If you answered Vermont, we think you're correct although it's possible that New York might also suffice depending on whether you consider New York's participation (as with the other 12 original states that were formerly colonies) in the Articles of Confederation to be the acts of independent countries and not the actions of loosely aligned states. We've included a map of Vermont so that you can refresh your mind as to the state and its surrounding. You should be able to discern that Vermont is located in the Eastern US bounded to the west by upstate New York, on the east by the Connecticut river (and New Hampshire), to the south by Massachusetts (you should be able to see Boston to orient yourself) and to its north lies the Canadian province of Quebec. Part of the state, especially in its middle heading northward, is made up of the Green Mountains and the population centers of the state - Rutland, Montpelier (the capital) and Burlington - form a kind of triangle.
Like the rest of the Northern lower 48, Vermont would have seen an ice age some 12000 years ago. In New York state, the thawing from that ice age created the finger lakes and in that regard Vermont was also affected as its northwest border is Lake Champlain. As opposed to New York, there are no other large bodies of water within the state. Champlain is officially not a finger lake but it did for a while, in 1998, become the sixth and smallest of the Great Lakes (for what may have been a three week period) until pressure from the states that border the original five Great Lakes led to its demotion. This attempt to promote the lake was the result of a push by Patrick Leahy, Vermont's senior senator. Besides trying to add to Vermont's status through this legislation, Leahy has been the chairman or ranking member of the senate Judiciary committee over many years and is very consistent with the type of politicians - including George Aiken who was both a governor and senator - the state has produced since its addition to the union in 1791.
Anyway, there seems to be a difference in the soil between Vermont and the neighboring New York state. New York is known for its wine producing area around the Finger Lakes. While Vermont is developing a wine producing industry, what Vermont is known for is its dairy products, especially cheese. Although, because of Ben and Jerry's - pictured here - most people today know of Vermont's dairy farms because of ice cream.
We should add that in Vermont, Ben and Jerry's ice cream is a relative newcomer as it began operations in 1978. Fifty years before a farm in Manchester starts to deliver its own ice cream in what today would be called just-in-time delivery. This is Wilcox ice cream which designates itself as Vermont's original ice cream.
As mentioned, besides Ice Cream, Vermont is known for its cheese production yet the statistics show that Vermont only rates 10th in state production. Even Pennsylvania outdoes Vermont and Pennsylvania is not known for cheese production. But, we are way ahead of ourselves. Before the question of cheese and of ice cream, let's delve into the history of the state. How did this area become one of the states of the union? So, let's draw back some 250 or so years in the next few montages.
As the British create the original 13 colonies it's clear that geographical uncertainty plays a part in the bitter attempts by various colonies to increase their land mass. We assume that the late 1600's, early 1700's had a dearth of legitamate maps. Most of the British monarchy's land grants (not to mention the Dutch claims that the British monarchy inherited) would involve orientation of rivers and oceans in the New World. The Connecticut river is one such example. The mouth of the river is based on Long Island sound and almost equally splits Connecticut. Above this newly formed colony would be land that eventually would be ceded to Massachusetts. As the river moved toward Canada, it could be used to indicate another land grant of territory to the east of the river above the Massachusetts colony. This would be the colony of New Hampshire. Apparently the Dutch and British monarchy did not provide for the resolution of the land to the west of the river which would be west of New Hampshite. Somewhere in the 1750's/60's this created a problem between the 4 states of New Hampshire, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts, not to mention the French and Indians who fought the British during the French and Indian war. Who controlled this area? This map is from the Connecticut river water conservancy and shows the river's location through the present states.
So, who had the land that is now Vermont. When you study colonial history, especially in terms of border disputes, many of the colonies - and this extended into Statehood - were very quick to press claims against their rivals. Our state of Pennsylvania would see this. What is now western Pa. was contested between Pa, Virginia and New York (and probably Massachusetts, as well). Dibs on the middle section of Pa - the Susquehanna watershed - was made by Connecticut. Connecticut's claim led to what is called either the Pennamite wars or the Battle of Wyoming Valley where local Pa residents fought a fixed battle with Connecticut settlers in what is now the center of Pennsylvania. The lighter color in this map shows the extent of Connecticut claims in pre-revolutionary Pennsylvania and other states.
