New Hampshire is truly the
‘Live Free or Die’ state. As one of the oldest states, the patriotic
dedication to autonomy in New Hampshire is alive and well. New Hampshire even
declared independence from England a full six months before the Declaration of
Independence was signed on July 4th 1776. The New Hampshire delegates were
given the honor of voting for the Declaration first out of all of the Thirteen
Colonies. This adamant need for liberty still holds strong today. For
instance, according to the kind woman behind the visitor information desk in
the Capitol, New Hampshire does not want to legislate ‘common sense’. This
includes things like requiring an adult to wear a seatbelt or have car
insurance. Indeed, when it comes to laws of automotive nature, New Hampshire
residents seem to view the speed limit as some sort of gentle suggestion. New
Hampshire residents are not alone in this, however; New England is no stranger
to overzealous driving. In fact, so far in my journey, I would say that one of
the common mentalities among many of the states seems to be a disregard for
speed limits.
New
Hampshire is fiercely unrestrictive in other ways, too. For example, the
minimum age for being a legislator is 18, so they could have legislators who
just graduated high school. Taxes in New Hampshire are also less extensive than
many other New England States. They do not have a state sales tax or personal
income tax, but since 2009, they do have a meals and rentals tax. New Hampshire
residents can avoid this tax, though, by eating home cooked food and not
staying in hotels within their home state.
Concord
was chosen as the state capital for a few reasons. Its central location was a
factor, but the construction of a canal that connected Concord to Boston lead
to its selection as the seat of state government in 1808. More than two hundred
years later Concord remains a humble capital, despite that there are many
historically integral individuals who were born in New Hampshire.
Directly in front of the State House is a statue of one of those individuals, Daniel Webster. He was born on the January 18th, 1782 in Salisbury, New Hampshire. After he graduated from Dartmouth College in 1801, he quickly became a successful lawyer in Boston. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1812 and then to the Senate in 1827. Webster was a member of the Whig Party, which opposed the Democrats at the time. In 1836 he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency against Andrew Jackson. In 1840 he was appointed the Secretary of State for President William Henry Harrison. When Harrison died from pneumonia just 32 days into his Presidency and John Tyler ascended to the position, Webster was the only Whig member of the cabinet who did not resign. Daniel Webster is best known for delivering what has been called “The Most Famous Senate Speech.”[i] During a heated debate regarding federal land sales in the West, Webster delivered a two-day speech to a packed Senate chamber known as his Second Reply To Hayne. In this speech, Webster delivered the famous words that the federal government was a “popular government, erected by the people; those who administer it are responsible to the people; and itself capable of being amended and modified, just as the people may choose it should be."1 Abraham Lincoln paraphrased these words in his Gettysburg Address when he proclaimed, “…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”[ii]
One
of the other statues in the yard is of the only President of the United States
who was from New Hampshire, Franklin Pierce. He was born in 1804 in
Hillsborough, New Hampshire. He attended Bowdoin College, studied law, and was
elected to the New Hampshire state legislature when he was 24. Two years later,
he became the Speaker in New Hampshire.
During
his Presidency in the mid 1850s, Pierce signed off on the Kansas-Nebraska Act,
which was one of the most important pieces of legislation in history; it
prompted the series of events that led to the Civil War. The Act created the
territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and repealed the Missouri Compromise by
allowing for white male citizens to decide the legality of slavery in the
territories by popular sovereignty, leading to ‘Bleeding Kansas.’ It also
disintegrated the Whig Party, led to the formation of the Republican Party, and
divided the Democrats in the north and south. Democrat Senator Stephan Douglas
designed the bill, and as a result Douglas lost the campaign for the Presidency
in the 1860 election against Republican Abraham Lincoln.
Because
the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the Compromise of 1850 were designed to
preserve the Union, many people blamed President Pierce and Congress for
agitating the volatile conflict. Pierce was shunned by the Democrats for the passage
of the bill, and did not receive the nomination for the election in 1856.
Instead, the Democrats chose James Buchanan.
As I
approached the Capitol building, I realized that I had forgotten to charge the
battery in my camera the night before. Eager to rectify my mistake, I searched
for a coffee shop downtown that would not mind if I borrowed an outlet for an
hour or so. I walked into Caffenio and found what I was looking for next to a
seat near the back of the shop. The barista was friendly, made a wonderful
latte, and even lent me a pen when I discovered that I left mine in the car.
When I asked him what I should do before I leave town, he responded that the
Museum of New Hampshire History would be a good place to continue my research.
The
museum was not expansive, but interesting nonetheless. The main floor contains
an exhibit that generally stays the same. It describes in great detail the
origin of Concord and the area known today as New Hampshire. The second floor,
as the helpful young woman behind the desk told me, is a rotating exhibit that changes every few months or so. At the time of my visit, the display was
of artwork done by female artists from New Hampshire. From life-like portraits
to vivid landscapes, the artwork demonstrated a wide variety of skill and
vision. Many of the depictions of forests and mountains made me feel as though
I could just step into the frame, and I would be amongst the trees and
mountains. From the second floor, one can climb a steep stairway to investigate
a wildfire lookout tower. The view, although somewhat impeded today by tall
buildings, gives oneself an oddly omniscient feeling. It was, to be honest, my
favorite part of the entire museum.
After charging my camera, exploring the museum, and
reenergizing myself with coffee, I headed towards the Capitol. The Capitol
building in New Hampshire is one of the less imposing of the nation’s Capitols.
It does not, for instance, have several flights of stairs leading up to the
front of the building. The front has two levels of columns that
face a large, grassy courtyard. An inscription directly to the left of the grand front door proclaims, “THE NATION’S OLDEST STATE HOUSE IN WHICH THE LEGISLATURE
STILL OCCUPIES ITS ORIGINAL CHAMBERS.”
Upon
entering the State House, I was confronted with the Hall of Flags, which was
previously known as Doric Hall due to the style of columns that support it.
Rather than exhibit copies, New Hampshire displays the original battle flags,
protected in climate-controlled cases. They added a protective coating to the
glass to ensure that light could not damage the artifacts.
New
Hampshire’s House of Representatives is the largest state legislative body in
the United States, and the fourth-largest English-speaking legislative body in
the world behind the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament of India, and
the United States Congress. Although not overbearingly ornate, the chambers of
both Houses of Legislature in New Hampshire are as dignified as any. This
demonstrates the mentality of New Hampshire better than perhaps anything else;
rather than taxing its citizens heavily to pay for a grandiose State House, New
Hampshire decided that a more simple design could provide the same level of
function and elegance without leaning as heavily on its citizens.
[i]
Senate.gov, The Most Famous Senate
Speech, http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Most_Famous_Senate Speech.htm (Sept. 4, 2013)
[ii] Abraham Lincoln Online, The Gettysburg Address, http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm (Sept. 4 2013)
[ii] Abraham Lincoln Online, The Gettysburg Address, http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm (Sept. 4 2013)
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