Believe it or not, New York used to reach from modern-day Ohio to New Hampshire. But New York lost some of its land, of course!
The north-eastern segment of the Empire State was sitting there, declaring independence from Great Britain and just being New York along with the rest of the state, though there was some rivalry.
Then, one day in 1777, when that eastern territory owned by New York said “Why don’t we declare independence from Great Britain and New York?” And that is precisely what they did, and guess what else they did… they campaigned for statehood! I bet you didn’t see that coming.
Now one of America’s first states that is not one of the original thirteen had been proposed, and they already had a name: the State of New Connecticut! Wait, it’s only been a few months and New Connecticut wants to change its name? That’s right, they renamed themselves to the better-known name “Vermont.”
As time went on, Vermont desperately wanted to become a new state, but congress denied their independence and admission into the Union. Even after a decade, Vermont was still considered part of New York, though they had formed their own republic.
This lack of recognition frustrated Vermonters to the point of considering rejoining the British Empire to become part of the Colony of Canada. The Vermont Republic was still being considered part of New York, although they continued to act independently.
By the end of the 18th century, there was a push for Kentucky to join the Union as a new slave state. The US had eight slave and five free states at this point, the admission of Kentucky would only further outnumber the free states, so Congress finally admitted Vermont as a new free state to offset Kentucky’s future admission.
But that was not all that New York lost. New York claimed a piece of land to its west known as the Erie Triangle. Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut also claimed this land and disputed with New York over the triangle. The Federal Government eventually stepped in and pressured the states to cede their claims to the triangle, at which point New York formally ceded the land.
The Federal Government, now with the Erie Triangle in hand, sold the triangle to Pennsylvania to give the state its only access to water, since the other three states already bordered water. The Erie Triangle is still the northwest corner of Pennsylvania to this day!
Does New York look better the way it used to be, or is it better the way it is today? Let me know in the comments!
Onward American 