Editing Vermont (section)

===Post Civil War to the present===
====Demographic changes====
Beginning in the mid-19th century, Vermont industries attracted numerous [[Irish Americans|Irish]], [[Scottish Americans|Scottish]], and [[Italian Americans|Italian]] [[Immigration|immigrants]], adding to its residents of mostly [[English Americans|English]] and some [[Quebec diaspora#United States|French Canadian]] ancestry. Many of the immigrants migrated to [[Barre, Vermont (city)|Barre]], where many worked as stonecutters of [[granite]], for which there was a national market. Vermont granite was used in major public buildings throughout the United States.

In this period, many Italian and Scottish women operated boarding houses to support their families. Such facilities helped absorb new residents and taught them the new culture; European immigrants peaked in number between 1890 and 1900. Typically immigrants boarded with people of their own language and ethnicity, but sometimes they boarded with others.<ref name="barre">{{cite web|url=http://vermonthistory.org/journal/74/05_Richards.pdf |author=Susan Richards| title=Making Home Pay: Italian and Scottish Boardinghouse Keepers in Barre, 1880–1910| work=Vermont History Journal |date=2005 |access-date=October 23, 2013}}</ref>

Gradually, the new immigrants assimilated into the state. Times of tension aroused divisions. In the early 20th century, some Vermonters were alarmed about the decline of rural areas; people left farming to move to cities and others seemed unable to fit within society. In addition, there was a wave of immigration by French Canadians, and Protestant Anglo-Americans feared being overtaken by the new immigrants, who added to the Catholic population of Irish and Italians. Based on the colonial past, some Yankee residents considered the French Canadians to have intermarried too frequently with Native Americans.<ref name="VT.ster">{{cite web |author=Lutz Kaelber |date=2009 |title=Eugenics: Compulsory Sterilization in 50 American States: Vermont |url=http://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/eugenics/VT/VT.html |access-date=May 14, 2019 |publisher=University of Vermont}}</ref>

In 1970, the population of Vermont stood at 444,732. By 1980, it had increased by over 65,000 to 511,456. That change, an increase of 15 percent, was the largest increase in Vermont's population since the days of the Revolutionary War.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1970s VT: Fears of a hippie invasion |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2015/04/03/vt-fears-hippie-invasion/70846514/ |access-date=August 17, 2023 |website=Burlington Free Press |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2002, the State of Vermont incorrectly reported that the Abenaki people had migrated north to [[Quebec]] by the end of the 17th century;<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dillon |first1=John |date=March 20, 2002 |title=State Says Abenaki Do Not Have "Continuous Presence" |url=https://archive.vpr.org/vpr-news/state-says-abenaki-do-not-have-continuous-presence/ |access-date=January 31, 2022 |website=Vermont Public Radio |archive-date=January 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131015556/https://archive.vpr.org/vpr-news/state-says-abenaki-do-not-have-continuous-presence/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> however, in 2011, the State of Vermont designated the [[Elnu Abenaki Tribe]] and the [[Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation]] as [[state-recognized tribes]]; in 2012 it recognized the [[Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi]] and the [[Koasek Traditional Band of the Koos Abenaki Nation]]. In 2016, the state governor proclaimed Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day.<ref name="recognition">{{cite web |author=Angela Evancie |date=November 4, 2016 |title=What Is The Status Of The Abenaki Native Americans In Vermont Today? |url=https://www.vpr.org/post/what-status-abenaki-native-americans-vermont-today#stream/0 |access-date=May 14, 2019 |publisher=VPR (Vermont Public Radio)}}</ref> Vermont has no [[federally recognized tribes]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Federal and State Recognized Tribes |url=https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/quad-caucus/list-of-federal-and-state-recognized-tribes.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221025051136/https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislators/quad-caucus/list-of-federal-and-state-recognized-tribes.aspx |archive-date=October 25, 2022 |access-date=January 31, 2022 |website=National Conference of State Legislatures}}</ref>

====Political changes====

Vermont approved women's suffrage decades before it became part of the national constitution. Women were first allowed to vote in the elections of December 18, 1880, when they were granted limited [[suffrage]]. They were first allowed to vote in town elections, and later in state legislative races.

In 1931, Vermont was the 29th state to pass a [[eugenics]] law. Vermont, like other states, sterilized some patients in institutions and persons it had identified through surveys as degenerate or unfit. It nominally had permission from the patients or their guardians, but abuses were documented. Two-thirds of the sterilizations were done on women, and poor, unwed mothers were targeted, among others. There is disagreement about how many sterilizations were performed; most were completed between 1931 and 1941, but such procedures were recorded as late as 1970.<ref name="VT.ster" />

In 1964, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] decision in ''[[Reynolds v. Sims]]'' required "[[one man, one vote]]" redistricting in all states. It had found that many state legislatures had not redistricted and were dominated by rural interests, years after the development of densely populated and industrial urban areas. In addition, it found that many states had an upper house based on geographical jurisdictions, such as counties. This gave disproportionate power to rural and lightly populated counties.<ref name="Udall">{{cite web |url=http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/udall/congrept/88th/641014.html |website=Congressman's Report |first=Morris K. |last=Udall |title=Reapportionment—I "One Man, One Vote" ... That's All She Wrote! |publisher=[[University of Arizona]] |date=October 14, 1964 |access-date=January 3, 2018 |archive-date=October 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010203724/http://www.library.arizona.edu/exhibits/udall/congrept/88th/641014.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The court ruled there was no basis for such a structure. Major changes in political apportionment took place in Vermont and other affected states.<ref name="Udall" />

In the 21st century, Vermont increasingly became defined by its progressivism. It was the first state to introduce [[civil union]]s in 2000 and the first state to legalize [[same-sex marriage]] in 2009, unforced by court challenge or ruling.<ref>{{cite news |last=Goodnough |first=Abby |date=April 7, 2009 |title=Vermont Legislature Makes Same-Sex Marriage Legal |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/us/08vermont.html |access-date=May 23, 2010}}</ref> On January 22, 2018, Vermont became the first state to legalize [[cannabis]] for recreational use by legislative action, and the ninth state in the United States to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. This law was signed by Republican Governor [[Phil Scott]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ring |first=Wilson |title=Vermont governor signs marijuana bill with 'mixed emotions' |url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/22/vermont-governor-scott-signs-pot-bill-mixed-emotions/1055063001/ |access-date=April 29, 2023 |website=Burlington Free Press |language=en-US}}</ref>