127-662: The Burlington Free Press (sometimes referred to as "BFP" or "the Free Press") is a digital and print community news organization based in Burlington, Vermont , and owned by Gannett . It is one of the official "newspapers of record" for the State of Vermont. It was founded on June 15, 1827, as a weekly paper and turned daily in 1848 in response to the invention of the telegraph. Today, the Burlington Free Press
254-522: A slave catcher during the war, and at its end he pressed the British to return the slaves to their masters. With the British certificates of freedom in their belongings, the black loyalists, including Washington's slave Harry, sailed with their white counterparts out of New York harbor to Nova Scotia . More than 3,000 were resettled in Nova Scotia, where they were eventually granted land and formed
381-561: A Civil War fraternal group in Burlington. Nine days later, he became U.S. president when President McKinley died. In 1870, the waterfront was extended by construction of the Pine Street Barge Canal. This became polluted over the years and was a focus for cleanup in 2009 under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 's Superfund program. In fact, the entire Burlington waterfront was a derelict wasteland as late as
508-678: A committee, of which he was chair, to investigate "the Diseases and Physical Peculiarities of the Negro Race". Their report, first delivered to the Medical Association in an address, was published in their journal in 1851, and then reprinted in part in the widely circulated DeBow's Review . Whether slavery was to be limited to the Southern states that already had it, or whether it was to be permitted in new states made from
635-613: A community boathouse to anchor public redevelopment at the waterfront. The land filled into the harbor was eventually redesigned for public use in a decision of the Vermont Supreme Court in 1989. By 1990 the Burlington Bike Path was complete, from Oakledge Park in the south, to the Winooski River in the north. In 2004, Governor Howard Dean obtained funding for construction of a bike bridge across
762-463: A digital-only subscription as an alternative or supplement to print delivery. Non-subscribers are limited to five articles per month before they need to subscribe to see more content. The Burlington Free Press began as a weekly publication on June 15, 1827. It was created by lawyers Seneca Austin and Luman Foote in response to the 1828 presidential election cycle . The Burlington Sentinel , another Burlington newspaper, favored Andrew Jackson while
889-680: A distinction that has historically been reserved for television and radio publications. The Free Press, in the category "Daily newspapers, Circulation <30,000" has won several awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association (also known as "NENPA"). The Burlington Free Press won the "Distinguished Service to the First Amendment" award from the Scripps Howard Foundation in 2010 for its editorial work focusing on open government during
1016-534: A famous speech in the Senate in 1837, declared that slavery was "instead of an evil, a good – a positive good". Calhoun supported his view with the following reasoning: in every civilized society one portion of the community must live on the labor of another; learning, science, and the arts are built upon leisure; the African slave, kindly treated by his master and mistress and looked after in his old age,
1143-552: A focus on the towns of Burlington , Essex , South Burlington , Williston , Colchester , Winooski and Shelburne . Stories from the Associated Press and from the national USA Today Network are also pulled in to the Burlington Free Press website and printed paper to help round out coverage. The Burlington Free Press website carries both local and national stories, videos and live streams and offers
1270-516: A four-block pedestrian mall in the heart of the city, is the site of festivals throughout the year. Events such as the "South End Art Hop" and public galleries such as Pine Street Art Works , provide a forum for the visual arts in the South End. A "Festival of Fools" had an estimated 25,000 attendees at the Marketplace in 2009. The "Vermont Brewers Festival" had 9,600 attendees in 2009, and
1397-553: A future date, sometimes with an intermediary status of unpaid indentured servant. Abolition was in many cases a gradual process. Some slaveowners, primarily in the Upper South , freed their slaves, and charitable groups bought and freed others. The Atlantic slave trade was outlawed by individual states beginning during the American Revolution. The import trade was banned by Congress in 1808 , although smuggling
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#17327873129391524-480: A handful, freed their slaves by personal decision, often providing for manumission in wills but sometimes filing deeds or court papers to free individuals. Numerous slaveholders who freed their slaves cited revolutionary ideals in their documents; others freed slaves as a promised reward for service. From 1790 to 1810, the proportion of blacks free in the United States increased from 8 to 13.5 percent, and in
1651-572: A hundred thousand (nearly one in five black slaves) left their homes ... betting on British victory", but Cassandra Pybus states that between 20,000 and 30,000 is a more realistic number of slaves who defected to the British side during the war. Many slaves took advantage of the disruption of war to escape from their plantations to British lines or to fade into the general population. Upon their first sight of British vessels, thousands of slaves in Maryland and Virginia fled from their owners. Throughout
1778-414: A list of people who had not collected their mail from the postmaster. The daily Burlington Free Press paper cost subscribers $ 4 a year and was not an immediate success. It had only 275 subscribers in its first year. The population of Burlington was 7,000 at the time. Compare this to the weekly Burlington Free Press which had a circulation of 1,200. Early coverage included letters from the battlefields of
1905-422: A public question from there forward". After the new country's independence was secure, slavery was a topic of contention at the 1787 Constitutional Convention . Many of Founding Fathers of the United States were plantation owners who owned large numbers of enslaved laborers; the original Constitution preserved their right to own slaves, and they further gained a political advantage in owning slaves. Although
2032-550: A punishment for crime is still legal in the United States. By the time of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), the status of enslaved people had been institutionalized as a racial caste associated with African ancestry. During and immediately following the Revolution, abolitionist laws were passed in most Northern states and a movement developed to abolish slavery. The role of slavery under