If things were bad in Pa, you can imagine what was going on further north in what is now Vermont at that time. All four existing colonies - New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire - began to issue land deeds to property in that area. Needless to say, none of these states consulted the other to determine prior claims so it was not unusual for multiple claims to be made on the same properties. In this endeavor, New Hampshire had an edge in what was then called the New Hampshire Grants (sounds like a present day townhouse development, doesn't it?). This advantage of New Hampshire consisted of one, Ethan Allen, who apparently took the lead in warding off the other state claims. Some of this was taken through the colonial legal system of the time, but, when needed, Ethan and his cousins led a group known as the Green Mountain boys who enforced the New hampshire claims by extralegal (strongarm) methods. This montage shows a sculpture of Allen and the flag of the Green Mountain boys.
As the revolution heats up in 1776, Allen and his boys turn their attention to dealing with British influence in the area. One option for victory that British forces pursued in a variety of ways was to control the Hudson Valley of the New York colony thereby splitting the colonies in half. To that end a series of battles were fought between British and Continental forces to control the series of forts in Northern New York state that overlooked and controlled the navigable rivers and lakes. Lake Champlain and Fort Ticonderoga was one example and Allen led his Green Mountain boys - with limited help from Benedict Arnold - to seize control of this fort. As the Green Mountain boys were a para military force, discipline was definitely lacking. Arnold was supposed to become the commander of the fort once it fell but the boys had other ideas including raiding the British liquer supply which surely became evident as Allen attempted to invoke authority. Needless to say this attempt to establish order and discipline didn't achieve the desired results.
This was at a point when Arnold was still loyal to George Washington and the Continental army but he would subsequently attempt to surrender West Point, another of the forts along the Hudson, in a traitorous act that still resounds in American history. This montage tries to show several of the redoubts at West Point that were in existance during the fights between the British and Continental forces in the Hudson Valley.
Subsequent to the war, the colonies, now states, created the Articles of Confederation. No one would claim this to be a successful unionization, but it did stop the various claims and counter claims on additional land from the various states. But the Articles were signed by 13 colonies/states and what would become Vermont was not a signee. So, until Vermont became the 14th state to enter the union on March 4, 1791, it acted as a independent country for almost a decade using the flag shown above, the emblem of the Green Mountain boys, as its official flag. Shown here is the Vermont Copper, a coin used as its official currency. Not surpringly, one of the founders of the state was Ethan Allen. But surprisingly, Ethan Allen also was a member of a group which explored ways for Vermont to join Canada which would have brought the territory back under British control. Anyway, If you think about it, of all the present states only Vermont, Texas, California and Hawaii were independent countries before becoming part of the United States.
If you're entering the union, you need to have a unique name. The aforementioned Green mountains tangentially provide the name for this state as it enters the union. The first settlers in what would become Vermont were the French as they moved down from Quebec. Their name for the mountains that dominate the landscape was Les Verts Monts which translates as the green mountains. Consider this from the French standpoint: their reference would be the Alps where the average mountain height is probably 3 times what they saw in this location. Many of the Alps are snow covered year round. This would not be the case here and the tree line would be further up proportionally giving the range a more greenish tone during the summer months. The English settlers took this cue and named the same mountain range The Green Mountains. You can see where a shortening of Verts Monts leads to Vermont and why the state's nickname is the Green Mountain State. The pictures of this montage are on or are viewing Mount Mansfield, the tallest of the range within Vermont
With its entrance to the union, three quarters of Vermont's borders would have been set. But its northern border still had to be settled and with a foreign and unfriendly power. It is estimated that one third of the population living in the former British colonies supported the British monarchy during the revolution. What did they do after the revolution as independence was achieved? Many fled north to Canada which at that point was still controlled by the British.
The early history of the United States with Britain and Canada is one of war and unreconciliation. This includes the War of 1812 when the British sack Washingon DC and burn the White House (the invasion of 1812 would inspire our national anthem, O Say Can You See and this montage includes a painting of the White House torched by the British) and the US responds by attempting several invasions of Canada. These invasions force the British to create forts along the unresolved US/Canada border and these forts include Fort York which would become Toronto. A picture of the recreation of one of the US invasion attempts of Canada is also included in this montage
It takes over 60 years from the Declaration of Independence (and 50 years since the adaptation of the US Constitution) to resolve a treaty between the British Crown and the US government designating the official US Canadian border and this would affect Vermont when the Webster - Ashburton treaty comes into effect in 1842 between all the parties. The Webster in this is Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State under president John Tyler, pictured on the left in this montage. The Ashburton here is a title given to Alexander Baring who represented the crown as the treaty was worked out in Washington. Baring was the perfect person to represent England as he had married a Philadelphia woman at the end of the previous century and, no doubt, the longevity of this Anglo/American marriage, not to mention the nine children that it produced, served as a template for this agreement.
