New Hampshire had recently been partitioned from Massachusetts by Charles II after almost 40 years of being governed by the neighboring colony, and made into a royal province.
From 1679 to 1682, New Hampshire was governed by a locally elected council until James II installed a royal governor, Edward Cranfield.
The colonists resented having a governor appointed to them, and Cranfield was particularly unpopular for his enforcement of the mercantilist trade laws of the time.
On January 27, 1683, Edward Gove, a now former councilor from Hampton, discussed the idea of rebelling against the governor with other provincial leaders.
Gove and his party escaped capture and continued to Exeter, where they succeeded in gathering roughly a dozen armed supporters to the cause.