2159-481: A significantly higher number and proportion of enslaved people in the population overall, as its commodity crops were labor-intensive. Early on, enslaved people in the South worked primarily on farms and plantations growing indigo , rice and tobacco ( cotton did not become a major crop until after the 1790s). In 1720, about 65 percent of South Carolina's population was enslaved. Planters (defined by historians in
2286-640: A single storm is 33.1 inches (84.1 cm), which fell January 2–3, 2010. For the Northeastern United States, a heat wave is defined as having three consecutive days of 90 °F (32 °C) or more. There were six such heat waves from 2000–2009. According to the 2020 United States census , there were 44,743 people living in Burlington. The racial makeup of the city was 85.6% White , 4.4% Black or African American , 0.4% American Indian , 4.6% Asian , and 4.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.8% of
2413-481: A strain on resources. About 500 soldiers died of disease, which was always a problem due to poor sanitation in army camps. Some soldiers were quartered in the main building at the University of Vermont , where a memorial plaque commemorates them. In a skirmish on August 2, 1813, British forces from Canada shelled Burlington. This is described as either a bold stroke by the British with an ineffectual response from
2540-405: A stronger. 4. The happiness of the governed is in no sense its object. 5. The temporal improvement or the eternal well-being of the governed is in no sense its object. The object of it has been distinctly stated in one sentence by Judge Ruffin ,— "The end is the profit of the master, his security, and the public safety." Slavery, then, is absolute despotism, of the most unmitigated form. In
2667-407: A weekly Innovate section on Thursdays. This section also includes the jobs listings. The Weekend section publishes on Thursdays. It contains arts and entertainment news from around Burlington and Chittenden County . This section also includes the crossword puzzle, jumble, comics and TV guide. Burlington, Vermont Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and
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#17327873129392794-548: A worldwide market and is based in neighboring South Burlington. Vermont Teddy Bear Company , whose founder started on a cart on a Burlington street, now ships custom teddy bears worldwide and is based in nearby Shelburne . Corporate headquarters located in Burlington include Burton Snowboards , Bruegger's , Lake Champlain Chocolates, Rhino Foods , and Seventh Generation Inc. In 2017 , Burlington had $ 591.7 million in retail sales . The Church Street Marketplace ,
2921-454: Is a moral and political evil. It is idle to expatiate on its disadvantages. I think it is a greater evil to the white than to the colored race. While my feelings are strongly enlisted in behalf of the latter, my sympathies are more deeply engaged for the former. The blacks are immeasurably better off here than in Africa, morally, physically, and socially. The painful discipline they are undergoing
3048-597: Is also a community center, a cultural resource for newly arrived immigrants to the Burlington area, and the city's only free public access computer center. Many of Burlington's historic buildings and sites have been recognized by their inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). In addition to 28 buildings, three shipwrecks and the Burlington Breakwater, the city encompasses 17 historic districts. Churches in Burlington include
3175-497: Is an annual event presented by the South End Arts and Business Association. Artists join businesses, artist studios, and galleries, which in turn open their doors to the public throughout the post-industrial section of Burlington, known as the "South End". The first Art Hop in 1993 had a little more than thirty artists and a dozen sites participating. In 2008, over 600 artists showcased their works in over 100 sites throughout
3302-473: Is better off than the free laborers of Europe; and under the slave system conflicts between capital and labor are avoided. The advantages of slavery in this respect, he concluded, "will become more and more manifest, if left undisturbed by interference from without, as the country advances in wealth and numbers". South Carolina army officer, planter , and railroad executive James Gadsden called slavery "a social blessing" and abolitionists "the greatest curse of
3429-455: Is necessary for their further instruction as a race, and will prepare them, I hope, for better things. How long their servitude may be necessary is known and ordered by a merciful Providence. However, as the abolitionist movement's agitation increased and the area developed for plantations expanded, apologies for slavery became more faint in the South. Leaders then described slavery as a beneficial scheme of labor management. John C. Calhoun , in
3556-668: Is part of the USA Today Network and offers local news coverage both in print and online. The Burlington Free Press print product is a "tall tab" newspaper that contains specialized sections that cover business, arts & entertainment, sports, food and local history. As a part of the USA Today Network , the Free Press also includes a daily inserted section from USA TODAY that covers national politics, entertainment and sports. The Burlington Free Press mainly reports on stories that occur in Chittenden County with
3683-547: Is well-distributed throughout the year, but the summer months are the wettest. The city's location east of Lake Champlain sometimes accounts for localized snow squalls , producing up to 13 inches (33 cm) in 12 hours on rare occasions. Annual snowfall averages 86 inches (218 cm), but this figure can fluctuate greatly from one year to another. Temperature extremes have ranged from −30 °F (−34 °C) on January 15, 1957, and February 12, 1979, to 101 °F (38 °C) on August 11, 1944. The most recorded snowfall from
3810-508: The Burlington Free Press in 1853 to G.W. Benedict. The Burlington Free Press absorbed the Burlington Daily Times and was suddenly publishing both a morning and an evening edition. In 1872, The Daily Sentinel , the Burlington Free Press' major competitor in the morning newspaper market closed its doors. The Free Press ceased publishing the evening edition and continued as a morning paper in 1882. In 1890, circulation of
3937-604: The Burlington Free Press was introduced in 1975 and it became the first seven-day newspaper in Vermont. In June 2012, the Burlington Free Press switched from broadsheet to all-color tall tabloid format . March 30, 2014 was the first edition of the Free Press that included the USA TODAY insert showing national news and national sports reporting. In June 2015, Gannett Company split into two entities: TEGNA and Gannett Company, Inc . The Burlington Free Press fell under
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4064-944: The Champlain Canal in 1823, the Erie Canal in 1825, and the Chambly Canal in 1843. Wharves allowed steamboats to connect freight and passengers with the Rutland & Burlington Railroad and the Vermont Central Railroad . Burlington became a bustling lumbering and manufacturing center – for some time the third largest lumber market in the world – and was incorporated as a city in 1865. Its Victorian-era prosperity left behind much fine architecture, including buildings by Ammi B. Young , H.H. Richardson , and McKim, Mead & White . On September 5, 1901, U.S. vice president Theodore Roosevelt spoke to
