The Second Vermont Republic (SVR, 2VR) is a
secession
Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...
ist group within the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Vermont
Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
which seeks to restore the formerly independent status of the
Vermont Republic
The Vermont Republic, officially known at the time as the State of Vermont, was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The state was founded in January 1777, when delegates from 28 towns met ...
(1777–91). It describes itself as "a nonviolent citizens' network and
think tank
A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
opposed to the tyranny of Corporate America and the U.S. government, and committed to the peaceful return of Vermont to its status as an independent republic and more broadly the dissolution of the Union." The organization was founded in 2003 by
Thomas Naylor
Thomas Herbert Naylor (May 30, 1936 – December 12, 2012) was an American economist and professor.Nancy RemsenSecond Vermont Republic founder Thomas Naylor has died, ''Burlington Free Press'', December 17, 2012. From Jackson, Mississippi, he wa ...
(1936–2012),
[John Curran]
Vt. Secession Movement Gains Traction
, Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...
, June 4, 2009. a former
Duke University
Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...
economics professor and co-author of the 1997 book ''Downsizing the U.S.A.'' A 2010 ''
TIME
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' article featured the Second Vermont Republic as one of the "Top 10 Aspiring Nations".
History
The Second Vermont Republic movement was founded in 2003 by Thomas Naylor, who published the book ''The Vermont Manifesto'' that same year. He was motivated by the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. Vermont's
Bread and Puppet Theater
The Bread and Puppet Theater (often known simply as Bread & Puppet) is a politically radical puppet theater, active since the 1960s, based in Glover, Vermont. The theater was co-founded by Elka and Peter Schumann. Schumann is the artistic direc ...
were early supporters. Naylor began informal meetings of the group, holding the first statewide meeting in October 2003. In June 2004 Second Vermont Republic and Bread & Puppet Theater sponsored a parade in Montpelier and a rally of over 300 people at the State House calling for Vermont independence.
[Thomas Naylor, Second Vermont Republic website.] University of Vermont professor
Frank M. Bryan, co-author of the humorous novel ''OUT! The Vermont Secession Book,'' later joined the Advisory Board of the Second Vermont Republic.
The "independence" flag adopted by the Second Vermont Republic is similar in design to the
Green Mountain Boys
The Green Mountain Boys were a militia organization established in 1770 in the territory between the British provinces of New York and New Hampshire, known as the New Hampshire Grants and later in 1777 as the Vermont Republic (which later be ...
regimental flag flown by those who supported creation of the first
Vermont Republic
The Vermont Republic, officially known at the time as the State of Vermont, was an independent state in New England that existed from January 15, 1777, to March 4, 1791. The state was founded in January 1777, when delegates from 28 towns met ...
.
The Second Vermont Republic hosted a "radical consultation" in Middlebury, Vermont in November 2004 which resulted in the creation of the Middlebury Declaration and the establishment of the Middlebury Institute. In April 2005, members of Second Vermont Republic started the ''Vermont Commons'' quarterly publication. In January 2005, the Second Vermont Republic stated it had 125 card-carrying members. In October 2005 300 people attended Second Vermont Republic's first statewide secession convention in the House Chamber of the Vermont State House.
[Anthony Wile]
Thomas H. Naylor on Leviathan, Secession and Vermont's Small Nation Dream
, LewRockwell.com, May 14, 2012.
In November 2006 the group's representatives attended the First North American Secessionist Convention in
Burlington, which brought together secessionists from a broad political spectrum. The convention issued the Burlington Declaration.
In April 2007 the
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, commonly referred to as the University of Vermont (UVM), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont, United States. Foun ...
Center for Rural Studies released its annual "Vermonter Poll" which showed that thirteen percent of eligible voters in Vermont supported secession.
[ That month Frank Bryan and Vermont Commons publisher Ian Baldwin authored an op-ed piece for the '']Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', "The Once and Future Republic of Vermont". The authors wrote "Vermont did not join the Union to become part of an empire. Some of us therefore seek permission to leave." In June 2007, Frank Bryan stated that "the cachet of secession would make the new republic a magnet" and "People would obviously relish coming to the Republic of Vermont, the Switzerland of North America."[ In November 2007, Naylor also endorsed the idea of a greater "New ]Acadia
Acadia (; ) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the The Maritimes, Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. The population of Acadia included the various ...
, Vermont, New Hampshire
New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, Maine
Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick
New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...
, Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...
, and Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...
.
In May 2008, Feral House
Feral House is an American book publisher founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey and based in Port Townsend, Washington. Feral House is known for its taboo and provocative publications, but has had significant influence in both underground circles an ...
published Thomas Naylor's book ''Secession: How Vermont and all the Other States Can Save Themselves from the Empire''. Author Kirkpatrick Sale
Kirkpatrick Sale (born June 27, 1937) is an American author who has written prolifically about political decentralism, environmentalism, luddism and technology. He has been described as having a "philosophy unified by decentralism" and as bei ...
wrote the foreword. In the book he writes about diplomat George F. Kennan
George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...
being "a major source of inspiration for the Second Vermont Republic." A 2010 ''Time'' magazine article quoted Naylor as describing the Second Vermont Republic as "left-libertarian, anti-big government, anti-empire, antiwar, with small is beautiful as our guiding philosophy".[Christopher Ketcham]
The Secessionist Campaign for the Republic of Vermont
''Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine, January 31, 2010.
