
banned trade with the British and smuggled beef to Canada. After the opening of
the Erie Canal in 1825, many Vermonters left the state, including farmers
attracted by better lands in the Ohio Valley and merchants whose shops had
difficulty competing with renewed importation of British goods and the
inexpensive, abundant goods coming from Western territories.
The pattern of agriculture changed as
farmers, instead of producing just for their own needs, increasingly produced
crops and livestock for cash sales or barter. Merino sheep, hogs, horses, and
cattle for beef or dairy products became major sources of income. Irish
immigrants fleeing famine in the late 1840s, and French-Canadian immigrants
after 1865, provided a source of labor for Vermont’s railroads and mills. In the
1840s and 1850s the lumbering business flourished along Lake Champlain and the
Connecticut River. Vermont was the last New England state to build a railroad,
in 1849. After 1865 Italian and Welsh immigrants came to work in the state’s
growing marble, granite, and slate quarries.
F | Early Politics |
From the beginning, Vermont’s character
and politics were marked by two distinct attitudes. The division roughly
followed the line of the Green Mountains, crossing the state from the southwest
corner toward the northeast. East of the mountains, the Connecticut River valley
was settled largely by migrants from Massachusetts and Connecticut. They tended
to be conservative and respectful of laws, members of the orthodox
Congregational church, and supporters of the Federalist Party, which sought a
stronger central government. The region west of the mountains, however, was home
to many independent, even revolutionary, Vermonters: religious dissenters;
veterans of the “antirent” wars against large landholders in New York;
independent speculators such as Ethan Allen, who fought New York law rather than
give up their land; and a few free thinkers who embraced deism, a religious
philosophy based on reason rather than revelation or church teachings. Western
Vermont tended to support the Democratic-Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson,
which advocated individual and states’ rights. The presidential election of 1800
demonstrated the differences between the two regions. Jefferson carried the
west, while John Adams and the Federalists won the east.
During the War of 1812, Federalists,
who opposed the war, and Jeffersonians alternately governed the state. But after
the war’s end, the Federalists never held state or federal office in Vermont
again.
G | Reform Movements |
Vermont was the scene of numerous
reform movements from 1820 to 1860, encouraged by religious revivals that were
common in the north and near Lake Champlain. Abolitionist and reformer William
Lloyd Garrison started the Journal of the Times in Bennington in 1828,
arguing against slavery and for moral reform, before leaving the state to found
his more famous periodical, the Liberator. Social reformer John Humphrey
Noyes founded the Perfectionist Community, a utopian commune, at Putney in 1839.
Condemned for its practice of “complex marriage,” free sexual sharing within a
community, it was disbanded and later reestablished in Oneida, New York. The
Vermont Temperance Society was founded in 1828 to combat the use of alcohol, and
in 1852 the state adopted a stringent statewide prohibition law. The statewide
prohibition on alcohol lasted until 1902, when a law that gave local communities
the option to legalize or ban alcohol sales took its place.
In the 1820s, a national movement
developed to oppose the influence of Freemasonry in politics, and it attracted a
strong following in Vermont. The Masons, a fraternal organization whose members
were sworn to secrecy, included many well-known American and Vermont political
leaders. Opponents of the Masons believed it was an elite, antidemocratic
society. The opposition movement became the national Anti-Masonic Party after
William Morgan, a Mason who was planning to publish a book revealing the secrets
of the order, disappeared in 1826 in New York. Although his fate was never
determined, it was widely believed that Morgan had been kidnapped and murdered
by fellow Masons, increasing hostility toward the order. By 1831 the
Anti-Masonic Party held the governorship of Vermont and a majority in the state
legislature. The next year, when the national Anti-Masonic Party nominated a
candidate for president, Vermont was the only state to cast its electoral votes
for the nominee, William Wirt. The Anti-Masons forced the Vermont lodges of the
order to close, which left the party with no reason to exist. In 1836
Anti-Masonic leaders joined the new Whig Party.