4191-585: The Civil War , women's suffrage and prohibition . Under ownership of George Wyllys Benedict and his son George G. Benedict (owners 1853–1897), the paper was strongly and vocally opposed to slavery , which was the issue of the day. In 1868, the Free Press Association was formed and purchased the Burlington Daily Times , a daily morning newspaper founded by former Burlington Free Press owner and editor DeWitt Clinton Clarke after he sold
4318-793: The Confederacy . Shortly afterward, the Civil War began when Confederate forces attacked the U.S. Army's Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. During the war some jurisdictions abolished slavery and, due to Union measures such as the Confiscation Acts and the Emancipation Proclamation , the war effectively ended slavery in most places. After the Union victory, the Thirteenth Amendment to
4445-620: The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 gave effect to the Fugitive Slave Clause. Salmon P. Chase considered the Fugitive Slave Acts unconstitutional because "The Fugitive Slave Clause was a compact among the states, not a grant of power to the federal government". In a section negotiated by James Madison of Virginia, Section 2 of Article I designated "other persons" (slaves) to be added to
4572-573: The UVM Medical Center , is within the city limits. The City of Burlington owns Vermont's largest airport, the Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport , located in neighboring South Burlington . In 2015, Burlington became the first city in the U.S. to run entirely on renewable energy . Two theories have been put forward regarding the origin of Burlington's name. The first is that it
4699-621: The United States Congress acted on President Thomas Jefferson 's advice and, without controversy, made importing slaves from abroad a federal crime, effective the first day that the United States Constitution permitted this prohibition: January 1, 1808. During the Revolution and in the following years, all states north of Maryland ( the Mason–Dixon line ) took steps towards abolishing slavery. In 1777,
4826-571: The United States Constitution (1789) was the most contentious issue during its drafting. The Three-Fifths Clause of the Constitution gave slave states disproportionate political power, while the Fugitive Slave Clause ( Article IV, Section 2, Clause 3 ) provided that, if a slave escaped to another state, the other state could not prevent the return of the slave to the person claiming to be his or her owner. All Northern states had abolished slavery to some degree by 1805, sometimes with completion at
4953-473: The Upper South from less than one to nearly ten percent as a result of these actions. Starting in 1777, the rebels outlawed the importation of slaves state by state. They all acted to end the international trade, but, after the war, it was reopened in North Carolina (opened until 1794) and Georgia (opened until 1798) and South Carolina (opened until 1787, and then reopened again in 1803.) In 1807,
5080-660: The Vermont Republic , which was still unrecognized by the United States, passed a state constitution prohibiting slavery . The Pennsylvania Abolition Society , led in part by Benjamin Franklin , was founded in 1775, and Pennsylvania began gradual abolition in 1780. In 1783, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled in Commonwealth v. Jennison that slavery was unconstitutional under
5207-652: The cotton industry in the Deep South after the invention of the cotton gin greatly increased demand for slave labor, and the Southern states continued as slave societies. The U.S., divided into slave and free states , became ever more polarized over the issue of slavery. Driven by labor demands from new cotton plantations in the Deep South , the Upper South sold more than a million slaves who were taken to
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5334-524: The crime of apartheid . The American Jewish Committee condemned the resolution as "deceptive and one-sided" and criticized it for its sole focus on Israel. A coalition of local rabbis and community groups condemned the resolution as well, citing the timing of the vote during the Jewish High Holy Days , between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur , and fears that the resolution would fuel antisemitism . Former mayor Miro Weinberger called
5461-570: The seat of Chittenden County . It is located 45 miles (72 km) south of the Canada–United States border and 95 miles (153 km) south of Montreal . As of the 2020 U.S. census , the population was 44,743. It is the least populous city in the 50 U.S. states to be the most populous city in its state . A regional college town , Burlington is home to the University of Vermont (UVM) and Champlain College . Vermont's largest hospital,
5588-608: The "Giant Pumpkin Regatta and Festival" had 5,000 attendees that same year; Saturday Night Live satirized the event. One of the largest year-round farmers' markets in the state of Vermont is located in the city. Dragon boat races to benefit charity have been held in Lake Champlain in August since 2006. In 2009, there were approximately 2,000 participants on 86 teams. An annual First Night community celebration of
5715-468: The 19th century, proponents of slavery often defended the institution as a "necessary evil". At that time, it was feared that emancipation of black slaves would have more harmful social and economic consequences than the continuation of slavery. On April 22, 1820, Thomas Jefferson , one of the Founding Fathers of the United States , wrote in a letter to John Holmes , that with slavery, We have
5842-615: The 2010 elections. It was a finalist in 2008 for the same award. Today, the Burlington Free Press is printed in full color and produced in 'butterfly' format. Each section is layered on top of each other and then the whole paper is folded in half to create one booklet. The sections can be separated, or read together. The 'Main' or 'A' section of the Burlington Free Press contains news coverage including politics, society, weather, crime, education and sports. It also contains obituaries, birth announcements, wedding announcements and advertisements from both local and national businesses. Depending on
5969-840: The American Continental Army . Rhode Island started enlisting slaves in 1778, and promised compensation to owners whose slaves enlisted and survived to gain freedom. During the course of the war, about one-fifth of the Northern army was black. In 1781, Baron Closen, a German officer in the French Royal Deux-Ponts Regiment at the Battle of Yorktown , estimated the American army to be about one-quarter black. These men included both former slaves and free-born blacks. Thousands of free blacks in