As far as Vermont is concerned, the border with Quebec is set at the 45th parallel. Unfortunately, the theory works better than the practice. All sorts of barriers confront the survey team that is sent out to physically mark this delineation. It continues to this day. This map is the present map of the area. If you click on the picture, it should enlarge and you will notice that the border is not straight as it distinctly moves up and down. It's been this way for almost two hundred years so we assume everyone is satisfied with it.
In Vermont, the locals have a name for the US Canada border - the Morses line. The story goes that a short time after the border was surveyed, a variety store owned by a Mr Morses opened up in Franklin Vermont. The store straddled the border. Later both the US and Canadian governments opened up official border crossings in this vicinity. The locals used Morses name to designate the border. No international border shows the genuine friendship that the citizens of both countries (and even more so between a state and province) feel about the other. There are multiple examples of buildings occupying both sides of the border but this montage shows the origianal Morse shop astride both the border and a surveyer marker. The last picture shows a school with a visible designated line on the floor marking the border.
With its borders set, we can look at the three main population centers of the state. Let's first look at its capital since 1805, Montpelier, located somewhat in the middle of the state in Washington county. Montpelier is named after Montpellier, one of France's distinguished cities located on the Mediterrean sea. The French Montpellier is known for its open air cafes, its university and the rustic colors that are prevalent along that coast. We doubt that Vermont's version emulates its name sake. The town's industry is government and from census figures it seems that the city's population is less than 8000. And it is in population that Montpelier stands out in its way. It is the smallest populated state capital in the nation. This montage shows the capital building and a scene of the town.
The major city of Vermont is Burlington along the state's northwest border. Burlington has been in the news lately as this is the town that Senator Bernie Sanders calls home. Sanders was at one time the mayor of the city. Burlington sits right on Lake Champlain and the coast line is one attractive feature of the city. Engineering, and more specifically the creation of the various New York canals - Erie and Champlain - giving water access to the Great lakes, has been very influencial in the development of the city providing a sea link to the world. In addition Burlington hosts the University of Vermont. Old Mill, one of the oldest buildings of the campus, is shown in this montage. Burlington is the largest city in Vermont and with that comes another distinction similar to Montpelier - it is the smallest largest city of any state in the union.
Finally, this montage concentrates on Rutland which is both a city and a county within the state. Rutland's creation coincided with the discovery of marble deposits within its vicinity. Similar to the other two cities indicated, the town is not that big as far as population (less than 17000 in the 2010 census) but the ideas that govern the city are very progressive. One of these is the bus transportation system which until 2007 was free to residents. Since that time a $.50 fee has been imposed to pay for periodic climbs in gas prices. In addition Rutland is the terminus of Amtrak's Ethan Allen express which provides service to and from New York. We mention Rutland because as you will see this script will end within the confines of this city.
Vermont is picturesque and for many years the hospitality industry drove the state. In most lists of scenic highways, Vermont's Rt 100 is always included as one of the most beautiful of state highways. The route runs north asnd south through the length of Maine abutting the White river and skirting the Green mountains. When Fall comes - in September given its northern location - Rt 100 is used to view the change in foliage at that time of year. Since Ben and Jerry's factory is on Route 100 - near Burlington - no doubt the summer months see an influx of ice cream lovers on this highway.
Rt 100 is a state highway but the US interstate system also provides travel coverage for the state. US Rt 87, the New York Throughway, runs along New York's border with Vermont. US Rt 91, which also is no slouch in highway attractiveness, runs along the Connecticut river separating Vermont and New Hampshire. US Rt 89 bisects the state and it is this interstate that services Rutland.
We will return to a discussion of the effect of the interstates shortly but readers should understand that the US interstate network was first authorized (and initially funded) during the Eisenhower administration of the 1950's but the full extent of 87, 89 and 91 was completed during the late 60's early 70's. We inquired of our editors as to what roads visitors to Vermont would use before the interstate construction. Our history editor, who often intermingles history with the study of his favorite author (and the character this author created) came up with a doozie of a map circa 1962 that has been included here. On this map, which happers to be the front cover of a paperbook published in England, you can see - if you look hard enough - the beginning of the construction of US 87 and some of the details of the local road system around Lake George (just to the left of the Vermont border). We assume that for our historical editor this picture covers several of his interests.
Anyway, the interstates have decreased the time necessary to get to Vermont from the Philadelphia area. Using the NY Throughway - US 87 - it takes about 8 hours to make it to the southern part of the state from the Delaware Valley (dependent on traffic and the like). So, why would you want to make it to Vermont? This continues our discussion from some montages back. What is Vermont known for? We've already indicated cheese and ice cream. You might want to add Presidential candidates as will be indicated below. But, for many people, given the Green mountains and the snow, Vermont is known for skiing. Among the many resorts are Stowe and Smuggler's notch indicated in this montage.
