LAD #1: The Mayflower Compact” and “The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
1. What concepts are included in the Mayflower Compact? The Mayflower Compact was the first governing document of the Plymouth Colony. The Mayflower Compact was signed to establish a civil government and to proclaim the settlers' loyalty and honor to the king. Within the text, the settlers’ state that they are set to achieving a civil body and the preservation of equal laws and constitutions.
2. How does the Mayflower Compact reflect and attachment to both the "Old" and "New" worlds? When returning back from the Mayflower, the pilgrims realized that their land was outside the territory of the London Company. The document was drafted upon the Mayflower, as the pilgrims were crossing the Atlantic, and it was signed in 1620. Earlier settlements failed in the New World due to the lack of central leadership; Mayflower Compact was a social contract in which the settlers agreed to abide by the rules of the government, which would thus have power with the consent of the governed.
3. How did the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut differ from the Mayflower Compact? The Fundamental Orders have an intricate list of rights in which all free men believed they were to be granted. It provides that all free men share in electing their magistrates, and uses secret, paper ballots. It states the powers of the government, and some limits within which that power is exercised. The document was used as a serious, governing document that Connecticut still has sections of in their Declaration of Rights, which was adopted in 1965. The Mayflower Compact was still a governing document, however, it lacked the specific rights and laws within it; it simply stated the need for a civil government and their loyalty to the English crown. No where in the text do they name certain laws or rights.
4. What prompted the colonists of Connecticut to take this approach to government, i.e.: use of a written Constitution? In 1637, the towns of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor had started a commonwealth in order to fight the Pequot War. In 1638, Reverend Thomas Hookerchallenged the General Court to fix the principles of that government. It was his view that "the foundation of authority is laid in the free consent of the people". In 1639, the Connecticut River Colony drafted the document.
5. In what significant way(s) does the Fundamental Orders reflect a fear of and safeguard against the usurping of power by one person or a chosen few? Along with the Governor, there will be six magistrates besides him, who also have power to administer justice. They feel the need to have a group of men behind the Governor to avoid pitfalls, such as a possible dictatorship, and they believe it is important for the people to have a say in the documents which govern their lives.