Vermont had opposed slavery even before
it became a state, and when slavery became an important national political issue
in the 1830s, the state supported the antislavery forces. During the 1840s the
Whig Party was able to maintain control of state offices by campaigning on
antislavery platforms. When the national Whig Party broke up in the 1850s over
the slavery question, most Vermont Whigs joined the newly formed Republican
Party, which opposed the expansion of slavery. John Charles Frémont, the
Republican candidate for president in 1856, won about 80 percent of Vermont’s
popular vote. For the next 100 years, Vermont remained solidly Republican.
H | Civil War |
About 35,000 Vermonters, more than 90
percent of them volunteers, fought for the Union and against slavery in the
Civil War (1861-1865). No battles were fought on Vermont soil, but in October
1864 the northernmost action of the war occurred in Saint Albans, when a band of
Confederate soldiers operating out of Canada crossed the border and robbed the
town’s banks of $200,000.
I | Post Civil War Economics |
Agriculture continued to decline after
the war, but dairy farming grew steadily as the railroad provided an efficient
way to ship cheese, butter, and milk. Western and European textile factories cut
sharply into Vermont’s share of the wool market, although a few Vermont textile
mills continued to produce blankets and other fine woolens for another century.
Lumbering and wood production assumed the greatest importance in Vermont’s
economy during the last half of the 19th century, and manufacturing began to
increase as forges and factories turned out machine tools and other metal
goods.
J | Vermont Republicanism |
In 1878 Redfield Proctor was elected
governor of Vermont, beginning a 70-year period in which his family and
associates who were prominent in the granite and marble industries and railroads
controlled the state Republican Party. In an era when the political machines in
many states were run by corrupt bosses, the conservative Proctor organization
was noted for its honesty and absence of scandals. Nonetheless, a more liberal
anti-Proctor faction in the party consistently challenged the controlling
segment in nominating conventions.
This more liberal wing of the
Republican Party gained control of the state twice during the first half of the
20th century. The first period was from 1900 to 1916, the peak years of the
progressive movement, which sought to curb abuses by governments and industry
and to improve life for workers, immigrants, the poor, and other groups. During
this period, Vermont passed laws to improve working conditions for women and
children, to require factory safety inspections, and to compensate workers
injured on the job. The Vermont Progressive Republican League formed in 1912,
but in the presidential election that year, it could not carry the state for
former president Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), who was the candidate of a
third party, the progressive Bull Moose Party.
The Republican Party’s liberal wing
also held power from 1936 to 1940, when George D. Aiken served as governor, and
from 1945 to 1956, when Aiken’s friend Ernest W. Gibson, Jr., successfully
challenged the Proctor wing in the Republican primary and went on to serve as
governor. From 1940 to 1975, Aiken served in the United States Senate, elected
and reelected by large majorities. In the 1950s, although the Republican
governors were conservative, Vermont reacted strongly against the extremism and
anti-Communism espoused by Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy (see House
Committee on Un-American Activities).
The Vermont tradition of thrift and
self-reliance was a strong influence in the state’s brand of Republicanism.
Vermont was one of the two states to vote for the Republican presidential
candidate in 1912, William Howard Taft. The frugality and satisfaction with the
status quo that was characteristic of Calvin Coolidge, a Vermonter who became
president in 1923, was also typical of the state. When floods caused severe
damage to buildings, roads, and railroads in 1927, Vermont refused federal aid
until it had first financed road repairs by selling bonds worth $8.5 million; it
then accepted the aid and repaid its debt rapidly. In 1936 Vermont again showed
its independence by being one of two states to vote against the reelection of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
K | Democratic Resurgence |
Republican dominance of state politics
ended in 1958 when Vermont elected its first Democratic congressman, William
Meyer, followed by its first Democratic governor in 1962. In the decades that
followed, Republicans and Democrats have alternated in the governor’s mansion.
