New+Hampshire+and+Connecticut

=__New Hampshire and Connecticut__=

**Geography**-
====New Hampshire and Connecticut are two of the northern most colonies of the New England region**.** They settled along the coast for the most part but in new hampshire the Appalachian mountains served as the western boundary. These northern colonies including New Hampshire and Connecticut were not suited for farming on a large scale. Few flat lands with thin and rocky soil in addition to harsh winters made these colonies more dependent on there coastline. this forces the colonists to settle in small villages near harbors.====

History-
====The region of New Hampshire was originally inhabited by two Algonquian Indian tribes. The first white settler were welcomed by the Native Americans. They thought that the Europeans would be powerful allies against other tribes. The first permanent white settlement in New Hampshire was founded in 1623 by The Laconia Company. The settlement was economic as it was only a commercial because London saw potential for wealth in the region. It was declared the colony of New Hampshire in 1679 by the British.====

====The region of Connecticut was originally inhabited by 16 groups of Algonquian Indians. Most of the Native Americans in this region also welcomed the Europeans because they thought they would be allies against the Mohawks and Pequots. One of the first permanent European residents, Thomas Hooker, settled with a small group of followers in 1636. Hooker settled for an economic and political reason. He settled in Connecticut looking for better farming land and a less rigid form of government. Hooker set the tone for the colony's governance and formed a more democratic form of government.====



=Economics-= ====the first settlers picked new hampshire for permeant settle because of the enormous potential for wealth. The region was great for fishing, natural harbors, and vast resources including lumbers and furs to send back to enland. this practice of sending natural resources from a territory to its motherland in return for manufactured goods to be resold is known as __mercantilism__. the economy relied primarily on fishing, followed by furs, ship building, and lumber in addition to small livestock and farming goods. connecticut however had better soil than new hampshire and the first settlers were encouraged by the rich agricultural land. farmers grew corn and wheat primarily. such crops were known as __cash crops__ in the colonies. although slavery wasn't as popular in the north compared to the south due to short growing seasons and long winters, african slaves were essential to growing colonial cash crops. these slaves were sent from africa to the colonies. the colonies would sent raw materials and some goods to england. the british would then manufacture these goods and send the finished products to africa. these items included guns and manufactured wooden goods. they would trade these goods to the africans for slaves to send to the colonies. this was known as the __Triangular trade.__ however farming wasn't the only source of income in connecticut's economy. many people settled in southern connecticut along the coast composed mainly of merchants who capitalized on trade between the native american and the dutch from new amsterdam.====

Social-
====In both Connecticut and New Hampshire the colonists had settled there from London. Therefore, the language that they spoke in New Hampshire and Connecticut was English. In the 1730's a religious revival was led by Rev. Jonathan Edwards which spread through the Connecticut River Valley. The revival was known as the __Great Awakening__.The movement created a division throughout Connecticut's Congregational churches between those who participated in the revival and those who were more conservative and traditional colonists.====



Political-
====New Hampshire was heavily under the influence of Massachusetts. New Hampshire didn't have its own governor. The colony was ruled by the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts so that the two colonies could be closely aligned. In 1717 John Wentworth became the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts. Therefore, he was also the ruler of New Hampshire. In 1741 Benning Wentworth became the first official governor of New Hampshire after New Hampshire and Massachusetts had been completely separated. In 1776, New Hampshire declared itself an independent state and formed a state government. The residents of New Hampshire were supporters of the federal Constitution.====

====In 1638 Thomas Hooker set the tone for Connecticut's governance when he preached a more democratic form of government. His view was put in the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, which was like a blueprint for the colony's governance. The role of governor was switched between John Haynes and Edward Hopkins for about twenty years. Other governors of Connecticut were George Wyllys, Thomas Welles, and John Webster. A new state constitution was adopted to replace the old charter of 1662 which expanded suffrage and disestablished the Congregational Church.====



French and Indian War-
====The Native Americans and whites lived peacefully until the 1680s. There was an Indian war throughout northern New England that ended with the Native Americans being pushed out of the southern portion of the colony. For another 75 years, the Native Americans were still a strong presence in northern New Hampshire. However, they became allies with the French in Canada and formed several raids against English settlers. However, this stopped once the French were defeated in the French and Indian War. This drove out all of the remaining Native Americans from the region.====

Revolution-
although no battles were actually fought on new hampshire soil, it played a significant part in the revolution. New Hampshire Minutemen rushed to support the rebels of Massachusetts after the battles of Lexington and Concord in 1775. New Hampshire also contributed prominent military leaders as John Stark and John Sullivan. In August 1777 General Stark commanded an American force that defeated the British at the Battle of Bennington in Vermont. Sullivan was a brigadier general in the continental army. connecticut had one major battle of the revolution fought on its soil. This was at New London and Groton. On September 6, 1781, British forces under General Benedict Arnold captured fort griswold.

Citations

"New Hampshire." // American History //. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.