Those Who Came Before: 250 Years of Vermont History To commemorate our nation's 250th anniversary, the Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (VSARA) presents a speaker series exploring the quest for liberty, equality, justice, and acceptance in Vermont. Our selected speakers use archival records to tell the stories of individuals, communities, and our nation. VSARA holds records from pre-statehood to the present day that document the rights of citizens, the decisions of government, and the history of the State of Vermont. We look forward to welcoming you to our free monthly talks. All talks will be from 1:30-3:30 pm in Room 11 of the Vermont State House. These talks will be livestreamed and recorded on ORCA Media. Our first talk, on Wednesday July 22nd, is: "'We Are Finishing the Work of the Revolution:' Redefining the American Revolution's Legacy in the Civil War" - Tyler Alexander Tyler Alexander will draw upon his recently published book, If I Can Get Home This Fall: A Story of Love, Loss, and a Cause in the Civil War, to examine the ways in which ordinary Vermonters--men and women, soldiers and civilians--understood the meaning of the American Revolution's legacy as it pertained to the struggle to restore the Union and abolish slavery during the Civil War period. As a whole, Vermonters were strongly in favor of vigorous measures to prosecute the war, including emancipation, conscription, and the arming of Black troops, and they understand that any nation "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" required "a new birth of freedom." The sacrifices that they endured to achieve these democratic aspirations are worth remembering as we continue to debate what the American Revolution's legacy means today.