The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut Summary
The Fundamental Orders were adopted by the Connecticut Colony
council on January 14, 1639 OS (January 24, 1639 NS).[1][2] 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,[3] 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.[4] The orders were transcribed
into the official colony records by the colony's secretary Thomas
Welles. It was a Constitution for the colonial government of Hartford
and was similar to the government Massachusetts had set up.
However, this Order gave men more voting rights and made more
men eligible to run for elected positions.
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 are 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.