Montclair History Center

A wonderful visit with Assemblywoman Collazos-Gill earlier this week! Thank you for all your support of local history and the Montclair community.

Did you know? On today's date in 1776, New Jersey's first state constitution began the drafting process in Burlington! Ending July 2nd, this first constitution was intended to be temporary but ended up lasting until 1844. It is the foundational document of our state's government. Early lawmakers and Patriots recognized a new governmental document was needed to guide the state government and prevent anarchy. The relatively short session to write the Constitution was a result of this need for immediate action.

This first NJ constitution was the only state constitution that allowed women, immigrants, and Black people to vote. Specifically, it stated "all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds proclamation money, clear estate in the same, and have resided within the county in which they claim a vote for twelve months immediately preceding the election, shall be entitled to vote for Representatives in Council and Assembly; and also for all other public officers, that shall be elected by the people of the county at large." The use of the term individuals was gender and race neutral. Legally, this meant the only restrictions on voting were to own property. Even unmarried women could vote.

Most historians agree that this was deliberate and the draftees purposely intended for Black people and women to receive the right to vote. They also argue that women's suffrage specifically was a result of NJ women contributing to the Revolutionary War effort. New Jersey's 1797 voting law used "he or she," enshrining the right for women to vote in state elections.

In 1807, the state legislature flat-out ignored the Constitution and declared only white male taxpayers could vote in elections. This was feasible because no other state had followed New Jersey's progressive policy; there was no nationwide outcry. The now extinct Democratic-Republican party wanted to unify its factions for 1808 federal presidential election. One faction wanted to deny the right to vote to immigrants and the poor; women as a demographic also tended to vote for the Federalist party. This also coincided with the nationwide push for women to be "in the home."

Read the original 1776 New Jersey constitution here: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/nj15.asp

Pictured: William Paterson, Founding Father from New Jersey and Secretary of the original 1776 convention to write the NJ Constitution.