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Vermont Quarters – Freedom, Unity, and Maple Sap?Vermont Quarters bear the state motto – Freedom and Unity – and a man tapping sap from maple trees.At first glance I wondered what maple sap, syrup, and sugar might have to do with freedom and unity. But state quarters often include content whose common ground is only that of the honored state. As it turns out, these design elements do relate to each other in a common theme. It all came together during the run-up to the American Civil War. Explaining this will be easier if we start with… Freedom, Unity, and Daniel WebsterDaniel Webster was a superstar senator from Massachusetts in 1850, and remains an iconic figure to this day. In that year he made a speech in Congress about slavery, secession, and the virtues of “Liberty and Union”.Webster rejected secession over any issue, including slavery. He simply felt that it would be impossible to neatly divide the states over differences in outlook, even over such a serious matter. He was also decidedly against the notion that a state could “nullify” Federal laws that it opposed. What Webster energetically and passionately pushed was that the union of all states should continue; that the benefits and freedoms – the liberty -- Americans enjoy result from that union. Alright. Now here’s how all of that linked up to… Maple SapVermonters learned to harvest and process maple sap into sweeteners well before the Civil War. However, the politics and economics surrounding something called The Doctrine of Nullification – a matter of great concern in Congress as the nation pulled apart – moved Vermont’s maple products industry into the fray.Sugar – commonly made from cane – depended on slave labor. Vermont was a stronghold of anti-slavery and pro-Union sentiment. A movement began throughout New England to substitute maple sweeteners for those based on slave involved cane and molasses. On the Vermont Quarters, the fellow pulling maple sap beneath the Freedom and Unity motto is obviously no accident.
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