6096-483: The Americans or as a weak sally by the British, which was rightly ignored by the Americans. The cannonade lasted about 10 minutes and caused no casualties. The American troops involved were commanded by Naval Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough , later a hero of the Battle of Lake Champlain . The town's position on Lake Champlain helped it develop into a port of entry and center for trade, particularly after completion of
6223-482: The Benedict family (1853-1897), the Free Press was listed several times on the 100 best newspapers in the United States list. The Burlington Free Press was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for Editorial Writing by Aki Soga and Michael Townsend. Specifically for their campaign that resulted in the state's first reform of open government laws in 35 years. The Free Press has won many Edward R. Murrow Awards ,
6350-868: The British forces. Historians agree that the proclamation was chiefly designed for practical rather than moral reasons, and slaves owned by American Loyalists were unaffected by the proclamation. About 1,500 slaves owned by patriots escaped and joined Dunmore's forces. A total of 18 slaves fled George Washington 's plantation, one of whom, Harry, served in Dunmore's all-black loyalist regiment called "the Black Pioneers". Escapees who joined Dunmore had "Liberty to Slaves" stitched on to their jackets. Most died of disease before they could do any fighting, but three hundred of these freed slaves made it to freedom in Britain. Historian Jill Lepore writes that "between eighty and
6477-434: The British war effort. Such proclamations were repeatedly issued over the course of the conflict, which resulted in up to 100,000 American slaves fleeing to British lines. Self-emancipated slaves who reached British lines were organized into a variety of military units, which served in all theaters of the war. Formerly enslaved women and children, in lieu of military service, worked instead as laborers and domestic servants. At
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#17327873129396604-641: The Burlington Free Press offices moved from College Street to occupy the new facility at 100 Bank St. In 2021, the Burlington Free Press moved out of offices in downtown Burlington to leased space in nearby Williston, VT. The Burlington Free Press has had many size changes and format changes throughout its history, the most drastic of which was in June 2012 when it switched from broadsheet to an all-color "tall tab" format. The Burlington Free Press has won numerous awards and accolades honoring both its reporters and its online presence. Under ownership and management of
6731-455: The Burlington area. The first telegraph message was received in Burlington on February 2, 1848. Editor DeWitt Clinton Clarke (1846-1853) made the following statement regarding the telegraph: "We trust it did not escape the notice of our readers that our Saturday evening's paper contained news from New York of that very afternoon – half past two o'clock! The wonders achieved by the telegraph are absolutely incredible if one attempts to reflect on
6858-812: The College Street Congregational Church ( United Church of Christ ), The Burlington Church of Christ, and the non-denominational Church at the Well. The Conservative Ohavi Zedek synagogue is also located in the city, and there is an active Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Synagogues in Burlington include the Chabad of Vermont, Ohavi Zedek, Ahavath Gerim, Ruach HaMaqom, and Ohavi Zedek Chavurah. The Howard Mortuary Chapel in Lakeview Cemetery
6985-597: The Deep South. The total slave population in the South eventually reached four million. As the U.S. expanded, the Southern states attempted to extend slavery into the new Western territories to allow proslavery forces to maintain power in Congress. The new territories acquired by the Louisiana Purchase and the Mexican Cession were the subject of major political crises and compromises. Slavery
7112-448: The Free Press had 26,703 subscribers. That number rose to 33,225 in 1962. In the 1960s and 1970s, The Burlington Free Press remained a Republican newspaper in a state that was slowly moving across the political spectrum toward Democratic . The Free Press stood behind Richard Nixon throughout the Watergate scandal . The Burlington Free Press merged with Gannett. Co., Inc. based in Rochester, N.Y. in 1971. The Sunday edition of
7239-438: The Free Press, under Austin and Foote, supported incumbent President John Quincy Adams . The format of the weekly Burlington Free Press was four pages, with five columns of copy on each page. The paper itself was 18 inches long. The weekly newspaper published every Friday. The Burlington Free Press became a daily newspaper on April 1, 1848, in response to the invention of the telegraph that brought more up-to-date news to
7366-408: The Heart, where patients have access to art supplies and devoted volunteer time. The Fletcher Free Library was established in 1873, endowed by Mary Martha Fletcher , the daughter of a local businessman, but outgrew its initial building on Church Street by 1901. A new building was constructed in 1901–04 with funds provided by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie , making it the first of
7493-441: The North Avenue Alliance Church, First Baptist Church, First Congregational Church, the Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Paul , the First United Methodist Church, Christ Church ( Presbyterian ), the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St. Joseph —the episcopal see for the Diocese of Burlington , the First Unitarian Universalist Society, Dormition of the Mother of God Orthodox Church ( Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ),
7620-406: The North had to search for employment. George Fitzhugh used assumptions about white superiority to justify slavery, writing that, "the Negro is but a grown up child, and must be governed as a child." In The Universal Law of Slavery , Fitzhugh argues that slavery provides everything necessary for life and that the slave is unable to survive in a free world because he is lazy, and cannot compete with
7747-434: The North might well have lost. Slavery was a contentious issue in the writing and approval of the Constitution of the United States . The words "slave" and "slavery" did not appear in the Constitution as originally adopted, although several provisions clearly referred to slaves and slavery. Until the adoption of the 13th Amendment in 1865, the Constitution did not prohibit slavery. Section 9 of Article I forbade
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#17327873129397874-483: The Northern states fought in the state militias and Continental Army. In the South, both sides offered freedom to slaves who would perform military service. Roughly 20,000 slaves fought in the American Revolution. After the Revolutionary War broke out, the British realized they lacked the manpower necessary to prosecute the war. In response, British commanders began issuing proclamations to Patriot-owned slaves, offering freedom if they fled to British lines and assisted
