New England

“Live free or die!” the early residents of New Hampshire said, breaking off from Great Britain a full six months before the other colonies did in 1776, and later becoming the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution and thus bring that document into effect. Residents of The Granite State still have a streak of…

Vermont, probably derived from the French term les verts monts (“the green mountains”), still has a large portion of the population with a French background and used to be ruled by that nation. After being handed over to the British, then winning its own independence, Vermont became a republic that lasted from 1777-1791, ending its…