New Hampshire, August 1639

Long before our country was separated from England, colonists in Exeter, New Hampshire defined the purpose of government. The said:

"...Considering with ourselves the holy will of God and our own necessity, that we should not live without wholesome laws and civil government among us, of which we are altogether destitute, do, in the name of Christ and in the sight of God, combine ourselves together to erect and set up among us such governments as shall be, to our best discerning, agreeable to the will of God..."

A replica of the original document is linked from this page:

Combination at Exeter (1639)