Читать книгу Colonial Origins of the American Constitution - Группа авторов - Страница 4
ОглавлениеContents
NEW HAMPSHIRE
1 Agreement of the Settlers at Exeter in New Hampshire, July 5, 1639
The covenant that created Exeter’s first town government.
2 General Laws and Liberties of New Hampshire, March 16, 1680
An apparent legal code for the province of New Hampshire that also lays out the government’s institutions and powers.
MASSACHUSETTS
3 Agreement Between the Settlers at New Plymouth (The Mayflower Compact), November 11, 1620
The oldest and most famous colonial political covenant.
4 Plymouth Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity, 1625
The oldest surviving citizenship oath—designed to bring post-1620 arrivals into the Mayflower Compact agreement.
Another citizenship oath, but one that functioned for several years as the only basis for town government.
6 Agreement of the Massachusetts Bay Company at Cambridge, England, August 26, 1629
An equivalent to the Mayflower Compact but written by the colonists in England before they set sail.
7 The Watertown Covenant of July 30, 1630
Strictly speaking a church covenant, it is also a political covenant because the settlers were establishing a theocracy.
8 Massachusetts Election Agreement, May 18, 1631
The oldest colonial provision for a formal electoral process.
9 The Oath of a Freeman, or of a Man to Be Made Free, 1631
Until 1631 almost all freemen had been politically bound by the church covenant. This oath covered nonchurch members.
10 The Massachusetts Agreement on the Legislature, May 9, 1632
The first formal specification of Massachusetts political institutions and, although brief, still a protoconstitution.
11 Cambridge Agreement, December 24, 1632
Town meetings predated this document, but it is the oldest surviving agreement formally establishing the institution.
12 Dorchester Agreement, October 8, 1633
Establishes a town meeting and is the oldest document to create an elected council to run government between meetings.
13 Cambridge Agreement on a Town Council, February 3, 1634
An ordinance passed by the town meeting creating a town council.
14 Massachusetts Agreement on the Legislature, May 14, 1634
A revision of, and enlargement upon, The Massachusetts Agreement on the Legislature [10], which looked like a constitution and essentially functioned as one.
15 The Oath of a Freeman, May 14, 1634
Replacement for The Oath of a Freeman [9], which reflects an evolving sense of citizenship by not requiring church membership.
16 Salem Oath for Residents, April 1, 1634
An oath for noncitizen residents.
17 Watertown Agreement on Civil Officers, August 23, 1634
Ordinance establishing the town’s first civil offices.
18 The Enlarged Salem Covenant of 1636
Much longer than the document it replaces, The Salem Covenant of 1629 [5], this covenant dwells on the values and commitments held in common.
19 Plymouth Agreement, November 15, 1636
A brief, powerful statement of popular sovereignty—inserted later into the Pilgrim Code of Law [20].
20 Pilgrim Code of Law, November 15, 1636
Not really a code of law but a political covenant/compact that looks like and serves as a true constitution.
The agreement that established Dedham’s town government.
22 The Massachusetts Body of Liberties, December 1641
Important code of law that contains most of the rights in the U.S. Bill of Rights, at least eight of which originate here.
23 The Combination of the Inhabitants upon the Piscataqua River for Government, October 22, 1641
A political compact resting town government on popular sovereignty.
24 Massachusetts Bicameral Ordinance, March 7, 1644
The first explicit creation of a bicameral legislature.
25 Massachusetts Ordinance on the Legislature, November 13, 1644
An ordinance altering the size and mode of electing the legislature.
26 The Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts, 1647
A codification of earlier laws, this organic act also functioned as a constitution for the colony.
27 Massachusetts Ordinance on Legislative Procedure, October 18, 1648
The earliest formal specification of internal legislative procedures in the colonies.
28 Towns of Wells, Gorgiana, and Piscataqua Form an Independent Government, July 1649
Three towns in an area claimed by Massachusetts later to become Maine use a compact to create a joint government.
29 The Cambridge Agreement of October 4, 1652
The Cambridge town meeting lays out the basic values and principles that are to guide Cambridge’s elected representatives.
30 Puritan Laws and Liberties, September 29, 1658
A revision of the Pilgrim Code of Law [20] and thus, in effect, an amending of the constitution of the Plymouth Colony.
