1776 Constitution
On January 5, 1776, the Congress of New Hampshire voted in Exeter to establish a civil government, and specified the manner and form that government would have. The Congress ratified the Constitution at the urging of the Continental Congress. The 1776 Constitution did not contain a Bill of Rights, nor was it submitted to the people of New Hampshire. The constitution was the first constitution ever ratified by an American commonwealth.
The Constitution established a legislature with two branches: a House of Representatives (or Assembly) and Council. The popularly-elected convention which framed this Constitution was called a Congress, and it was to reconstitute itself as the House of Representatives. The House was to select 12 freeholders - a certain number from each county - to form the upper house, or Council. Should the conflict with Great Britain last beyond 1776, and barring instructions to the contrary from the Continental Congress, the Constitution provided for the popular election of the Councilors. Together the Assembly and Council were responsible for running the government of the colony, including the appointment of all civil and military officers. The Constitution did not provide for a chief executive of any kind.
Read more about this topic: Constitution Of New Hampshire
Famous quotes containing the word constitution:
“We know, and it is our pride to know, that man is by his constitution a religious animal.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)