Then Again: Vermont and New Hampshire, a long rivalry [View all]
Then Again: Vermont and New Hampshire, a long rivalry
VTDigger / by Mark Bushnell / May 19, 2024 at 7:02 AM
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New Hampshires colonial governor Benning Wentworth started a feud with New York when he issued grants to scores of towns in what is today Vermont. Wentworths goal had been to raise money to repay his colonys debts and enrich himself in the process. Image from Wikimedia Commons
Comedian Paula Poundstone noticed this dispute some years ago while performing in Burlington. When she mentioned New Hampshire, the audience hissed. She was shocked, or at least she pretended to be. (Poundstone grew up in Massachusetts, so she probably has more than an inkling about New England rivalries.)
She tried to get to the bottom of things. How can you hate New Hampshire? she asked. The people there seem so nice.
Because its upside down and backwards, offered one audience member, who clearly wouldnt appreciate my peas-in-a-pod/yin-yang imagery.
Then an audience member in the balcony offered another possible reason: Because of Ethan Allen and the New Hampshire Grants! she shouted.
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