Twin States, Different Paths: The Politics of New Hampshire and Vermont

A cultural and policy history that explains why two neighboring states developed divergent attitudes toward government and culture At first glance, New Hampshire and Vermont seem like mirror images.Separated only by the Connecticut River, the oft-termed "Twin States" share a common history, relatively small populations, and heavily mountainous and forested landscapes dotted with small towns.Yet despite their similarities, they have evolved strikingly different political cultures, with Vermont prizing cooperation and community and New Hampshire celebrating independence and freedom from government.Perhaps nowhere is this divergence in political visions more pronounced than in their respective state mottos: Vermont's communal "Freedom and Unity" and New Hampshire's libertarian "Live Free or Die." Twin States, Different Paths explores these contrasting political cultures.Brian Porto traces these differences back to the land itself: to the geology and geography that shaped early settlement,