8001-524: The Northern states had passed laws outlawing slavery, either immediately or over time. In New York, the last slaves were freed in 1827 (celebrated with a big July 5 parade). Indentured servitude , which had been widespread in the colonies (half the population of Philadelphia had once been indentured servants ), dropped dramatically, and disappeared by 1800. However, there were still forcibly indentured servants in New Jersey in 1860. No Southern state abolished slavery, but some individual owners, more than
8128-399: The South End of Burlington. The event takes place on the Friday and Saturday following Labor Day in September. The city has an art department, Burlington City Arts, which serves many roles including cultural planning, education, showing contemporary art and hosting cultural events at The BCA Center . Burlington City Arts also runs a program in collaboration with UVM Medical Center, Art from
8255-438: The South, losses of slaves were high, with many due to escapes. Slaves also escaped throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic, with many joining the British who had occupied New York. In the closing months of the war, the British evacuated freedmen and also removed slaves owned by loyalists. Around 15,000 black loyalists left with the British, most of them ending up as free people in England or its colonies. Washington hired
8382-507: The Union address), went into effect on January 1, 1808, the earliest date on which the importation of slaves could be prohibited under the Constitution. The delegates approved the Fugitive Slave Clause of the Constitution ( Article IV, section 2, clause 3 ), which prohibited states from freeing those "held to Service or Labour" (meaning slaves, indentures, and apprentices) who fled to them from another state and required that they be returned to their owners. The Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 and
8509-507: The United States Constitution was ratified on December 6, 1865, prohibiting "slavery [and] involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime." During most of the British colonial period, slavery existed in all the colonies. People enslaved in the North typically worked as house servants, artisans, laborers and craftsmen, with the greater number in cities. Many men worked on the docks and in shipping. In 1703, more than 42 percent of New York City households held enslaved people in bondage,
8636-430: The United States was a variable thing, in "constant flux, driven by the violent pursuit of ever-larger profits." According to demographic calculations by J. David Hacker of the University of Minnesota, approximately four out of five of all of the slaves who ever lived in the United States or the territory that became the United States (beginning in 1619 and including all colonies that were eventually acquired or conquered by
8763-426: The United States) were born in or imported to the United States in the 19th century. Slaves were the labor force of the South, but slave ownership was also the foundation upon which American white supremacy was constructed. Historian Walter Johnson argues that "one of the many miraculous things a slave could do was make a household white...", meaning that the value of whiteness in America was in some ways measured by
8890-509: The United States. Under the law, an enslaved person was treated as property that could be bought, sold, or given away. Slavery lasted in about half of U.S. states until abolition in 1865, and issues concerning slavery seeped into every aspect of national politics, economics, and social custom. In the decades after the end of Reconstruction in 1877, many of slavery's economic and social functions were continued through segregation , sharecropping , and convict leasing . Involuntary servitude as
9017-402: The Upper South as those who held 20 or more slaves) used enslaved workers to cultivate commodity crops. They also worked in the artisanal trades on large plantations and in many Southern port cities. The later wave of settlers in the 18th century who settled along the Appalachian Mountains and backcountry were backwoods subsistence farmers , and they seldom held enslaved people. Beginning in
9144-556: The Winooski River, allowing the bike path to be extended four miles out into the lake on the old railroad causeway to the Champlain Islands, now known as the Island Line Trail. In 1978, the ice cream enterprise Ben & Jerry's was founded in Burlington in a renovated gas station. It became a national brand, with retail outlets in numerous cities. The local bicycle advocacy that emerged from this effort led to
9271-399: The ability to purchase and maintain black slaves. Harriet Beecher Stowe described slavery in the United States in 1853: What, then, is American slavery, as we have seen it exhibited by law, and by the decision of Courts? Let us begin by stating what it is not: 1. It is not apprenticeship. 2. It is not guardianship. 3. It is in no sense a system for the education of a weaker race by
9398-505: The air, as to build either the one or the other, except on this mud-sill." Hammond believed that in every class one group must accomplish all the menial duties, because without them the leaders in society could not progress. He argued that the hired laborers of the North were slaves too: "The difference ... is, that our slaves are hired for life and well compensated; there is no starvation, no begging, no want of employment," while those in
9525-591: The arts on New Year's Eve was founded in 1983 with funding from the National Endowment on the Arts and Vermont Council on the Arts. It ran for 35 years before shutting down in 2018. Drag troupe, the House of LeMay , hosts the annual "Winter is a Drag Ball" which raises funds for HIV/AIDS-related organizations. The Emily Post Institute , an etiquette organization, is headquartered here. The city has, over
9652-424: The assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the idea of a Government built upon it – when the "storm came and the wind blew, it fell". Our new [Confederate] Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to
9779-611: The attitudes of white Southerners, and the concentration of the black population in the South, were bringing the white and black populations to a state of equilibrium, and were a danger to both races. Because of the racial differences between master and slave, he believed that the latter could not be emancipated. In a letter to his wife dated December 27, 1856, in reaction to a message from President Franklin Pierce , Robert E. Lee wrote, There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution
9906-715: The city council to "express its solidarity with the Palestinian people, condemn anti-boycott legislation, and endorse the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which calls for nonviolent pressure on Israel." The authors' stated reasons for introducing the resolution were Israeli settlements in the West Bank, an ongoing "military siege and an economic blockade" of Gaza , and US military aid to Israel. They also cited reports by Human Rights Watch and B'Tselem that find Israel guilty of
