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New Hampshire is a
state of the United States of
America located in the country's
Northeastern
region. Considered to be part of
New England, New
Hampshire was one of the
thirteen colonies that revolted against British
rule in the American
Revolution.
Founding: 1600–1775
The colony
that became the state of New
Hampshire was founded on a land grant given in 1622 by
the Council for New England to
Captain John Mason and
Sir Ferdinando Gorges (who
founded Maine). The colony was named New Hampshire after the
English
county of
Hampshire. It was first settled at
Odiorne's Point in Rye
(near Portsmouth)
by a group of fishermen from England under
David Thompson in 1623, just
three years after the Pilgrims
landed at Plymouth.
The settlers built a fort, manor house and other buildings,
some for fish processing, on Flake Hill. They called the
settlement Pannaway Plantation. The first native
Newhampshireman, John Thompson, was born there. (Note: this
was the conclusion of several early historians. However, we
now know that John Thompson was baptised at St. Andrew's
Parish in Plymouth, England in 1619. Most likely the first
English child born in New Hampshire was Agnes Hilton,
daughter of William Hilton, born at
Dover in 1625.) New
Hampshire was one of the original 13 colonies.
David
Thompson had been sent by Mason, to be followed a few years
later by Edward and William Hilton. They led an expedition
to the vicinity of Dover, which they called Northam. Mason
died in 1635 without ever seeing the colony he founded.
Settlers from Pannaway, moving to the Portsmouth region
later and combining with an expedition of the new Laconia
Company (formed 1629) under Captain Neal, called their new
settlement Strawbery Banke.
In 1638 Exeter was
founded by John Wheelright.
In 1631,
Captain Thomas Wiggin served as
the first governor of the Upper Plantation (comprising
modern-day Dover, Durham
and Stratham). All
the towns agreed to unite in 1639, but meanwhile
Massachusetts had claimed the territory. In 1641 an
agreement was reached with Massachusetts to come under its
jurisdiction. Home rule of the towns was allowed. In 1653
Strawbery Bank petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts
to change its name to Portsmouth, which was granted.
The
relationship between Massachusetts and the independent
Newhampshiremen was controversial and tenuous. In 1679 the
king separated them, and Upper Plantation became the "Royal
Province" with John Cutt as governor. They were reunited in
1686 and redivided in 1691. The "Royal Province" continued
until 1698 when it came once more under the jurisdiction of
Massachusetts with Joseph Dudley
as Governor. In 1741 New Hampshire returned to its royal
provincial status with a governor of its own,
Benning Wentworth, who was
its governor from 1741 to 1766.
Revolution: 1775–1815
New
Hampshire was one of the thirteen
colonies that revolted against British rule in the
American Revolution. It
was the first state to declare its independence, and the
historic attack on Fort
William and Mary (now Fort
Constitution) helped supply the cannon and ammunition
needed for the Battle of
Bunker Hill that took place north of Boston a few months
later. New Hampshire would raise three regiments for the
Continental Army, the
1st,
2nd and
3rd New Hampshire
regiments. New Hampshire
Militia units would be called up to fight at the
Battle of Bunker Hill,
Battle of Bennington,
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.
On
January 5, 1776,
the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire, meeting in
Exeter, ratified the
first state constitution in the soon-to-be United States,
six months before the signing of the
Declaration of
Independence.
Industrialization, Abolitionism
and Politics: 1815–1860
In the
1830s, New Hampshire saw two major news
stories: the founding of the
Republic of Indian
Stream on its northern border with
Canada over the unresolved post-revolutionary war border
issue.
Abolitionists from Dartmouth College founded the
experimental, interracial Noyes
Academy in Canaan, New
Hampshire in 1835. Rural opponents of the school
eventually dragged the school away with oxen before lighting
in ablaze to protest integrated education, within months of
the school's founding.
Abolitionist sentiment was a strong undercurrent in the
state, with significant support given the
Free Soil party of
John P. Hale. However the
conservative Jacksonian Democrats usually maintained
control, under the leadership of editor
Isaac Hill. In 1856 the new
Republican Party
headed by Amos Tuck produced a
political revolution.
Prosperity, Depression and War:
1920–1950
The textile
industry was hard hit by the depression and growing
competition from southern mills. The closing of the
Amoskeag Mills
in 1935 was a major blow to
Manchester, as was
the closing of the former
Nashua Manufacturing
Company mill in Nashua
in 1949.
Modern New Hampshire: 1950–Present
The post-World
War II decades have seen New Hampshire increase its
economic and cultural links with the greater
Boston, Massachusetts
region. This reflects a national trend, in which improved
highway networks have helped metropolitan areas expand into
formerly rural areas or small nearby cities.
The
replacement of the Nashua textile mill with defense
electronics contractor Sanders
Associates in 1952 and the arrival of minicomputer giant
Digital Equipment
Corporation in the early 1970s helped lead the way
toward southern New Hampshire's role as a high-tech adjunct
of the Route 128
corridor.
The postwar
years saw the rise of New Hampshire's
political primary for
President of the
United States, which as the first primary in the
quadrennial campaign season draws enormous attention.
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