Everything about Fundamental Orders Of Connecticut totally explained
The
Fundamental Orders were adopted on
January 14 1638 OS (
January 24 1639 NS). The orders describe the government set up by the
Connecticut River towns, setting its structure and powers.
It has the features of a written
constitution, and is considered by some as the first written Constitution in the
Western tradition, and thus earned
Connecticut its
nickname of
The Constitution State. John Fiske, a Connecticut historian, was the first to claim that the Fundamental Orders were the first written Constitution, a claim disputed by some modern historians. The orders were transcribed into the official
colony records by the colony's secretary
Thomas Welles.
Individual rights
The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut is a short document, but contains some principles that were later applied in creating the
United States government.
Government is based in the
rights of an individual, and the orders spell out some of those rights, as well as how they're ensured by the government. 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.
In one sense, the Fundamental Orders were replaced by a
Royal Charter in 1662, but the major outline of the charter was written in Connecticut and embodied the Orders' rights and mechanics. It was carried to England by Governor
John Winthrop and basically approved by the British King,
Charles II. The colonists generally viewed the charter as a continuation and
surety for their Fundamental Orders; the
Charter Oak got its name when that charter was supposedly hidden in it, rather than be surrendered to the King’s agents.
Today, the individual rights in the Orders, with others added over the years, are still included as a "Declaration of Rights" in the first article of the current
Connecticut Constitution, adopted in 1965.
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