The Vermont Way: Rise of the Republicans

The fourth in a series of essays adapted from The Vermont Way, a new study to be released in 2012.

HOW VERMONT WENT REPUBLICAN

The 1840 Convention of the Vermont Whig Party was the largest ever staged in New England. Almost 20,000 people came to Burlington, attending an enormous parade in support of William Henry Harrison.

During the gathering Vermont Whig leader and US Congressman William Slade encouraged Party members to take a stronger stand on slavery. That January Slade had delivered the first abolitionist address ever made in Congress, calling for the immediate end of human slavery. Still, he felt that the country wasn’t ready for an abolitionist president.

Within two years, however, the growth of the anti-slavery Liberty Party convinced Slade to “abolitionize” Vermont’s Whigs. In 1842, therefore, the state Party’s platform called slavery a “moral and political evil” that should be removed… Complete text

THE VERMONT WAY

Restless Spirits and Popular Movements

A new book by Greg Guma that tells the state’s heroic story from the time before European settlers to the present day, with special emphasis on movements and memorable people. The Vermont Way is a popular history and an exploration of the qualities, contradictions and traditions that have shaped the state’s path.

Find out more at The Vermont Way.