Vermont is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the sixth smallest state in area, and its capital is Montpelier. The area was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples, particularly the Abenaki and the Mohawk peoples. French colonists claimed the area in the seventeenth century, but France ceded the area to Great Britain in 1763 at the end of the Seven Years’ War. After the American Revolutionary War, Vermont became the fourteenth state admitted to the union. Educator John Dewey, politician Stephen Douglas, painter Norman Rockwell, and poet Robert Frost were all residents of Vermont.