We should add another reason to visit Vermont. Perhaps you would like to visit the Shelbourne museum with its 38 buildings, many transported from other locations within the state. The building house multiple and varied collections. But if you are going in order to visit the somewhat famous 1950's house, please note that it has been torn down although there is a photo of its interior on the museum website which we have included in this montage. This collection of 50's memorabilia had started its exhibition in 2000 and was extended several times but now its gone. Of course, the Shelbourne museum does have an extensive collection of folk arts to browse through not to mention the Steamboat Ticonderoga pictured here.
Lately another reason to visit the state might perhaps pertain to the latest Vermont Democrat to run for the Presidency. In 2003/2004 the country became fascinated with the candidancy of Howard Dean who had recently been the governor of Vermont. Dean had been a doctor in private practice before running for state representative. At that time this was a part/time position and Dean could continue to service his medical clients. However, he became affected by the political bug and was very successful in it as he held the governorship of Vermont from 1991 through 2003.
Dean was the first national politician to get a handle on using the internet and technology to raise money but in the end lost out to John Kerry for the 2004 presidential nomination.
And continuing the above theme, Vermont is the home of Bernie Sanders, a current (as this is written) contender for the 2016 Democratic nomination. It's possible that you might feel the Bern more by visiting Burlington, the city where he was mayor in the '80s. Sanders has been a Vermont's senator since 1992. Like Dean, he has mastered the use of the internet and technology to fund his campaign with donors averaging a $27 contribution. We present some pictures of Sanders on the campaign trail in 2016.
But we think there's another reason to visit the state but first a bit more information. Many of the scripts on this web site feature the local Philadelphia based Israeli dancers. One such dancer, Andrea Wallach, who began to take Don's Thursday class in 2010, has been included in several of our scripts and this montage shows pictures of her dancing in local Philadelphia sessions and across the country.
Andrea over the years has attended many a dance workshop and has specialized in getting her picture taken with famous Israeli dance choreographers. From left to right on the top row is Andrea with Gadi Bitton (taken during one of the Hilulim dance workshops), Avi Levy, Eyal Ozeri and Roberto Bagnoli (taken when Roberto gave a workshop at Beth Sholom in Feb'16). In the middle we have Dudu Barzilay (taken at the Toronto Israel Israeli dance festival in 2011), Moshe Eskayo, Ofer Alfasi and Yaron Carmel. In the last row we start with Avner Naim (Note: Andrea has managed to take one of the few pictures we can find of Avner Naim), Mitch Ginsburgh, Michael Barzilay at a recent Hilulim and finally Shmulik Gov Ari accompanied by Ruth Goodman. We're sure that Andrea really enjoyed her picture with Dudu (as seen on the top row) as she is known to be a big DuDu fan.
Summer '15 saw a change in Andrea's job status as she accepted a promotion to the position of assistant Principal of Poultney High School. The town of Poultney is in Rutland county and west of the city of Rutland. Andrea moved to the Rutland area in August'15 and later that month officially assumed her position. Like any new transplant, Andrea began to scout out other activities that she might be able to pursue while in Vermont and especially within the Rutland area. And this led her to the Rutland Jewish Center. We've taken some pictures from RJC's web site to include here and you can visit the website itself by clicking here..
At the Jewish center Andrea talked about her love for Israeli dancing and how much she missed it given that the nearest Israeli dance sessions to Rutland was at Albany (an hour and a half drive) or Burlington (perhaps 2 hours away). Apparently Andrea made a good case for this as she was invited to form such a class. We reproduce an Email to this effect. On Saturday, Feb 20th, Andrea held a warmup session at the center and we include some pictures of that event.
On March 24th the world's newest Israeli dance session came to fruition as Andi led a crowd interested in Israeli dance at the center. The location of the dancing was changed from the main auditorium into an area used for religious services. The pictures in this montage were taken during this first class. Andrea's class meets every other Thursday night.
We know from talking with Andrea that there was a lot of preparation on her part in selecting the music and dances to be taught and reviewing the steps. Even this web site joined in this preparation as we produced the Vermonter CD for her to distribute at her class. You can see the documentation of this CD by clicking here.
Shortly after Andrea created her class, the folks at Public Access 15 - what would be a kind of local non profit TV outlet based in Rutland - paid a visit to the class to interview Andrea and film the dancing. On Thursday nights the channel runs a half hour show featuring information about what is going on in Rutland County. On April 28 the video you can review below was part of the show.