LAD #1 Mayflower Compact & Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

LAD #1 Mayflower Compact & Fundamental Orders of Connecticut:

1) What concepts are included in the Mayflower Compact?

The Mayflower Compact includes several concepts that provide the foundation of a new government that was to rise up in  where was supposed to be Virginia in the New World. The first of these mentioned is that they will form themselves into a civil body. That civil body was to enforce fair laws for the people of the new land. These laws would be enforced in order to serve the greater good of the colony they were forming.

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

The basis of the Mayflower Compact is that the people who sailed to the New World would set up a government their to benefit the colony, which is what the government of a country is also supposed to do. However, in the Mayflower Compact, the colonists also reflect loyalty towards the Old World in England. That can be demonstrated by their reference to them being "Loyal Subjects of our Dread Sovereign Lord King James" in the very second sentence. Of course, recognizing their settlement as the very word "colony" in itself shows a tie to Britain in that they recognize themselves still as belonging to the nation.

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

While, in essence, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut and the Mayflower Compact are similar, they both serve fairly different purposes. Both are guidelines for how the colonists are going to run their colony. However, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut go into much greater detail and are much more specific on what the colonists will do. They are a set of laws on how they shall rule the colony, pertaining to elections and court trials, while the Mayflower Compact simply stated an outline on how they would run the colony.

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

The reason that the people who came to Connecticut left Europe was to flee from injustices there, like persecution. Since they were fleeing from oppression, the colonists wanted to make sure that this would not happen again. With a government that was basically run by themselves, the colonists could have a say in what they wanted to happen and not to happen. To make this clear, they drafted written Constitutions, so that if someone violated their rights, then they would have something to back up their views on paper.

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?

Since the people of the New world colonies wanted to get away from Britain, which was ruled by the King, they made sure that their written laws made sure that would not happen. This can be seen in the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut as early as the first Order, which created Two General Assemblies, not one. This way, the two assemblies would make sure that not only one of them had as much power. Furthermore, they introduced democratic elements into the way they chose their leaders so more people had a say. Since they voted on their leaders, the general views of the people would be more apparent. However, there was a strict limit on how long people could hold certain positions of power, such as the Governor, as to not let them gain too much power and turn into a tyrant. In all of this, it is clear that the colonists were afraid of becoming subjects to overpowered leaders once again.