LAD #1: " Mayflower Compact and Fundamental Orders of Connecticut"

1. What concepts are included in the Mayflower Compact?

The Mayflower Compact conveyed a few concepts which were important to the signers of the compact. The opening sentence as well as the repetitive mentions to God and His glory made it clear that religion and a relationship to God were important to the orginal signers. They also showed great respect and love to the King of England when they wrote "...Loyal Subjects..." in the begininng and then refered to maintaining the King's honor and his supremacy. In addition, and possibly most importantly, the Mayflower Compact is an agreement to form a colony with equal laws in attempts to form the world's first recorded democratic government.


2. How does the Mayflower Compact reflect an attachment to both the "Old" and "New" worlds?

 When the Compact mentions the sovereignty of their king, the King of England, as well as the deep love for God and loyalty to Him, the document was connecting to the Old World. But in the same document, the people intend to establish the first recorded democratic colony, a colony which would be located in the new North America. This is a newly formed attachment to the New World.


3. How did the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut differ from the Mayflower Compact?

Some differences between the Fundamental Orders and the Compact include the fact the the Mayflower Compact mentioned the King as sovereign and the Fundemental Orders focused more on the colony as a whole. Also, the Fundamental Orders had a list of 11 laws stating how the colony was going to be run, sometimes being considered as the first constitution. The Mayflower Compact does not list any laws but rather is stating the establishment of a colony. Finally, the Compact never says anything about voting for laws or people in off ic while the Orders clearly stated much of what is decided is voted upon by those who are eligible.


4. What prompted the colonists of Connecticut to take this approach to government, i.e.: us of a wirtten Constitution?

Even though England itself had an assumed consitiution, but nothing in writing, some settlers did not trust that they would be heard without something in writing. These fears stemmed from the recent actions of England in the colony which were authortarian in intent. This compelled a few men to write out their rights and form of a Constitution for Connecticut.


5. In what significant way(s) does the Fundamental Orders reflect a fear of and safegaurd against the usurping of power by one person or a chosen few?

The Orders worked to safe gaurd against the power of one person or a chosen few by making sure there are elections instead of a sucession of or to power. They also showed fear by then increasing the restrictions in the later part of the document stating that the person in the position of Secretary cannot nominate any person and no one who has already been in power can run again for another 2 years. Finally, there were two asemblies formed to balence the power and each town sends a represenitive so their voices are heard.