Hampshire Grants

By the mid-1700s, New England was a bustling place. As the population increased, land was at a premium. Farmers looked westward for plots of land to settle and farm. New Hampshire Governor Benning Wentworth established the New Hampshire Grant, or Hampshire Grants, for the area that extended from the Connecticut River to the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. This area of land, however, was in dispute. The New York Colony also claimed the land as its own, leading to ongoing clashes between the two governors and the settlers in the area. The result was the establishment of the Vermont Republic in 1777, which later became the State of Vermont.