The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

By Bruce P. Stark

The Fundamental Orders, inspired by Thomas Hooker's (c. 1586-1647) sermon of May 31, 1638, provided the framework for the government of Connecticut from 1639 to 1662.

For two years before the adoption of the Fundamental Orders by the Connecticut General Court on January 14, 1638/39, the three river towns cooperated under a simple form of government that was composed of magistrates and representatives from each town, but the towns had no formal instrument of government. The Fundamental Orders were probably drafted by Roger Ludlow (b. 1590) of Windsor, the only trained lawyer in the colony, although he may have been assisted by John Haynes (1594-1653/54), Edward Hopkins (1600-1657), and John Steel. The document consisted of a preamble and eleven orders or laws. The preamble was a covenant which bound the three towns to be governed in all civil matters by the Orders. The preamble, then, was a civil equivalent of a church covenant. (One should note that the covenant idea served as the foundation for all Puritan organizations.)

The eleven orders clearly followed the Massachusetts government model and were consistent with seventeenth-century trading company charters. The Orders called for the convening of general courts every April and September. At the April Court of Election, a governor and six magistrates were to be chosen. No man could serve as governor more than once every two years, a restriction that lasted until 1660. To prevent hasty, ill-considered choices, nominations for election were made at the September General Court by the deputies from each town. The governor and magistrates, who composed the nucleus for an Upper House, were to be elected by the freemen at the Court of Election. The other Orders prescribed regulations for nomination and election and set forth conditions for calling the General Court into special session. No religious test was established for voting, the Orders omitted all reference to the authority of the crown, and the General Court was given supreme authority over the towns and their inhabitants. The General Court was authorized to adopt and repeal laws, impose taxes, distribute land, apprehend and punish people for misdemeanors, and enact legislation to promote the general good. The General Court was granted, then, all legislative, executive, judicial, and administrative authority. The right to elect deputies and magistrates was, however, reserved to the freemen.

While the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut cannot probably be considered a constitution in the modern sense, the Orders, nevertheless, served as the basis for government in Connecticut until 1662.

For Further Reading

Andrews, Charles M. The Beginnings of Connecticut, 1632-1662. New Haven, Connecticut, 1934. Tercentenary Pamphlet XXXII.

Dutcher, G. M. and Bates, A. C. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. New Haven, Connecticut, 1934. Tercentenary Pamphlet XX.

Pomfret, John E. with Shumway, Floyd M. Founding the American Colonies 1583-l600. New York, 1970. Sec chapter 11.

Van Dusen, Albert E. Connecticut. New York, 1961. See chapter 2.

* Entry under revision.