Year Without a Summer

In its history, Vermont's people have needed to be resilient(the ability to recover from difficulty). In the 1800s, Vermonters survived many difficult events. They lived through the War of 1812 and many diseases. But what about a time in history when Vermonters struggled through adversity(difficulties or misfortune)? This year in history was 1816, known as The Year Without a Summer. Many Vermont residents were farmers in the 1800s and grew their own food. Unpredictable(not able to be predicted) weather made growing crops especially hard for Vermonters during 1816.

1816 began with a long winter. By spring, it still didn’t feel warm enough to plant crops. Some Vermonters turned to the Farmer’s Almanac(a handbook containing general information on a topic) for help. The Farmer’s Almanac helped farmers know when to plant crops and predicted weather patterns. An unpredictable frost hit in May. For the rest of the summer temperatures dropped below freezing every month! Some Vermont towns even claimed to have a foot of snow on the ground in the middle of June. Vermonters called that summer eighteen-hundred-and-froze-to-death.

The freezing weather stopped many farmers from planting their crops. Without any crops, Vermonters had nothing to eat. Farmers with livestock(farm animals) had no food to feed their animals. Vermonters could not survive another harsh year. By the next summer, many resilient Vermonters moved out west in hopes of an easier life. Today, research shows that in 1815 a large volcano in Indonesia erupted. The ash from the eruption blocked out sunlight all over the world for the next year. Without the sun, the temperatures dropped, and crops could not grow. This is what caused the Year Without a Summer all around the world.