Vermont Republic

The Vermont Republic was a de facto independent state in New England that existed from 15 January 1777 to 4 March 1791. It was not recognised by any foreign power. Delegates from towns on the New Hampshire Grants declared independence from the competing claims of New York, New Hampshire and Quebec, and adopted a constitution that prohibited adult slavery, though it allowed the enslavement of men under twenty-one and women under eighteen. The Continental Congress refused to recognise Vermont because New York objected, and the republic conducted negotiations with Britain before the American victory at Yorktown made union with the United States the safer course. Its capital rotated among several towns, including Westminster, Windsor, Castleton and Rutland, and the state issued its own currency and ran its own postal service. On 4 March 1791 Vermont was admitted to the Union as the fourteenth state, and its constitution and laws continued in force. The episode is remembered as an early experiment in democratic self-government and as a precedent for the abolition of slavery in the northern states.