10033-460: The city's bond credit rating at Aa3, "high" quality. The largest employers in the city, and the state overall, are the University of Vermont Medical Center and the University of Vermont , employing over 8,200 and 4,125 people, respectively. Other companies in Burlington include Blodgett Ovens, one of the oldest and largest commercial oven companies in the country, which manufactures restaurant equipment. General Electric develops software for
10160-476: The colonial era were unevenly distributed: 14,867 lived in New England , where they were three percent of the population; 34,679 lived in the mid-Atlantic colonies , where they were six percent of the population; and 347,378 in the five Southern Colonies , where they were 31 percent of the population. The South developed an agricultural economy dependent on commodity crops . Its planters rapidly acquired
10287-455: The community of the black Nova Scotians . In the first two decades after the American Revolution, state legislatures and individuals took actions to free slaves. Northern states passed new constitutions that contained language about equal rights or specifically abolished slavery; some states, such as New York and New Jersey, where slavery was more widespread, passed laws by the end of the 18th century to abolish slavery incrementally. By 1804, all
10414-423: The daily Free Press was 3,250. In 1894, the Free Press employed Walter J. Bigelow as night editor. He remained in this position until 1909. A Republican , he served as mayor of Burlington from 1907 to 1909. The Free Press installed the first Linotype printing press in Vermont in 1895. In 1900, circulation of the daily Free Press was 4,649. That increased to 7,366 in 1907, 8,569 in 1914 and 11,459 in 1922. In
10541-427: The day of the week, the section can be anywhere from 16 to 32 pages in length. The USA TODAY section is included every day as the 'B' section of the paper. It is produced at the national USA TODAY office and is inserted into the Burlington Free Press at the time of printing. It contains national news, politics, entertainment and business. The Burlington Free Press publishes its business and technology news in
10668-608: The differences between the Constitution of the Confederate States and the United States Constitution , laid out the cause for the American Civil War, as he saw it, and defended slavery: The new [Confederate] Constitution has put at rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institutions – African slavery as it exists among us – the proper status of
10795-460: The end of 1922, the Burlington Free Press stopped publication of the Friday weekly edition. In 1927, the Free Press had 14,468 subscribers. Photo-engraving was added to the Burlington Free Press' capabilities in 1929 and the paper was able to produce photo news coverage. In 1932, the circulation of the daily Free Press was 16,554 and increased to 23,500 only fifteen years later in 1947. In 1950,
10922-596: The end of the war, freed slaves in British lines either evacuated to other British colonies or to Britain itself, were re-enslaved by the victorious Americans, or fled into the countryside. In early 1775, the royal governor of Virginia , Lord Dunmore , wrote to the Earl of Dartmouth of his intention to free slaves owned by American Patriots in case they staged a rebellion. On November 7, 1775, Dunmore issued Dunmore's Proclamation , which promised freedom to any slaves of American patriots who would leave their masters and join
11049-457: The enslaved of the early Republic were considered sentient property, were not permitted to vote, and had no rights to speak of, they were to be enumerated in population censuses and counted as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of representation in the national legislature, the U.S. Congress . The rebels began to offer freedom as an incentive to motivate slaves to fight on their side. Washington authorized slaves to be freed who fought with
11176-639: The enslavement primarily of Africans and African Americans , was prevalent in the United States of America from its founding in 1776 until 1865, predominantly in the South . Slavery was established throughout European colonization in the Americas . From 1526, during the early colonial period , it was practiced in what became Britain's colonies , including the Thirteen Colonies that formed
11303-469: The federal government from prohibiting the importation of slaves, described as "such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit", for twenty years after the Constitution's ratification (until January 1, 1808). The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807 , passed by Congress and signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson (who had called for its enactment in his 1806 State of
11430-480: The formation of the non-profit Local Motion. They now run a bike ferry during the summer to get bicycles across a 200 yard gap in the railroad causeway, so they can get all the way out to the Lake Champlain islands. In 2021, following the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis , the city council scheduled a vote on a "Resolution In Solidarity with the Palestinian People" for September 13. The resolution called on
11557-459: The four Carnegie libraries in Vermont. It was designed in the Beaux-Arts style by Walter R. B. Willcox of Burlington, who won a competition to receive the commission. The building had major settling problems in 1973 where it had been built over a former railroad ravine, which had been improperly filled in, and the library's collection was moved elsewhere. The possible razing of the building
11684-576: The healthcare industry in South Burlington at the former headquarters of IDX Systems , which it purchased in 2006. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products division employ 450 workers locally. A solely owned subsidiary, the division is based here. Dealer.com, a leading automotive internet marketing company, employs over 700 people. Ben & Jerry's began in 1978 when Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield opened their first ice cream scoop shop in an old gas station in Burlington and now has
11811-400: The historian James Oliver Horton noted, prominent slaveholder politicians and the commodity crops of the South had a strong influence on United States politics and economy. Horton said, in the 72 years between the election of George Washington and the election of Abraham Lincoln, 50 of those years [had] a slaveholder as president of the United States , and, for that whole period of time, there
11938-523: The intelligent European white race. He states that "The negro slaves of the South are the happiest, and in some sense, the freest people in the world." Without the South, "He (slave) would become an insufferable burden to society" and "Society has the right to prevent this, and can only do so by subjecting him to domestic slavery." On March 21, 1861, Alexander Stephens , Vice President of the Confederacy, delivered his Cornerstone Speech . He explained
12065-505: The leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with; but the general opinion of the men of that day was, that, somehow or other, in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away ... Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon
