LAD #1 Mayflower Compact and Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

1. Included in the Mayflower Compact are several concepts that actually mirror many in the Declaration of Independence. First off, the writers acknowledge that they are creating this colony in the name of and for the glory of God as loyal subjects of the King. The main purpose of the the compact though was to create a binding document ensuring that the people of this new colony considered themselves and acted as a "civil Body Politick". This newly created state would be composed for the good of the people and would call assembly and pass laws and acts for the good of the colony. This is the concept that the Mayflower Compact was all about.

2. The Mayflower Compact shows a true connection between the Old and New worlds. Namely, to start of the writers state that they are still loyal subjects to their king. Also, to culminate the speech to make sure to mention this was written during the reign of King James. This shows how although across the ocean, they still were held by traditions and the ruling bodies of the motherland.  Still though they are still eager to mention that they are setting off on a voyage to found the first colony in northern Virginia and obviously show a level of pride in their expedition to the New World.

3. The Fundamental Orders were much different from the Mayflower Compact mainly in the sense that the Orders were a set of actually decreed laws while the Compact was more or less a declaration of how their colony would be more or less setup, without the specific laws and acts being stated. The Orders were specific laws instituted that were the exact rules to be followed in the governing of the colony, such as election procedures and abilities of those elected, while the Compact simply stated that some form of government with the power to enforce law would be set up in the new colony.

4. The citizens of Connecticut were obviously inclined to instituting this form of government because they had come from a more conservative government in Britain and were a more liberal society themselves. They opted to write a constitution because it obviously put in place "fundamental" laws and set in stone how the government should be operated. The writing of a constitution left little doubt as to how the colony should be governed.

5. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut show a blatant fear and protection against the rise of power of one part of the government, basically the basis behind the checks and balances of our government today. They make sure to make provisions for the inability to hold the position of governor for consecutive years and make sure that all magistrates are elected fairly and properly in annual elections. Also, the local townships have the ability to call their own General Councils and send delegates to the main councils for the good of each town respectively. If a local government sees the need to amend the law to the towns liking, it has the ability to, therefore preventing a tyrannical or all powerful state which they feared would be to similar to that in Britain.