About Vermont

Vermont takes its name from the French words "vert" (green) and "mont" (mountain), meaning "green mountain," a name that describes the Green Mountains running through the center of the state. The name was proposed by Dr. Thomas Young, a physician and revolutionary pamphleteer who was a mentor to Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, the militia that seized Fort Ticonderoga from the British in 1775. Vermont had a complicated path to statehood: it was claimed by both New York and New Hampshire, declared itself an independent republic in 1777 and maintained that status for fourteen years, and was not admitted to the union until 1791, making it the first state added after the original thirteen. Vermont's constitution, adopted in 1777, was the first in North America to explicitly prohibit slavery.

Vermont is the least populous state in the contiguous United States, roughly 650,000 people spread across green mountains, dairy farms, ski resorts, and college towns. It is also, in several important ways, one of the most consequential. Vermont's 1777 constitution was the first document in the Western Hemisphere to explicitly ban slavery. It was the first new state to join the Union. It is the only state that has elected an independent socialist to the U.S. Senate for nearly two decades running.

The state's economy is built on tourism, skiing, fall foliage, outdoor recreation, alongside its agricultural traditions of dairy and maple syrup that have defined the Vermont landscape for generations. Both are under pressure: ski seasons are shortening with climate change, dairy farms are disappearing at an alarming rate, and the maple season is shifting. The pandemic brought a wave of remote workers from Boston and New York who have reshaped Vermont's housing market and demographics.

Vermont's politics are genuinely distinctive. It is one of the most liberal states in the country in federal elections, yet its popular governor is a moderate Republican who has won by landslide margins since 2016 and frequently clashed with his own national party. Vermont was the first state to legalize gay marriage by legislative vote, but it also has a strong tradition of independent, small-town conservatism that resists easy categorization.