History of the New Jersey State Constitution

Originally, the state of New Jersey was a single British colony, the Province of New Jersey. After the English Civil War, Charles II assigned New Jersey as a proprietary colony to be held jointly by Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton. Eventually, the collection of land fees, or quit-rents, from colonists proved inadequate for colonial profitability. Sir George Carteret sold his share of the colony to the Quakers in 1673. Following the sale, the land was divided into East and West Jersey. In 1681, West Jersey adopted a constitution. In 1683, East Jersey adopted one as well. In 1702, the colonies were united again under Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and adopted a constitution in 1776.

New Jersey has been governed under the authority of several constitutional documents. As a colony, the first, the Concession and Agreement (1665), was written by the colony's Lords Proprietors, Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, which offered broad provisions for religious freedom. After the interests of Lord Berkeley and Carteret were sold to investors, New Jersey was divided into two distinct proprietary colonies West Jersey, and East Jersey each with their own constitutions enacted in 1681 and 1683 respectively. The proprietors were compelled to cede their political authority to the Crown, and both colonies were reunited in 1702 as a Crown colony under the direct command of Queen Anne.

At the onset of the American Revolution, New Jersey was governed by waning British colonial authority. William Franklin, the province's last royal governor before the American Revolution (1775–83), was marginalized in the last year of his tenure, as the province was run de facto by the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. Franklin considered the Provincial Congress to be an "illegal assembly" and attempted to reassert royal authority. In June 1776, the Provincial Congress formally deposed Franklin and had him arrested, adopted its first state constitution on July 2, 1776, and reorganized the province into an independent state. The newly formed State of New Jersey elected William Livingston as its first governor on August 31, 1776—a position he would be reelected to until his death in 1790.

William Franklin and his father, the founding father Benjamin Franklin, were on opposite sides of the Revolution. William's British-educated wife Elizabeth pleaded for Benjamin's help after William's arrest. They went unheeded.

[William Franklin] died in exile in the England he had always honored and loved. .....he was an outsider in the land he had chosen to call his own.

While New Jersey was in a state of war, delegates of the Provincial Congress drafted the first constitution in a span of five days and ratified it only two days later. Its primary objective was to provide a basic governmental framework that would assume control of the territory after the collapse of royal authority and maintain civil order. This constitution served as the charter document for the State's government for the next 68 years. Among its provisions, the document granted suffrage rights to unmarried women and African-Americans who met the requirements of possessing sufficient assets or property as "freeholders". The legislature was elected each year and selected the state's governor. It did not specify an amendment procedure and had to be replaced entirely in a constitutional convention. The suffrage rights in the 1776 constitution were limited by the state legislature in 1807 to restrict voting rights to white male citizens who paid taxes. Women who voted in earlier elections tended to support the Federalist Party, and this effort was largely an effort of the Democratic-Republican Party's attempt to unify its factions for the 1808 presidential election.

The State Constitution of 1776 fixed the terms of office for Representative, Senators, and Governors at one year. There was no mention of an Office of Councillor. The right to vote for House electors or for Legislative Council required person wealth of 50 pounds as well as freedom from debt. The right to be a candidate for the House or for the Legislative Council required required personal and real estate wealth of 500 pounds. Moreover, the governor was elected by joint ballot of both chambers of the legislature, and the Legislative Council had the role of Executive Council as well.

New Jersey is governed under a constitution that was enacted in 1947 during a convention held at Rutgers University's College Avenue Gymnasium in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Much of the political structure of the 1844 constitution was carried into the 1947 document. The governor, elected by the people, was elected for a four-year term instead of a three-year term.