mayflower...

LAD: Mayflower Compact & Fundamental Orders of CT
1) What concepts are included in the Mayflower Compact?
The conformity towards the Christian religion, the honor of King and country, constitution, virtue, ordinance and equality were elements within the Mayflower concept. In the name of the Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, the colonists vowed together to build a new colony, and civil body Politick, in Virginia in 1620 on the eleventh of November.

2) How does the Mayflower Compact reflect and attachment to both the "Old" and "New" worlds? Although the Mayflower contract holds true to many “Old World” traditions regarding the respect of the Christian faith and royal government, elements of the “New World” also emerge through the zeal for an independent new government and civil body. The document begins, for example, with the praise and support for European nations, declaring the new colony in the very name of King James, and stating the advancement of the Christian faith. The New World however, is foreshadowed by the mentioning of laws, constitution, liberty, virtue, and equality.

3) How did the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut differ from the Mayflower Compact?
The Fundamental Order of Connecticut, nineteen years after the Mayflower Compact, differed considerably. As the Mayflower Compact often referred to King James and the rulings of Europeans nations, the Fundamental Orders were more concerned with the formation of a new constitution and a Public State or Commonwealth, while still upholding the Gospel and Christian tradition. Eleven distinct decrees were mad in the latter, shaping Assemblies, Magistrates, towns and government.

4) What prompted the colonists of Connecticut to take this approach to government, i.e.: use of a written Constitution?
The expansion of government and the written constitution was educed by the colonists’ desire to maintain their organization and the confirmation of the Christian Religion and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Fundamental Order continues to express the importance of the union and liberty, under God.

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?
The fear of one group or person overwhelming a community oftentimes plays a major role in the beginnings of new organization. This fear is recognized in the colonists, as specific laws are passed, enabling the sharing of power and control. In the first ordinance, for example, power is given to two general assemblies, as to ensue the value of everyone’s rights equally.