Teacher Resources
Exeter
Inquiry Question
What does a community need — institutionally, culturally, economically — to be capable of governing itself?
Primary Sources
What Teachers and Students Use
New Hampshire State Papers, Volume VIII: Miscellaneous Provincial and State Papers
PRIMARY · New Hampshire Secretary of State / Amos Hadley, State Printer
5 analysis prompts
Constitution of New Hampshire, January 5, 1776
PRIMARY · New Hampshire State Archives
5 analysis prompts
Exeter Committee of Safety Records, 1775-1783
PRIMARY · New Hampshire Division of Archives and Records Management
5 analysis prompts
Experiment in Republicanism: New Hampshire Politics and the American Revolution, 1741-1794
SECONDARY · Harvard University Press (Jere R. Daniell)
5 analysis prompts
American Independence: New Hampshire's Role in the Revolution
INSTITUTIONAL · National Park Service, Discover Our Shared Heritage
5 analysis prompts
Downloads
Ready to Print
Student packet, teacher guide with answer key, and quiz — each formatted for classroom printing.
Opens in a new tab. Use your browser's Print dialog (Ctrl+P / Cmd+P) and choose “Save as PDF.”
Lesson Plan
In the Classroom
Learning Objectives
- 1Students will explain why New Hampshire adopted a constitution eight months before the Declaration of Independence
- 2Students will analyze the 1776 NH constitution as a primary source, identifying its republican features and provisional character
- 3Students will evaluate the role of institutional capacity in enabling revolutionary self-governance
Explore Further
Exeter in the Knowledge Graph
The lesson packet draws from these pages. Use them to extend the lesson or give students primary source context.
Comparative Study
Connected Towns
The corroborate prompts in the student packet point to these towns. Teachers can assign cross-town comparisons.
Portsmouth
SHARED EVENT
Exeter replaced Portsmouth as the effective capital when Governor Wentworth fled in 1775. The two towns represent the political and maritime poles of New Hampshire's revolutionary experience, linked by the same personnel — Langdon, Bartlett, Weare — who moved between them.
Philadelphia
SHARED PERSON
Josiah Bartlett and William Whipple, representing Exeter's political network, signed the Declaration in Philadelphia. Nicholas Gilman Jr., from the same network, signed the Constitution there in 1787.
Portsmouth
GEOGRAPHIC PROXIMITY
New Hampshire's capital and port.
Assessment
Exeter in the American Revolution
Answer the following questions based on our study of Revolutionary history. · 5 questions · Answer key in Teacher Guide PDF
What makes Exeter significant in Revolutionary history?
multiple choice
Primary sources are documents or objects created during the time period being studied.
true false
Name one event that occurred in Exeter during the Revolutionary period and explain its significance.
short answer
+ 2 more in the full quiz PDF
Ready to Print?
All three documents below — student packet, teacher guide, and quiz — are formatted for letter-size classroom printing.