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Becoming a State
In 1791, when Vermont became a state, there were already about 85,000 people who were living there. Many of the people living there were working as farmers. Many farmers raised beef cattle, but they also raised dairy cattle and hogs as well. -
The Quarrying Industry
Quarrying had become a new indusrty in Vermont. Marble quarries had opened in Dorset in 1785 and in Middlebury in 1805. Workers would use hand tools to hack at the stone and then they would load it onto an oxcart to transport. People would use granite for fence post, fireplace hearths, stair steps, and tombstones. They used marble for buildings, statues, and slate roofs and floors. Vermont's stone quarrying industry would grow into one of the state's leading industries. -
Vermont's Legislature Passes a Resolution
African Americans had lived in Vermont since the 1600s. In 1777 Vermont freed slaves. The slaves that had been freed bacame farmers, ministers, soldiers, and teachers. African Americans from other states started to move to Vermont because they could live freely. By 1791 there were 217 African Americans living in Vermont. In 1820 the population of African Americans had risen to 903. -
The Champlain Canal Opens
In 1823 the Champlain Canal opened making it possible to travel from Vermont's Lake Champlain to New York's Hudson River. -
The Saint Albans Raid
In 1861 the fight over spreading slavery to the western territories was growing and eventually became the Civil War. More than 30,000 Vermonters signed up to fight for the Union. Among the people who signed up there 150 African Americans. This was more than 20 percent of Vermont's African American Males. In 1864 the Saint Albans Raid happened. It was the northernmost land action in the Civil War. The war ended in 1865 and the Union had defeated the Confederate states. -
Women get to Vote
Vermont women had been fighting since the 1850s to get the right to vote. In 1880 women were alowed to vote in school board elections. In 1918, for the first time Vermont women were allowed to vote in the town elections. This was two years before the 19th Amendment was signedgiving the women all over the country the right to vote.