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 1681Avalon Project (Yale Law School). "Province of West New-Jersey, in America, The 25th of the Ninth Month Called November" . Retrieved 9 September 2013. and 1683 respectively.Avalon Project (Yale Law School). "The Fundamental Constitutions for the Province of East New Jersey in America, Anno Domini 1683" . Retrieved September 9, 2013. 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.Avalon Project (Yale Law School)."Surrender from the Proprietors of East and West New Jersey, of Their Pretended Right of Government to Her Majesty; 1702" from Leaming, Aaron and Spicer, Jacob. The Grants, Concessions, and Original Constitutions of the Province of New-Jersey. The acts passed during the proprietary governments, and other material trnasactions before the surrender thereof to Queen Ann. The instrument of surrender, and her formal acceptance thereof, Lord Cornbury's Commission and Introduction consequent thereon. (2nd Edition. Philadelphia: William Bradford, 1758) 600–618. Published online at the Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved April 5, 2013.

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.Skemp, Sheila L. William Franklin: Son of a Patriot, Servant of a King. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990), 211. 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.Wright, Robert K., Jr., MacGregor, Morris J., Jr. "William Livingston" in Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution. (CMH Publication 71-25) (Washington D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History, 1987), 103–105.United States Congress. "Livingston, William (1723–90)" in Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to present citing Klein, Milton M. The American Whig: William Livingston of New York. (New York: Garland Publishers, 1990/1993).

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.Dodyk, Delight, "Troublesome is A-Coming," in New Jersey in the American Revolution, ed. Mitnick B.J., (Rutgers University Press, 2005)

[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.State of New Jersey. "The New Jersey Constitution of 1776". Retrieved September 9, 2013. 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.Klinghoffer, Judith Apter; and Elkins, Lois. "'The Petticoat Electors': Women's Suffrage in New Jersey, 1776-1807," Journal of the Early Republic (Summer 1992), 12(2):159-93.

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.State of New Jersey. New Jersey State Constitution (1947) . Retrieved September 9, 2013. 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.

Colonial period Concession and Agreement (1664)

The Concession and Agreement of the Lords Proprietors of the Province of New Caesarea, or New Jersey, to and With All and Every the Adventurers and All Such as Shall Settle or Plant There, known simply as the Concession and Agreement, was a legal document that guaranteed rights; including, but not only, religious freedom.

Although the document is most commonly recognized as an enticement for settlers, it is in the basic form of any colonial charter or constitution, and guarantees such rights. The document was issued as a proclamation of Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret.

West Jersey Constitution

In 1681, West Jersey adopted a constitution.

East Jersey Constitution

See footnoteSee: New Jersey State Constitution#Previous versions. The constitution of East Jersey, unlike West Jersey's, did not seemingly have a section of the traditional colonial constitution missing. Within their constitution was a detailed creation of a great Council, who would control the colony. The constitution also created a somewhat abbreviated enumeration of rights. The constitution also bans the admission of any non-Christian into the council. A vestige from the Stamp Act, Article XVIII is an archaic section of a since-repealed act.

Constitution of 1776 Initial Drafting New Jersey was located between the British garrison in New York City and the de facto rebel capital in Philadelphia. It thereby became the contested middle ground and consequently one of the chief military theaters of the Revolutionary War. Thus military concerns frequently intruded into daily life. Mark Lender, " The Cockpit' Reconsidered," in New Jersey in the American Revolution, ed. B.J. Mitnick, (Rutgers University Press, 2005)

New Jersey's first state constitution was adopted on October 31, 1776. The American Revolutionary War was underway and George Washington had recently been defeated in New York, putting New Jersey in imminent danger of invasion. With Patriot and Tory factions plotting and battling each other, New Jersey was a state at war and was nearly a state at civil war. Composed in a span of five days at the end of June and ratified just two days later on July 2, 1776, the first New Jersey State Constitution reflected the turbulence and uncertainty of the moment. Its primary objective was to provide a basic governmental framework and preempt New Jersey's fall into anarchy. And yet despite being conceived in a state of military emergency, this Constitution was durable enough to serve as the charter document for the State government for the next 68 years.

The Constitution espoused the republican tone that sovereignty was the people creating a government whose purpose was to provide for their "Happiness, Safety, and Well-Being." ––Lurie, Maxine., "New Jersey: Radical or Conservative in the Crisis Summer of 1776?" in New Jersey in the American Revolution, ed. Mitnick, B. J., (Rutgers University Press, 2005)

Vote not limited by race or gender A notable aspect of this original 1776 New Jersey State Constitution is that it provisioned suffrage to citizens without regard to gender or race. New Jersey stood alone among the original thirteen states of the Revolutionary period in excluding these distinctions. As set out in its defining constitutional document, only three provisos restricted those claiming the vote: (i) being of "full age", (ii) having attained a threshold level of wealth, and (iii) having residence within a county during the year prior to an election. Section IV of this original State of New Jersey Constitution captures these ideas in its single sentence:

That 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.New Jersey State Constitution of 1776, Section IV; The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy. Lillian Goldman Law Library (Yale Law School). Retrieved 2012-12-5. http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/nj15.asp#1New Jersey State Constitution of 1776, Section IV; Official Website of the State of New Jersey. Retrieved 2012-12-5. http://www.state.nj.us/njfacts/njdoc10a.htm

"Inhabitants" was a gender and race neutral word whose use allowed unmarried women, immigrants, and freed Blacks to vote, as well as white males.Gigantino, James, "Slavery, Abolition, and African Americans in New Jersey's American Revolution," in Gigantino, J. The American Revolution in New Jersey: Where the Battlefront Meets the Home Front, (Rutgers University Press, 2015), p. 159