This Day in History: January 18

On January 18, 1777, representatives of the New Hampshire Grants convened in Westminster and declared the independence of the Vermont. For the first six months of the state's existence, the state was called New Connecticut, after the name of an existing state.

And in case you're wondering, the constitution they adopted said:

That the people have a right to bear arms for the defence of the themselves and the State; and, as standing armies, in the time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, they ought not to be kept up; and that the military should be kept under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

You know, in other words, a collective right...