New Jersey’s current Constitution was adopted in 1947. Less well-known, however, is that New Jersey’s first Constitution was adopted in 1776, on July 2 of that year. (In between, New Jersey adopted a new Constitution in 1844, which gets little attention these days). Thus, as we near the celebration of 250 years since the Declaration of Independence on July 4, today is also a day to celebrate.

The full text of the 1776 Constitution is available (among other places) here. Many things were very different then, but some of its provisions, including the right to a jury trial (“the inestimable Right of Trial by Jury shall remain confirmed, as a Part of the Law of this Colony without Repeal for ever”), will look at least somewhat familiar. The jury trial language and other provisions of the 1776 Constitution have been cited by the Supreme Court and the Appellate Division as recently as earlier in this decade of the 2020s. The 1776 Constitution no longer directly governs us, but it is well worth recalling and honoring.