The New Hampshire State Constitution

Prepared in 1776, the constitution of New Hampshire is the nation's first written state constitution. The 1776 constitution was a brief 15 sentences, but it laid out a form of government dedicated to popular control and limited government powers that have remained a central theme of New Hampshire constitutional law to this day. The detail of the framing of the original state constitution --the first in the nation- provides a context for understanding and appreciating the traditions which has mar