(AMERICAN REVOLUTION) | State of New Hampshire. In Committee of Safety, April 16th, 1783. A Proclamation. [Exeter, New Hampshire: 1783]

Property from the Eric C. Caren Collection

(AMERICAN REVOLUTION)

State of New Hampshire. In Committee of Safety, April 16th, 1783. A Proclamation. [Exeter, New Hampshire: 1783]  

Printed broadside (13 x 8 1/8 in.; 332 x 205 mm). Signed in ink ("M. Weare" as President, and "J. Pearson" as Deputy Secretary); browned from old framing, repaired at top margin and at pinholes at intersecting folds, dockets, pen-trials, and figures on verso. Framed and glazed. The consignor has independently obtained a letter of authenticity from PSA that will accompany the lot.

A rare broadside announcing the "Establishment of Peace" and the extension of New Hampshire's provisional state government, signed by Meshech Weare, who would become the first governor of that state

When it abandoned the royal government in 1775, New Hampshire was left in a precarious position, as it had no well-known charter established that it could fall back on. Instead, it was forced to evolve toward a permanent constitution, and temporary measures were employed. On 5 Janurary 1776, New Hampshire became the first American state to adopt a formal constitution. Meshech Weare was a driving force behind this move, and helped in drafting the document that would serve as the primary⁠—yet preliminary⁠—instrument of government for the following eight years. Under this constitution, there was no established executive, the legislature was supreme, and executive power was delegated to the Committee of Safety, which was made up of eight or ten legislative leaders. Weare served as a member of the Committee throughout the Revolution.

On 15 April 1783, preliminary articles of peace ending the American Revolutionary War were ratified by the Congress of the Confederation. The present document extend New Hampshire's provisional government, and is signed by Meshech Weare (then President of the Committee of Safety), who would become that state's first governor. 

REFERENCE:

Evans 18044