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Michael has taught college Art and secondary English and Social Studies. He has a Master of Fine Arts and a Masters of Library and Information Science.
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was an early agreement between the colonial communities of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor that established a representative government based on the example of a number of Massachusetts colonies. It's arguably the very first constitution of the American colonies. Made up of a preamble and 11 orders of law, the Fundamental Orders established a rule of law for these Connecticut colonies based on civil governance in relation to the word of God and the Congregationalist Church.
Connecticut colonials established their communities after splitting from Massachusetts communities in the early 1630s. The Connecticut General Court adopted the Fundamental Orders on January 14, 1639, although the date on the original document is 1638. This has been attributed to the colonists not following contemporary conventions for marking a year.
For two years prior to the adoption of the Fundamental Orders, the river port communities of Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield cooperated in collective governance by town representatives and magistrates. Working in collaboration, representatives of the three towns wrote the Fundamental Orders during this period.
Similar to Massachusetts, Connecticut towns were formed by Puritan Congregationalists, the Connecticut Colony's established religion. The Fundamental Orders were based on earlier Massachusetts models that used principles from both church and trade covenants of the time. Maintaining a religious, theocratic orientation, Connecticut tied participation and membership in government to church membership and documentation of religious affiliation.
Theocracy is governance by religious leadership with a presumption that leaders are divinely informed by God. The Fundamental Orders differed from the Plantation Covenant of the New Haven Colony only in that it did not make overt reference to the rules of scripture. The Plantation Covenant was a similar early constitution that explicitly required all members and representatives to be church members and required decision making in accord with the perfect rule of scripture. Unlike New Haven, the language of the Fundamental Orders focused primarily on civic life rather than religious affiliation or requirements.
The 11 orders provided the following basis for the government for the towns of Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor at that time:
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was an early colonial constitution that established a rule of law that governed the towns of Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford, beginning in 1639. The Orders were based on similar documents defining the rule of law in the Massachusetts Commonwealth and was derived from the terms of trade and church covenants that preceded it. Though it referenced the will of God, the Fundamental Orders broke with the British theocratic traditions and differed from the Plantation Covenant of New Haven Colony, instead focusing the 11 orders on a structure for civil government, hence its significance.
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AP US History: Help and Review30 chapters | 478 lessons | 1 flashcard set
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