New Hampshire ratified the first state constitution in the United States on January 5, 1776. The document was created during the revolutionary break with royal authority, months before the Declaration of Independence.
New Hampshire's constitution was a temporary wartime arrangement. It replaced the colony's royal government with a legislature and executive council chosen under authority claimed by the people. Because the colony had not yet declared independence as part of a united nation, the constitution addressed immediate self-government rather than creating a permanent state system.
Several other colonies adopted constitutions during 1776, including Virginia, South Carolina, and New Jersey. Massachusetts later produced a particularly durable constitution, ratified in 1780 and still serving as the state's constitution. New Hampshire's document is therefore notable for its timing: it was the first state constitution, but not the first permanent one.