Independent Baptist Friends International

Originally inhabited by two major Native American tribes (the Algonquian-speaking Abenaki and the Iroquois), much of the territory that is now Vermont was claimed by France in the early colonial period. It ceded the territory to Britain after being defeated in 1763 in the Seven Years War (also called the French and Indian War). For many years, the surrounding colonies, especially New Hampshire and New York, disputed control of the area (referred to at the time as the New Hampshire Grants). Settlers' holding land titles granted by these colonies were opposed by the Green Mountain Boys militia, which eventually prevailed in creating an independent state, the Vermont Republic. Founded during the Revolutionary War in 1776, it lasted for fourteen years. While independent, it abolished slavery. When it joined the union, it was the first state to have abolished slavery. Vermont is one of seventeen U.S. states (along with Texas, Hawaii, the brief California Republic, and each of the original Thirteen Colonies) that had a sovereign government at one point. In 1791, Vermont joined the United States as the fourteenth state, and the first outside the original Thirteen Colonies.

Vermont is the leading producer of maple syrup in the United States. The state capital is Montpelier, and the largest city and metropolitan area is Burlington. No other state has a largest city as small as Burlington, or a capital city as small as Montpelier.

Sources

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont
• http://www.flickr.com/places/info/2347604/
• http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=vermont