What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago this week?

“The Acts and Laws Of this State, passed since the new Form of Government took Place.”

A month after the Continental Congress voted to declare independence, Robert L. Fowle set about publishing “The Acts and Laws” of New Hampshire “passed since the new Form of Government took Place.”  He placed an advertisement, dated August 3, 1776, in three consecutive issues of the Freeman’s Journal, printed by Benjamin Dearborn in Portsmouth.  He likely also ran advertisements in his own newspaper, the New Hampshire Gazette, or, Exeter Morning Chronicle.  (That newspaper has not been digitized for greater accessibility.)

Fowle’s advertisement made its first appearance in the Freeman’s Journal on August 10.  He announced, “The Acts and Laws Of this State,” no longer a colony, “are now in the Press, and in a few Weeks will be published, at the Printing Office in Exeter.”  When Fowle referred to statutes passed “since the new Form of Government took Place,” he did not mean the actions taken by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in early July.  Instead, he invoked the Constitution of New Hampshire devised by a provincial congress that met at Exeter on December 21, 1775.  Two weeks later, delegates to that convention “VOTED, That this Congress take up CIVIL GOVERNMENT for this colony,” displacing British authority, and outlined the “manner and form” in a framework now known as the Constitution of New Hampshire.  In so doing, they implemented the first state constitution … six months before the Continental Congress declared independence.  Accordingly, the “Acts and Laws Of this State, passed since the new Form of Government took Place” advertised by Fowle in August 1776 did not consist of legislation passed solely in the past month but instead during the seven months since the Constitution of New Hampshire written at Exeter went into effect.  Publishing the “Acts and Laws Of this State” buttressed the legitimacy of the new government, while purchasing or perusing the statutes kept citizen-consumers better informed about current events.  The legislature, the printer, and readers each played a role in disseminating the new acts and laws in their state, weaving together the fabric of a new nation from many threads.  Establishing and maintaining a “new Form of Government” required more than the Declaration of Independence.