New Hampshire

Established in 1679

New Hampshire, constituent state of the United States of America. One of the 13 original U.S. states, it is located in New England at the extreme northeastern corner of the country. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Quebec, to the east by Maine and a 16-mile (25-km) stretch of the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by Massachusetts, and to the west by Vermont. The capital is Concord, located in the south-central part of the state.

The English colony

The New Hampshire region was included in a series of grants made by the English crown to Capt. John Mason and others during the 1620s. A fishing and trading settlement was established in 1623, and in 1629 the name New Hampshire, after the English county of Hampshire, was applied to a grant for a region between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers. The towns of Dover, Portsmouth, Exeter, and Hampton were the main settlements.

From 1641 to 1679 the region was administered by the colonial government of Massachusetts. Following territorial and religious disputes between Massachusetts and Mason’s heirs, New Hampshire became a separate royal province in 1679. Bitter boundary feuds with Massachusetts and New York over the part of the New Hampshire grant that became Vermont continued almost until the American Revolution. Benning Wentworth held the post of colonial governor from 1741 to 1767, the longest tenure of any royal governor in any of the colonies.

Europeans arrived early 17th century

Europeans arrived in the early 17th century, with the English establishing some of the earliest non-indigenous settlements. The Province of New Hampshire was established in 1629, named after the English county of Hampshire. Following mounting tensions between the British colonies and the crown during the 1760s, New Hampshire saw one of the earliest overt acts of rebellion, with the seizing of Fort William and Mary from the British in 1774. In January 1776, it became the first of the British North American colonies to establish an independent government and state constitution; six months later, it signed the United States Declaration of Independence and contributed troops, ships, and supplies in the war against Britain. In June 1788, it was the ninth state to ratify the U.S. Constitution, bringing that document into effect.

Through the mid-19th century, New Hampshire was an active center of abolitionism, and fielded close to 32,000 men for the Union during the U.S. Civil War. After the war, the state saw rapid industrialization and population growth, becoming a center of textile manufacturing, shoemaking, and papermaking; the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company in Manchester was at one time the largest cotton textile plant in the world. The Merrimack and Connecticut rivers were lined with industrial mills, most of which employed workers from Canada and Europe; French Canadians formed the most significant influx of immigrants, and today roughly a quarter of all New Hampshire residents claim French American ancestry, second only to Maine.

Ethnic and religious origins

In the colonial period the majority of the people were of English origin, but a significant influx of Scotch-Irish, who were largely Presbyterian in faith, began in 1719. They settled in the south-central and southwestern portions of New Hampshire and named their principal towns Derry, Londonderry, Antrim, and Dublin, for places they had left behind in Ireland.

In the past New Hampshire had a system of town churches in which any officially recognized denomination could be designated at the annual town meeting to receive public tax support. Prior to the American Revolution, five denominations were officially recognized: Congregational, Baptist, Presbyterian, Quaker (Society of Friends), and Church of England. The system was discarded in 1819 by the Toleration Act passed by the legislature. Since then all churches have been privately supported, and any denomination may function freely.

Between 1845 and 1920, immigrants came to New Hampshire from all parts of Europe. The first Roman Catholic congregation was established in 1823, the first Roman Catholic school in 1859, and a statewide diocese in 1884. The first Jewish congregation was organized in 1892 and the first Greek Orthodox church in 1905. The New Hampshire Council of Churches, organized in 1945, has developed broad ecumenical policies to include many faiths.

Revolution and Statehood

A pre- American Revolution event occurred in New Hampshire in December 1774, when some 400 men from Portsmouth, Rye, and New Castle raided Fort William and Mary and removed 16 pieces of small cannon and 98 barrels of gunpowder. They also hauled down the fort’s huge British flag. Several injuries but no deaths occurred in the engagement. Many consider the attack to be the first overt act of the Revolution. The arms and powder were distributed through several New Hampshire towns for potential use in the looming struggle against Great Britain.

During the Revolutionary War, New Hampshire was one of the 13 colonies that revolted against British rule and in January 1776, was the first to set up an independent government and establish its own constitution. The state raised three regiments for the Continental Army, which fought in the Battles of Bunker Hill, Bennington, the Saratoga Campaign, and the Battle of Rhode Island. John Paul Jones’ ship the Sloop-of-war USS Ranger and the frigate USS Raleigh were built in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, along with other naval ships for the Continental Navy and privateers to hunt down British merchant shipping. New Hampshire’s John Langdon was the first acting vice-president of the United States and was President of the Senate when Washington was elected as the first president.

The citizens of New Hampshire were overwhelmingly in sympathy with the aims of the revolutionary leaders. The state furnished two brigadier generals to the Continental Army, three regiments of regular troops, and hundreds of short-term militiamen. New Hampshire formed its own state government in January 1776, and in June 1776 it instructed its delegates attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia to vote for independence. New Hampshire’s vote was the ninth and decisive vote in ratifying the Constitution of the United States in 1788.

Source:

Wikipedia

Britannica

Legends of America