In 2012 Thomas Naylor, Kirkpatrick Sale, Chellis Glendinning
Chellis Glendinning (born 1947) is an author and activist. She has been called a pioneer in the concept of ecopsychology—the belief that promoting environmentalism is healthy. She is a social-change activist with an emphasis on feminism, biore ...
, Carolyn Chute and two others issued "The Montpelier Manifesto", carried on the Second Vermont Republic website, as a "Document of Grievances and Abuses" with specific suggestions for a "Redress of Grievances."
Political campaigns
In January 2010, nine Vermonters announced they were planning to run for governor, lieutenant governor and seven seats in the state Senate on a Vermont secession platform[Andy Bromage]
Vermont's Secessionist Movement Debuts Something New: Candidates
, Seven Days, September 8, 2010. and labeling their effort "Vermont Independence Day." A ''Time'' magazine article quoted gubernatorial secessionist candidate Dennis Steele's statement that his first act of office would be bringing Vermont National Guard
The Vermont National Guard is composed of the Vermont Army National Guard and the Vermont Air National Guard. Together, they are collectively known as the Green Mountain Boys. Both units use the original Revolutionary War-era Flag of the Green Mo ...
members home from overseas military deployments.[
Frank Bryan criticized the 2010 secessionist electoral candidates for running for statewide offices instead of local offices to establish a record. "They want to go to the top immediately with candidates who really don't have a lot of experience in governing." Naylor disagreed, saying "Dennis Steele has done more for the Vermont independence movement in the last six months than anyone has done in the last seven years. The only way you could have that platform is by running for governor."]
Gubernatorial
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...
candidate Dennis Steele received 0.8 percent of votes cast for that office; Lieutenant Governor candidate Peter Garritano received 4.7 percent. Both ran as independents.
In September 2012 the Vermont Independence Party
Vermont () is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. According to the mo ...
held its convention inside the Vermont Statehouse.
Reception
In 2006, John McClaughry, president of Vermont's Institute for Liberty and Community and co-author with Frank Bryan of ''The Vermont Papers, Recreating Democracy on a Human Scale'', told the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'': "This really is a good-natured cult. Intellectually, they've got some horsepower, but mostly this is the whole left-wing litany, seen through an interesting prism." Secession, said McClaughry, "is not going to happen, and no one believes it is going to happen."
In early 2007, an anonymously written blog, using material published by the Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
(SPLC), revealed that some advisory board members had affiliations with Neo-Confederate
Neo-Confederates are groups and individuals who portray the Confederate States of America and its actions during the American Civil War in a positive light. The League of the South (formed in 1994), the Sons of Confederate Veterans (formed 1896 ...
groups, such as the League of the South
The League of the South (LS) is an American White nationalism, white nationalist, Neo-Confederates, neo-Confederate, White supremacy, white supremacist organization that says its goal is "a free and independent Southern republic".
Headquarte ...
(LOS), resulting in internal and public controversy. In reaction, SVR co-founder Thomas Naylor told ''The Vermont Guardian'' that the organization has no direct link to LOS, except a link on the SVR website, and that SVR is not racist. He told a radio audience: "The SPLC is a well-known McCarthy-style group of mercenaries who routinely engage in ideological smear campaigns on behalf of their wealthy techno-fascist clowns. It's all about money, power, and greed."
However, in response to this controversy, groups such as the Green Mountain Anarchist Collective
Anarchism in the United States began in the mid-19th century and started to grow in influence as it entered the American labor movements, growing an anarcho-communist current as well as gaining notoriety for violent propaganda of the deed an ...
(GMAC), who were generally favorable to the idea of Vermont secession and an empowered Town Meeting system of self-government, became publicly critical of the organization. GMAC published these misgivings in the Catamount Tavern News; ''Vermont Secession: The Extreme Right, And Democracy''.
In early 2008, SPLC did a long article about the group and interviewed Naylor. In July 2008, Naylor asked the League of the South to consider several actions to distance itself from the taint of racism. In October 2009 another SPLC article described the group's ongoing relationship with the League of the South.[Rob Waters]
Yankee Secessionist Back in Cahoots with Neo-Confederates
, SPLC website, October 1, 2009.
See also
* Flag of the Vermont Republic
*Green Mountain Anarchist Collective
Anarchism in the United States began in the mid-19th century and started to grow in influence as it entered the American labor movements, growing an anarcho-communist current as well as gaining notoriety for violent propaganda of the deed an ...
* History of Vermont
* Politics of Vermont
* Killington, Vermont secession movement
*Free State Project
The Free State Project (FSP) is an American political migration movement founded in 2001 to recruit at least 20,000 libertarians to move to a single low-population state to make the state a stronghold for libertarian ideas. New Hampshire was s ...
References
{{reflist, 2
External links
Second Vermont Republic home page
2003 establishments in Vermont
Politics of Vermont
Secessionist organizations in the United States
Organizations established in 2003