The States of America: New England: Volume Two

New Hampshire, Rhode Island, & Vermont

In One Volume, The Histories of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, & Vermont

Three small states. Three powerful stories. One surprising truth about American independence.

New Hampshire's granite peaks and "Live Free or Die" spirit. Rhode Island's defiant embrace of religious freedom and stubborn autonomy. Vermont's revolutionary birth as an independent republic. These three states seem to have little in common—one stretches to Canada, another fits inside a county, the third wasn't even part of the original thirteen colonies. Yet together they reveal the radical diversity at the heart of the American experiment.

This volume explores how a colony founded by heretics and exiles became an industrial powerhouse, how mountain settlers created their own nation before reluctantly joining the Union, and how a resource-poor frontier territory transformed itself into the first state to abolish slavery. From Roger Williams's Providence to the Green Mountain Boys' guerrilla warfare, from Portsmouth's merchant princes to the mill villages of the Blackstone Valley, from town meeting democracy to progressive reform, these histories illuminate the tensions between liberty and order, local and national, tradition and change that define America itself.

Drawing on the latest scholarship while remaining deeply accessible, The States of America: New England: Volume Two reveals how three of America's smallest states helped create its largest ideas. Their stories challenge everything we think we know about revolution, democracy, and what it means to be independent.

Perfect for history enthusiasts, travelers, and anyone seeking to understand the roots of American political culture.