New Hampshire's anarchist heritage

[mackler]

Say the word "anarchy" to the average person, and he or she will immediately think of medieval Iceland.  But how many people know that there is a more recent example of an anarchy existing in the land now occupied by the State of New Hampshire.

You see the British Royal government in New Hampshire collapsed before there was a state or federal government to assume its authority, and for a brief, glorious time (even more than one year), the freedom loving people of New Hampshire lived without government oppression.

On the afternoon of December 13th, 1774 Paul Revere arrived in Porcsmouth with news from Boston that the British were on their way to seize the local arsenal.  The royally appointed Governor Wentworth warned the six men at the fort to be on guard against possible attack.

At noon on December 14 a drum was beaten about the streets of Porcsmouth, and soon a large mob had collected at the center of the town near the townhouse...Led by Captain Thomas Pickering, a daring sea captain, and Major John Langdon, a local merchant, the mob marched off toward the fort. Reinforced by men from the towns of Newcastle and Rye, they numbered about four hundred as compared with the six men guarding the fort...Captain Cochran and his five men were confined, and then the mob triumphantly gave three huzzas as they hauled down the King's colors.  Immediately the powder magazine was broken open, and one hundred barrels of power were carted off to a place of safer keeping.

Richard Francis Upton. Revolutionary New Hampshire, pp. 22-23

Thus began New Hampshire's first era of true liberty.  The Governor stuck around for a few months after that but was totally ineffectual.  For a while he and his family were confined to the "green zone" of a fort in New Castle under the protection of a British warship.  But the crew of the warship was dependent on the locals for provisions, and after month of boycotts and other noncooperation, the warship was forced to leave for Boston and his excellency the governor saw fit to leave with it.

This golden age of freedom in New Hampshire officially came to an end on January 5th, 1776 when a group of local busybodies saw an opportunity to seize authority by creating a state government.  In their own words they resolved to "assume the name, power and authority of a house of Representatives" in a publication styled the "Constitution of New Hampshire," the first of two such documents.  In their seizure of authority, the statists announced:

that we never sought to throw off our dependence upon Great Britain, but felt ourselves happy under her protection, while we could enjoy our constitutional rights and privileges. And that we shall rejoice if such a reconciliation between us and our parent State can be effected...

First Constitution of New Hampshire State

It is also worth noting that the people who comprised the new state government were mostly the same people that had served on the provincial Assembly under the British government.  In other words, you can trace back the current State government of New Hampshire directly to the King's government.  The new government wasn't really new.  The only change was the identity of the oppressors benefiting from it.

New Hampshire has had freedom before...
New Hampshire can have freedom again!

[KBCraig]

Say the word "anarchy" to the average person, and he or she will immediately think of medieval Iceland.

Err... what? The average person will think of chaos and rampant destruction when they hear the word "anarchy".

That's completely inaccurate, but it's the common perception.

[PowerPenguin]

Porcsmouth- I love it! Hopefully it will become more in tune with it's new name in good time. I'd heard about the powder thing at PF but I didn't know the details until now. Good work!

[Russell Kanning]

You can also move to the town of Langdon, just north of Keene and start all over again.

[Lloyd Danforth]

Say the word "anarchy" to the average person, and he or she will immediately think of medieval Iceland.

Err... what? The average person will think of chaos and rampant destruction when they hear the word "anarchy".

That's completely inaccurate, but it's the common perception.

I assumed it was 'tongue in cheek'.  But, if this guy is young enough and has only been around us...............

[mackler]

You can also move to the town of Langdon, just north of Keene and start all over again.

That went right over my head...start what all over again??