12192-532: The mid-1980s, with rail yards, industrial uses and 90 oil storage tanks crowding the 60 acres of shoreline filled into the harbor during the lumbering era. In 1980 two 18 story luxury condominium towers were proposed for the waterfront, just north of College Street. Opposition to that proposal led to the formation of the Citizens Waterfront Group to advocate for a bike path along the shore instead. In 1987 former Mayor Bernie Sanders proposed
12319-822: The mouth of the Winooski River along the lake shore, and rises from the water's edge to a height of 300 feet (91 m). A large ravine in what is now downtown was filled in with refuse and raw sewage in the 19th century to make way for further development. Burlington is characterized by its neighborhoods, which are generally recognized as follows: Burlington has a hot-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfa ), with cold winters and humid summers. The monthly daily average temperatures range from 21 °F (−6.1 °C) in January to 72 °F (22.2 °C) in July. The annual precipitation of 43 inches (1,092 mm)
12446-421: The nation". Gadsden was in favor of South Carolina's secession in 1850, and was a leader in efforts to split California into two states, one slave and one free . Other Southern writers who also began to portray slavery as a positive good were James Henry Hammond and George Fitzhugh . They presented several arguments to defend the practice of slavery in the South. Hammond, like Calhoun, believed that slavery
12573-438: The negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the "rock upon which the old Union would split." He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of
12700-399: The new Gannett Company Inc., which is the publishing side of the old Gannett Company. Gannett Co. Inc. owns USA TODAY , over 100 daily newspapers and nearly 1,000 weekly newspapers. In February 2024, the newspaper announced it will switch print delivery from carrier to postal. From the creation of the Burlington Free Press in 1827 to 1833, the offices were located in Burlington, Vermont on
12827-403: The north side of Court House Square, now City Hall Park, on College St. between Church and St. Paul Streets. In 1833, new owner Henry B. Stacy built new offices on College Street between South Winooski Avenue and Church Street. He retained the upper floors of the building as a residence for his family. The offices on College Street continued to grow, and additional space surrounding the building
12954-474: The political power of Southern states, as three-fifths of the (non-voting) slave population was counted for congressional apportionment and in the Electoral College , although it did not strengthen Southern states as much as it would have had the Constitution provided for counting all persons, whether slave or free, equally. In addition, many parts of the country were tied to the Southern economy. As
13081-403: The population was below the poverty threshold . The median value of owner-occupied housing units was $ 338,100. Burlington's economy centers on education, health services, trade, transportation, and utilities, and some manufacturing. In February 2023 , the city had an unemployment rate of 2.1%. Mean annual wages were $ 63,180 in 2022 ; the state was $ 59,190. As of 2019 , Moody's set
13208-484: The population. There were 17,174 households and the average number of persons per household was 2.16. According to the American Community Survey for 2017–2021, the median income for a household in the city was $ 59,331. Among workers with full-time, year-round work, males had a median income of $ 50,552 versus $ 38,418 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 34,054. About 23.8% of
13335-419: The resolution "inappropriate and counterproductive." In a 6–5 vote, the council decided to withdraw the resolution. In 2023, three Palestinian-American students were shot and injured in an incident during Thanksgiving break. The city of Burlington is situated on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain , north of Shelburne Bay. It was built on a strip of land extending about 6 miles (9.7 km) south from
13462-493: The second half of the 18th century, a debate emerged over the continued importation of African slaves to the American colonies. Many in the colonies, including the Southern slavocracy , opposed further importation of slaves due to fears that it would destabilize colonies and lead to further slave rebellions . In 1772, prominent Virginians submitted a petition to the Crown , requesting that the slave trade to Virginia be abolished; it
13589-422: The second-highest proportion of any city in the colonies, behind only Charleston, South Carolina . Enslaved people were also used as agricultural workers in farm communities, especially in the South , but also in upstate New York and Long Island , Connecticut , and New Jersey . By 1770, there were 397,924 blacks out of a population of 2.17 million in what would soon become the United States. The slaves of
13716-401: The size of the United States, and it was established at the insistence of Cutler and Putnam as "free soil" – no slavery. This was to prove crucial a few decades later. Had those states been slave states, and their electoral votes gone to Abraham Lincoln's main opponent, Lincoln would not have become president. The Civil War would not have been fought. Even if it eventually had been,
13843-487: The state's new 1780 constitution . New Hampshire began gradual emancipation in 1783, while Connecticut and Rhode Island followed suit in 1784. The New York Manumission Society , which was led by John Jay , Alexander Hamilton , and Aaron Burr , was founded in 1785. New York state began gradual emancipation in 1799, and New Jersey did the same in 1804. Shortly after the Revolution, the Northwest Territory
13970-591: The subject." The daily Burlington Free Press was published in the evening every day except Sunday to offset the leading Burlington morning paper, The Daily Sentinel . The weekly edition was continued on Fridays until March 29, 1923. The format of the daily Burlington Free Press consisted of one column of editorial, three columns of political and general news, half a column of state and local news and 100 words or less of telegraphic news (reported from afar and transferred via telegraph to Burlington ). 15 columns were dedicated to advertisements and "uncalled for letters",
14097-413: The superior race, is his natural and moral condition. This view of the "Negro race" was backed by pseudoscience . The leading researcher was Dr. Samuel A. Cartwright , a Southerner and the inventor of the mental illnesses of drapetomania (the desire of a slave to run away) and dysaesthesia aethiopica ("rascality"), both cured, according to him, by whipping. The Medical Association of Louisiana set up
14224-547: The total of the state's free population, at the rate of three-fifths of their total number, to establish the state's official population for the purposes of apportionment of congressional representation and federal taxation. The "Three-Fifths Compromise" was reached after a debate in which delegates from Southern (slaveholding) states argued that slaves should be counted in the census just as all other persons were while delegates from Northern (free) states countered that slaves should not be counted at all. The compromise strengthened
