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Social studies activity

Vermont's Story: Maple Syrup, Green Mountains & Freedom

Vermont was its own country for 14 years before it became part of the United States! It had its own money, its own mail, and its own rules. Then in 1791, it decided to join. It was state number 14 — the first new state after the original 13. Vermont didn't have to join. It CHOSE to.

Hands OnAbout 25 minutesScreen-freeParent help expected

Materials and setup

How this changes by age

Pre-K (ages 3–4)

Vermont was its own country for 14 years before it became part of the United States! It had its own money, its own mail, and its own rules. Then in 1791, it decided to join. It was state number 14 — the first new state after the original 13. Vermont didn't have to join. It CHOSE to.

Difficulty 1 of 3

Steps

  1. Look at a picture of Vermont's Green Mountains in autumn — all orange, red, and gold.
  2. Draw a big maple tree with a tap and a bucket collecting sap. Color the leaves red and orange.
  3. Draw a tiny country flag on a pole next to the tree — because Vermont was its own country!
  4. Ask a grown-up: 'What would it feel like to live in a very tiny country in the middle of other countries?'

Learning objectives

  • Wonder at Vermont's history as an independent republic before becoming a state
  • Notice that becoming part of a larger country is a choice, not always an automatic thing
  • Ask questions about what makes a place special enough to want to protect

Kindergarten (ages 5–6)

In 1777 — before the United States even had a real constitution — Vermont did something no other place in North America had ever done: it wrote its own constitution and declared that every person was free. Vermont was only a tiny republic in the mountains. But it was first. That is an amazing thing to be first at. Ben & Jerry's ice cream was also founded in Vermont — in a small Burlington shop — proving that big, sweet ideas come from small places.

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Look at a map of New England and find tiny Vermont, squeezed between New York and New Hampshire.
  2. Draw the Green Mountains as soft wavy humps across your paper.
  3. On top of one mountain, draw a small building — that is Vermont's government, making its own rules.
  4. Write or dictate: 'Vermont was the first place in North America to say that every person was ___.'
  5. Talk about: Why might a small place sometimes be braver about big ideas than a large place?

Learning objectives

  • Identify Vermont as the first place in North America to write freedom for everyone into its constitution (1777)
  • Understand that Vermont was an independent republic for 14 years before becoming the 14th state
  • Retell Vermont's founding story and connect independence to the idea of standing for a principle
  • Compare Vermont's size to its historical boldness

Early elementary (ages 6–8)

In 1777, Vermont's constitution declared that every person was free — the first such declaration in the Americas. The United States Constitution, written 10 years later, did NOT include this. Vermont had already done what the country's founders couldn't agree to do. When Vermont applied to join the United States in 1791, it had been running itself — with its own money, its own post office, and its own government — for 14 years. It joined as an equal, not as a territory being admitted. Vermont is still the second least populated state in America, but its fingerprints are on some of the country's boldest ideas. It also produces more maple syrup per person than any state, and has more covered bridges per square mile than almost anywhere in the country.

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Create a split timeline: On the TOP track, put Vermont events: Vermont Constitution declares everyone free (1777) → Vermont becomes 14th state (1791) → Green Mountain Boys help win the Revolutionary War at Fort Ticonderoga (1775). On the BOTTOM track, put U.S. events happening at the same time. What do you notice?
  2. Write three sentences: What did Vermont's 1777 constitution say? Why was it unusual? Why does it matter that Vermont acted BEFORE the United States did?
  3. Draw a covered bridge — Vermont has over 100 of them, more per square mile than almost any state. Research why covered bridges were built covered, and write one sentence explaining it.
  4. On a New England map, label Vermont, its capital Montpelier (the smallest state capital in the U.S.), Lake Champlain, and the Connecticut River.
  5. Discussion: Why do you think small states sometimes take brave stands that big states can't? What does that tell you about size and power?

Learning objectives

  • Explain Vermont's 1777 freedom declaration as more progressive than the U.S. Constitution written a decade later
  • Sequence Vermont's key events and compare them to the national timeline at the same time
  • Analyze the relationship between small size and independent thinking in Vermont's history
  • Locate Vermont's geographic features and explain why its isolation shaped its culture

Upper elementary (ages 8–10)

In 1890, when Wyoming applied for statehood, Congress tried to force Wyoming to remove women's suffrage as a condition of admission. Wyoming's territorial legislature responded by telegraph: 'We will remain out of the Union a hundred years rather than come in without women.' Congress backed down. Vermont had done something similar 99 years earlier: in 1791, after 14 years as an independent republic, Vermont negotiated its own terms for joining the United States. It entered with its 1777 freedom-for-all constitution intact — a document that declared everyone free, a full decade before the United States was willing to do the same. Both Vermont and Wyoming show the same pattern: small, stubborn, principled — and willing to walk away from the big table over a core value. What does it take to hold a line?

Difficulty 3 of 3

Steps

  1. The Dilemma: You are a Vermont delegate in 1791, deciding whether to join the United States. Vermont's constitution already declares that every person is free. The U.S. Constitution does not go that far. If you join, Vermont becomes part of a country that has not yet caught up to what you have already declared right. Do you join anyway — to have more influence from inside — or stay independent and preserve your principles from outside? Write one page arguing your decision, with a specific counterargument addressed.
  2. Research the Green Mountain Boys under Ethan Allen. What did they do at Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775? Write a short first-person 'soldier's dispatch' from that morning.
  3. Create a Vermont timeline from 1741 (New Hampshire governor grants Vermont land) to 1920 (19th Amendment gives all women the vote — Vermont women had already been voting for decades in some capacities) with at least seven events. Annotate: which events show Vermont acting AHEAD of the rest of the country?
  4. Compare: Vermont's 1777 freedom constitution vs. the U.S. Constitution of 1787. What does the comparison reveal about the difference between state-level and federal-level moral courage?
  5. Research Ben & Jerry's founding (1978, Burlington, Vermont) and its social mission around living wages and environmental activism. Write a paragraph: How does a business founded in Vermont reflect Vermont's historical identity? Is this connection real or just marketing?
  6. Cross-state connection: Wisconsin was also founded on bold political principles — it was the birthplace of the Republican Party in 1854, specifically to oppose the spread of forced labor. How do Vermont and Wisconsin represent the same moral impulse from different eras?
  7. A Vermont maple sugarmaker needs about 40 gallons of sap to boil down into 1 gallon of syrup. Pure Vermont syrup sells for roughly $60/gallon retail (estimate). A single tap produces about 10 gallons of sap per season. Calculate: how many taps would you need to produce 50 gallons of syrup? What would your gross revenue be? Now subtract estimated costs for buckets, fuel to boil, and bottles — is this a profitable small business?
  8. Vermont has over 100 covered bridges built by timber-frame carpenters who joined massive beams with wooden pegs instead of nails. Draw a covered bridge in cross-section and label the truss, roof, deck, and abutments. Explain in one sentence why covering the bridge roof actually makes the wooden trusses last longer. Sketch one modification you would make if you were rebuilding it today.

Learning objectives

  • Evaluate Vermont's decision to join the U.S. as a principled negotiation, not automatic admission
  • Analyze Vermont's 1777 freedom constitution as more morally advanced than the U.S. Constitution it predated
  • Connect Vermont's independent spirit across eras: Green Mountain Boys, 14-year republic, progressive politics, social enterprise
  • Construct an argument about when small states have more moral freedom than large ones

Safety and evidence note

Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.

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