why does new york and vermont not like each other?

Question

my history teacher said they did not like each other I want to know why.

Answer 1

Well, according to what I've read, back in the days when America was still a colony of Britain, Vermont was "claimed" by both the New Hampshire and New York provinces (as they were then). This led to each rival province allowing settlers in to Vermont.

IT seems that the first settlers in Vermont were from New Hampshire, and violence broke out when the New York settlers tried to move in. I guess in those days the people were afraid that they'd lose their rights, and be marginalised if they allowed people from the "other side" to move in.

To make a long story short, the fight over land led to the New Hampshire people in Vermont to try and form their own country - that is they rebelled against the British, and a while after became the 14th state to join the Union.

Even after they joined the US, there was conflict between the descendants of the people who descended from New Hampshire, and those who descended from the New Yorkers. This was because of a range of mountains (the Green Mountains) which split Vermont into two parts: the East (New Hampshire immigrants) and West (New York immigrants). This isolated each group, and encouraged rivalry between them.

I hope this helped a bit, and you can read the Wikipedia entry on Vermont from the link below (paragraphs labelled " New Hampshire Grants and the Vermont Republic" and "Politically Upward Mobility 1830-1916".

Answer 2

Ask your teacher