New Hampshire Overview
New Hampshire is a United States state in the New England region. In the west it borders on the state of Vermont, in the east on Maine, in the south on Massachusetts and in the north on the Canadian province of Québec. With an area of 24,216 km², the state has around 1.3 million inhabitants. The majority of the population lives in the south of the state, the north is characterized by low mountain ranges. The capital is Concord with almost 43,000 inhabitants, however, the largest city is Manchester with 110,000.
The first traces of human settlement go back over 10,000 years. The vast majority of the population is of European descent, there have only been a few Indians since the 1740s. From the 1630s onwards, contacts with Europeans led to severe population losses among the indigenous people, mainly due to the smallpox epidemics, and finally battles with the Iroquois and the English drove the survivors to Maine and Canada.
Since 1629 England appeared as a colonial power, the colony was named after the English Hampshire. According to the principles of English feudalism, the land was assigned and settlers appointed. From 1641 to 1679, New Hampshire belonged to Massachusetts, was then directly subordinate to the king for two decades and came back to Massachusetts from 1691 to 1741, whose governors were responsible for the northern neighbors.
In 1776, New Hampshire became the first colony to establish a government and constitution, and became independent with the newly formed United States. In 1808 Concord became its capital. An independent republic existed on the Canadian border from 1832 to 1835; Great Britain did not give up its claims until 1836. The state benefited economically from industrialization and the civil war, but major branches of industry collapsed with the global economic crisis. Only the connection to the economic area Boston brought new branches of industry, especially in the south of New Hampshire.
The state is due to its quarries and The Granite State ( ” Granite called -State”). At the same time, the nickname also reflects the preservation of traditions and the history of an economical government. There are no general VAT or income taxes, which corresponds to the state motto ” Live or die free “.
History
The Pennacooks, members of the Algonquian culture, were among the ancient Aboriginal groups that inhabited New Hampshire. The first European to explore the region was the English captain Martin Pring, who in 1603 anchored in the port of Piscataqua. Two years later, the French explorer Samuel de Champlain sailed along the coast and reached the Isles of Shoals.
In 1620, the region was granted to the Council of New England, the formerly known as the Plymouth Company, by James I Stuart, King of England. In 1629, the province was divided and the English colonist John Mason was granted the part between the Piscataqua and Merrimack rivers; the title of the concession was New Hampshire. In 1635, the Council of New England was dissolved and the British Crown confirmed Mason in all his concessions; in addition, it was given another 40,500 ha located west of the Kennebec River. In 1638, John Wheelwright, a clergyman who had been expelled from Massachusetts, founded the Exeter settlement. From 1686 to 1689, the province of New Hampshire was part of the Dominion of New England.
In 1776, New Hampshire became the first colony to adopt its own Constitution, and it became the ninth state in the country in 1788 upon ratifying the United States Constitution.
During the years before the American Civil War (1861 – 1865), movements that advocated the abolition of slavery gained strength in the state. After the civil war, the industry (especially textiles, transport and communications) expanded rapidly. During the second half of the 19th century The massive influx of French Canadians altered the ethnic composition of the population, which until then had been mostly English, Scottish and Irish. In the 1970s, industry remained the most important economic sector, but tourism, which had played a prominent role since the turn of the century, expanded rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s and gained weight in the economy of New Hampshire, thanks to measures taken by the state government against environmental pollution.
Territory and resources
84% of New Hampshire’s land area is covered by forest. The most common trees are white pine, oak, white birch, spruce, white ash, balsam fir, yellow birch, sugar maple, and other maple species. Common mammals that inhabit the state include white-tailed or Virginia deer, beavers, muskrats, chipmunks and other species of squirrels, foxes, rabbits, raccoons, porcupines, skunks, and the groundhogs of America. Some black and brown bears are found in the mountains.
New Hampshire has a small mining industry, which exploits salt, gravel, granite, and mica. The agricultural sector is also small; almost half of its income comes from the sale of livestock and livestock products. Forests provide significant amounts of wood and pulp. The state also has some fishing industry; Its main catches are lobsters, shrimp, cod and tuna.
The most prominent manufactures include industrial machinery, precision instruments, electronic equipment, rubber and plastic articles, printed matter, paper, primary metals, and textiles.
Climate
The prevailing winds from the west and northwest are mainly responsible for the continental climate of the state. For their part, the east and northeast winds cause the biggest rain and snow storms.