Patrick Leahy was the first Democrat to win election to the U.S. Senate from
Vermont in 1974, and in 1990 Vermont elected a socialist independent, Bernard
Sanders, as its only member in the U.S. House of Representatives. Democrat
Howard Dean, the lieutenant governor who became governor in 1991 when the
Republican incumbent died in office, was elected to his first full term in 1992
and reelected in 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000. In 2002 Dean did not seek
reelection. In 2003 he began an ultimately unsuccessful campaign to win the
Democratic presidential nomination. In 2002 Republican Jim Douglas became
governor. Douglas was reelected in 2004.
Vermont continued its independent
tradition in 2000 when it became the first state to allow same-sex couples to
form civil unions that carry all the rights and benefits of marriage. The
measure was passed following a decision by the state Supreme Court that gay and
lesbian couples were being unconstitutionally deprived of the rights of
marriage.
L | Economic Development after World War II |
The demand for Vermont’s industrial
products, especially machine tools and precision instruments produced in Windsor
and Springfield, increased during World War II (1939-1945). However, the
difficulty of obtaining some restricted raw materials slowed production and
prevented industrial growth. After the war, industry grew steadily, although
most businesses remained small. In the 1950s and 1960s, national firms bought
small Vermont concerns to gain special patents or processes, and several large
industrial companies, including International Business Machines (IBM), opened
new factories in the state.
The recreation industry, which had its
roots in the 1840s and revived under state government sponsorship during the
1930s, became a chief source of income after World War II. Stowe and other ski
resorts in the Green Mountains became popular year-round recreation
destinations.
Transportation remained inadequate, not
only for the state’s own population and industries but also for tourists. No new
railroads were built after the beginning of the century, and railroad passenger
service proved unprofitable. In addition, there was not enough traffic from
Vermont’s scattered towns to warrant extensive air service. Motor travel was
hindered by the legislature’s reluctance to spend state money or to accept
federal aid to build roads. Finally, in the late 1950s, a modern highway system
was begun, culminating in the opening of two interstate highways in 1969 and
1970.
In the 1970s Vermont developed a strong
environmental movement that was instrumental in the passage of various pollution
and land control regulations. Billboards disappeared from Vermont highways in
the mid-1960s. The legislature passed a sweeping land use law, Act 250, in 1970.
It was one of the nation’s strictest development laws, requiring housing
developments and ski resorts to meet ten environmental criteria. Vermont’s Clean
Air Act levied a tax on new automobiles that get low gas mileage.
Since the 1960s, Vermont’s population
has grown rapidly, with many new residents coming from New York and
Massachusetts. The rise in computer-related industries, information technology,
services, tourism, and small manufacturing and business have characterized much
of the economic growth. At the same time, agriculture has declined and many
farms have been sold and converted to homes and recreational land. Many Vermont
farmers, manufacturers, craft workers, and businesses now look for and supply
regional and national markets with specialty foods and products.
In the early 1990s, Vermont suffered
from the nationwide recession. Many businesses, especially those with contracts
for military and computer-related products, began declining, laying off workers,
or closing. Vermont faced difficult economic and political choices as the costs
of providing services to businesses and individuals rose and revenues from
personal and business taxes leveled or declined. As social services and
education became increasingly expensive, state and local governments scrutinized
their budgets closely. Many towns rejected school budgets at town meetings and
in special votes. Because schools have been supported from local property taxes,
the legislature has debated whether to create a statewide property tax or adopt
means to reduce the cost of education.
Tourism has become a major industry,
emphasizing year-round recreational and cultural activities. This trend at times
has conflicted with the state’s strong environmental protection laws, which
safeguard natural and cultural resources and promote community and regional
planning. In addition to recreational opportunities, “heritage tourism” has
expanded, focusing on artistic, cultural, and historic attractions.
The history section of this article was
contributed by Michael Sherman. The remainder of the article was contributed by
Harold A. Meeks.
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