Nicholas Gilman

Nicholas Gilman and John Langdon signed the US Constitution for New Hampshire. They both served as US Senators. Gilman even fought as a soldier in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War! Gilman and his brother John Gilman both were active in New Hampshire politics. His bother served as the Governor of New Hampshire for 14 years!

Gilman was born during the French and Indian War as the second of eight children. Gilman started working as the clerk in his father's trading house the economical struggle between the colonies and Great Britain made him realize the importance of independence.

In November of 1776 he was asked to serve as an administrative officer for the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment under the command of Colonel Alexander Scammel. In spring, 1777, Gilman and the rest of the men in the 3rd New Hampshire Regiment marched to Fort Ticonderoga to help stop the advancing British army who at the time were under the command of General John Burgoyne. Unfortunately the British troops outflanked the fort and the American troops barely made an escape during the night.

Time as Senator:
March 4th, 1805-May 2, 1814

Born: August 3, 1755 in Exeter, New Hampshire
Died: May 2, 1814 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Note- Nicholas Gilman died in office on May 2, 1814. If you look at his death date and the end of his time as a Senator, they are the same!

John Langdon

John Langdon represented New Hampshire when he signed the Constitution of the United States of America. Langdon was born on June 26, 1741 and died on September 18, 1819. Langdon was one of the first two United States Senators from New Hampshire and even served as the President pro tempore during is twelve years in Congress. Afterwards her served as the governor of New Hampshire.

Time as the President pro tempore:
April 6th, 1789-August 9th, 1789
November 5th, 1792-December 2nd, 1793


Time as US Senator:
April 6th, 1789-March 4th, 1801

Fun facts!

The town of Langdon, New Hampshire is named after John Langdon, as well as Langdon Street in Madison, Wisconsin, town with several streets named after founding fathers.

Executive Power

"The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. he shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector..." [US Constitution Article II section 1]

Even though the United States became an independent nation on July 4th, 1776 we didn't have a President until after the Constitution was written on September 17, 1787.

It basically says that the President and the Vice President can only serve for a four year term. Also it states how many electors can serve for each state. For example, there are two senators and eight representatives in the the state of Arizona. So there are ten members of Congress in Arizona. The number of electors in every state must match the number of senators and representatives so there are ten electors in Arizona. Article II Section 1 also states that no senator, representative, or other government official can serve as an elector.

Fun facts!
First President: George Washington
First Vice President: John Adams

The Senate

"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, [chosen by the Legislature thereof,]* for six Years; and each Senator shall have one vote.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; [and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which will then fill such Vacancies.]*

No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of the State in which he shall be chosen.

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall chuse their Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of the President of the President of the United States.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.

Judgement in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to the removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust, or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted will nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgement, and Punishment according to Law. [US Constitution Article I Section 3]

*Changed by the Seventeenth Amendment

Sleeping Over!

My cousin Austin has spent the last four days at my house while his mother is at the hospital having their first baby girl. [She's already had six boys] It's been really fun. We gone swimming played video games, board games, etc. It was really fun. Unfortunately he has to go home today.

The House of Representatives

My favorite section of the Constitution is Article I Section 2. This section points out the main purposes of the House of Representatives.

"The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant in that State in which he shall be chosen.

The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representatives...

...When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment." [US Constitution Article I Section 2]

They had funny words back then didn't they? Like 'chuse.' Regardless of their strange words this section says a lot to me and hopefully it does for you too. It doesn't teach much of a lesson through it's words because it wasn't meant to be a lesson. However the thought put into our Constitution by the Founding Fathers was magnificent and extremely intelligent.

Legislative Power

"All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." [US Constitution Article I Section 1]

Before the Constitution was written, a very important matter was brought up. They had to decide how they were going to form a Legislature. Many compromises were considered. Most of the states wanted a unicameral which is a one house legislature. The smaller states, like Rhode Island, wanted the unicameral to consist of a Senate which would represent each state equally (2 senators per state). The larger states, like Virginia and Pennsylvania, wanted the unicameral to consist of a House of Representatives. The House of Representatives represents the people according to the states population. So you had more representation in a state that has a higher population. But someone suggested that we should create Congress, which is a bicameral (2 houses) consisting of both the Senate and the House of Representatives. That is what passed eventually and I believe that it was the best decision. Congress now leads us as our nation's legislative power.

Did you know...

There are 435 members in the House of Representatives?

There are 100 members in the Senate?

The Preamble

I thought that I would begin a political segment on my blog.

Today I will begin with the US Constitution's Preamble.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." [The Preamble]

The Preamble is one of my favorite parts of the Constitution and I'd like to point out a few things.

"We the People of the United States..." The government's power is granted to them by we the people. The government is beginning to receive too much power. We the People need to realize need to realize that WE are the ones giving them too much power. Also, the government isn't the only protector of the Constitution. We the People also need to protect and understand our nation's Constitution.

"...in Order to form a more perfect Union..." The Constitution was one of the United States greatest founding documents and truly did form a more perfect Union.

"...establish Justice..." The Constitution mainly establishes Justice in Article III of the Constitution. Article III states the powers of the Judicial Branch which consists of the courts and lawyers.

"...insure domestic Tranquility..." It basically means that we are to try to insure our nation is peaceful.

"...provide for the common defense..." We all now that we need military defense. A few examples could be Pearl Harbor, the World Wars, Civil Unrest, etc. Everyone contributes to our common defense. The government, tax payers, and definitely those people who are in the military. Thomas Jefferson didn't agree with taxes unless there was a good reason behind. Such as the common defense.

"...promote the general Welfare..." The definition for welfare is 'the organized efforts by a community or organization to improve the social and economic condition of a group or class.' The US does this by promoting friendly trade relations with other countries to improve the people's satisfaction and their every day necessities.

"...secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity..." We have been given Liberty, a blessing that so many people in the world wish for. It was a blessing most Englishmen had until King George III ruined the colonies freedom and liberty which soon led to the Declaration of Independence and then the Constitution. We need to continue to hold on to this blessing and make sure that our descendents will also be the ones to secure the blessing as well.

"We're On The Road Again!"

So "we're on the road again!" We got a call last minute from my uncle that they wanted us to drive a full three hours up to Prescott. So we did a mad-dash cleaning and packing and "we were on the road again." It was fun but the air conditioning didn't work in the cabin so we ended up leaving early. But it was fun. My cousin and I went climbing Saturday morning and went tadpole fishing. Unfortunately tadpoles weren't the only things living there. We soon found wasps trying to kill us! But we had fun nevertheless!

Scout Camp Raymond

The week of July 14 to 19, 2008, our troop went to Scout Camp Raymond. It was very enjoyable and I was Senior Patrol Leader, so I had a lot of responsability. I took care of the troop firesides, camp inspections, SPL (senior patrol leader) meetings and on top of that there was more lightning and thunder than I wanted. When lightning strikes 1/8 mile from you, it's loud. Trust me.
We shared campsite three with another troop so a lot of assigning and negotiating was needed to be taken care of for things like shower duty and latrine duty.

This is one of the scouts wondering what the heck I was doing.

This is our good old responsible, organized scoutmaster: Brother Jordan.

Yes Jed, we all know that camping is tiring but you need to get up!

Above is the ramada that was centered in the camp.

This is Nick flipping his hair because "he's cool like that."