Friday, September 7, 2012

LAD #1 Mayflower Compact & Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Mayflower Compact & Fundamental Orders of CT

1.)What concepts are included in the Mayflower Compact?  One concept that the Mayflower Compact contains is that of a united civil body that is established for the good of the people. It is clear that the men who wrote this agreement agreed that they would be better off in the new world if they had the support of each other instead of going about life on their own. Another important concept discussed in the document is that of complete obedience to the mother country, England, and King James.  It is emphasized that everything these settlers do is in honor of the King and their main goal is to please him.

2.)How does the Mayflower Compact reflect and attachment to both the "Old" and "New" worlds?  The Mayflower Compact clearly reflects an attachment to the "Old" world in speaking of the King and their loyalty to England.  This attachment is also shown through the importance of the church in their minds when creating a civilized colony.  The Mayflower Compact also reflects an attachment to the "New" world simply in making a colony that is although partially governed by the king, is somewhat self-governed also. The fact that they include equal rights in the document proves "New" world tendencies.

3.)How did the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut differ from the Mayflower Compact?  The most prominent difference in the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut is the much more extensive detail.  This document includes many very specific laws that were of great importance to the people of the colony.  These descriptive laws most likely made it much easier to succeed in establishing a stable colony which may explain why Connecticut was successful while Plymouth was not.

4.)What prompted the colonists of Connecticut to take this approach to government, i.e.: use of a written Constitution?  The colonists believed that in order to maintain peace and please god an orderly government needed to be established.  By forming a written constitution it gave everyone the same set of laws that needed to be obeyed to establish a strong colony.  They also wanted to be sure that not only themselves but their descendants would stand together and be united for the common good of the people.

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?  One way the Fundamental Orders reflected fear of too much power was by restricting governors to only one term every two years. This was established so that no one governor could hold power for an excessive amount of time.  Another way the Fundamental Orders restricted power was by giving the people greater power as a whole than that which was given to the governor and the magistrates. In the case of a disagreement between the authority figures and the freemen, the freemen would have the right to take control and the right to the use of a general court.

No comments:

Post a Comment