14351-585: The wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other. The French writer and traveler Alexis de Tocqueville , in his influential Democracy in America (1835), expressed opposition to slavery while observing its effects on American society. He felt that a multiracial society without slavery was untenable, as he believed that prejudice against blacks increased as they were granted more rights (for example, in Northern states). He believed that
14478-750: The years, supported several local bands and has launched a handful of national acts. The most famous of these is Phish , which originated at UVM in 1983. Other acts with ties to the city include Matisyahu , Kat Wright , Strangefolk , The Essex Green , RAQ , James Kochalka , The Jazz Mandolin Project , Pork Tornado , Anaïs Mitchell , Greg Davis , Koushik , Grace Potter and the Nocturnals , Dispatch , Prydein , Eugene Hutz of Gogol Bordello , Noah Kahan , Morgan Page , KT Tunstall , Rubblebucket , The Vacant Lots , Drowningman , 99 Neighbors , Greg Freeman, and Twiddle . The "South End Art Hop"
14605-547: Was a legal practise and had become entrenched socially and economically in many societies. The ideals and principles promoted in the Enlightenment and the American Revolution helped to put slavery and the desire for its abolition on the political agenda. As historian Christopher L. Brown put it, slavery "had never been on the agenda in a serious way before", but the American Revolution "forced it to be
14732-398: Was awarded by New Hampshire colonial governor Benning Wentworth on June 7, 1763, to Samuel Willis and 63 others. In the summer of 1775, settlers began clearing the land and built two or three log huts, but the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War delayed permanent settlement until after its conclusion. The town was organized in 1785. In 1808 the world's first lake-going steamboat
14859-686: Was built in 1882 as a gift to the City of Burlington from Hannah Louisa Howard, a local philanthropist. A native of the city, she was the daughter of John Howard, a successful Burlington hotelier. The chapel was designed in the High Victorian Gothic style by Alfred Benjamin Fisher, on cemetery grounds designed by E. C. Ryer in 1871. Slavery in the United States The legal institution of human chattel slavery , comprising
14986-492: Was built in Burlington. The War of 1812 was unpopular in Vermont and the rest of New England , which had numerous trading ties with Canada. Neither Vermont nor other New England states provided militia units or financial support. Vermont voters supported the Federalist Party , which opposed the war. At one point during the war, the U.S. had 5,000 troops stationed in Burlington, outnumbering residents and putting
15113-408: Was common thereafter, at which point the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service (Coast Guard) began enforcing the law on the high seas. It has been estimated that before 1820 a majority of serving congressmen owned slaves, and that about 30 percent of congressmen who were born before 1840 (some of whom served into the 20th century) at some time in their lives, were owners of slaves. The rapid expansion of
15240-568: Was defended in the South as a "positive good" , and the largest religious denominations split over the slavery issue into regional organizations of the North and South. By 1850, the newly rich, cotton-growing South threatened to secede from the Union . Bloody fighting broke out over slavery in the Kansas Territory . When Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election on a platform of halting the expansion of slavery, slave states seceded to form
15367-470: Was established, by Manasseh Cutler and Rufus Putnam (who had been George Washington's chief engineer). Both Cutler and Putnam came from Puritan New England. The Puritans strongly believed that slavery was morally wrong. Their influence on the issue of slavery was long-lasting, and this was provided significantly greater impetus by the Revolution. The Northwest Territory (which became Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota) doubled
15494-483: Was named after Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington , and the second is that the name honors the politically prominent and wealthy Burling family of New York. While no Burling family members are listed as grantees of the town, the family held large tracts of land in nearby towns, some of which were granted on the same day as Burlington. One of the New Hampshire grants , the land that was developed as Burlington
15621-462: Was needed to build the rest of society. In a speech to the Senate on March 4, 1858, Hammond developed his "Mudsill Theory", defending his view on slavery by stating: "Such a class you must have, or you would not have that other class which leads progress, civilization, and refinement. It constitutes the very mud-sill of society and of political government; and you might as well attempt to build a house in
15748-497: Was never a person elected to a second term who was not a slaveholder. The power of Southern states in Congress lasted until the Civil War , affecting national policies, legislation, and appointments. One result was that most of the justices appointed to the Supreme Court were slave owners. The planter elite dominated the Southern congressional delegations and the United States presidency for nearly fifty years. Slavery in
15875-480: Was purchased until it comprised twelve buildings. The buildings were connected by ramps, tunnels and sky-walks to allow freedom of movement for workers in the winter months. In September 2013, seven of the twelve buildings were sold to the Handy family. The Burlington Free Press held on to the five buildings on South Winooski Ave. that housed the printing press, mail room and circulation department. On January 20, 2014,
16002-467: Was rejected. Rhode Island forbade the importation of slaves in 1774. The influential revolutionary Fairfax Resolves called for an end to the "wicked, cruel and unnatural" Atlantic slave trade. All of the colonies banned slave importations during the Revolutionary War. Slavery had existed for thousands of years, all around the world. In the United States and many parts of the world it
16129-649: Was stopped by a citizens' committee, which successfully had it added to the National Register of Historic Places , and a grant allowed the stabilization and repair of the building. A new modern addition was completed in 1981. The largest public library in Vermont, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places , the Fletcher Free Library had a budget of over $ 1 million in 2002. It circulated more books, had more visitors, and had more computers, than any other library in Vermont. In addition to its primary services as Burlington's public library, it
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