31 An Act of the General Court, June 10, 1661
The basic principles of Massachusetts government and also an attempt to define the relationship between colony and king.
RHODE ISLAND
32 Providence Agreement, August 20, 1637
A brief political compact resting on popular sovereignty, and the earliest colonial attempt to separate church and state.
33 Government of Pocasset, March 7, 1638
The political covenant that established the Pocasset town government.
34 Newport Agreement, April 28, 1639
A brief, general compact establishing town government on the basis of popular sovereignty.
35 The Government of Portsmouth, April 30, 1639
An unusual foundation document in that town government is grounded on an implicit civil covenant.
36 Plantation Agreement at Providence, August 27, 1640
A compact written and adopted by representatives specifically elected to design a system of government by arbitration.
37 Organization of the Government of Rhode Island, March 16–19, 1642
A compact that explicitly establishes a “Democracie,” or “Popular Government,” for the combined towns of Rhode Island.
38 Warwick Agreement, August 8, 1647
The representatives of Warwick establish town government on popular approval of a civil covenant sanctioned by the king.
39 Acts and Orders of 1647
This code of law also contains the institutional description that allows it to function as a constitution for the colony.
40 Charter of Providence, March 14, 1649
Providence is granted a charter for its government by the colony government at the request of the freemen.
41 General Assembly of Rhode Island Is Divided into Two Houses, March 27, 1666
The colony’s legislature amends the Acts and Orders of 1647 [39] to divide itself into two separate houses.
CONNECTICUT
42 Plantation Covenant at Quinnipiack, April 1638
An interim agreement which, after fourteen months, was replaced by the New Haven Fundamentals [50].
43 Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, January 14, 1639
A constitution that defined Connecticut’s political institutions as both a colony and a state until 1816.
44 Guilford Covenant, June 1, 1639
Written aboard ship, this covenant forms a people who agree to later create a government (see The Government of Guilford [49]).
45 Structure of Town Governments, October 10, 1639
A set of amendments that address the status of the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut [43] as a federal system.
46 Fundamental Articles of New Haven, June 4–14, 1639
A summary of basic political principles, with the discussion surrounding its adoption that reveals underlying reasoning.
47 Connecticut Oath of Fidelity, 1640
A citizenship oath that brought those who arrived after 1639 into the 1639 founding compact—the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut [43].
48 Capitall Lawes of Connecticut, Established by the Generall Court the First of December, 1642
An ordinance that greatly reduces the number of reasons, compared with English common law, for using capital punishment.
49 The Government of Guilford, June 19, 1643
The detailed political covenant these colonists had agreed to establish in the Guilford Covenant [44].
50 New Haven Fundamentals, October 27, 1643
The Constitution of New Haven that guided the colony as a federation of towns until it united with Connecticut in 1662.
51 Majority Vote of Deputies and Magistrates Required for the Passage of Laws in Connecticut, February 5, 1645
An amendment to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut [43] clarifying the bicameral relationship.
52 Connecticut Code of Laws, 1650
This code serves as a bill of rights and as part of Connecticut’s colonial constitution.
53 Preface to the General Laws and Liberties of Connecticut Colony Revised and Published by Order of the General Court Held at Hartford in October 1672
Designed to replace the code of laws passed before New Haven joined Connecticut (see Connecticut Code of Laws [52]), the preface shows that the code is considered to be part of the foundation covenant.
54 Division of the Connecticut General Assembly into Two Houses, October 13, 1698
A constitutional ordinance that officially established the bicameralism that had been implicit but imperfectly operative since 1639.
NEW YORK
55 A Letter from Governor Richard Nicolls to the Inhabitants of Long Island, February 1665
The order that established a representative legislature in New York.
56 Charter of Liberties and Privileges, October 30, 1683
A constitution and bill of rights adopted by the legislature.
NEW JERSEY
57 Fundamentals of West New Jersey, 1681
A constitution adopted by the New Jersey legislature.
PENNSYLVANIA
58 Concessions to the Province of Pennsylvania, 1681
An agreement that established the terms of settlement for Pennsylvania.
59 Charter of Liberties and Frame of Government of the Province of Pennsylvania in America, May 5, 1682
The first Pennsylvania constitution, including a bill of rights, with a preface laying out the principles underlying it.
60 An Act for Freedom of Conscience, December 7, 1682
Establishes freedom of conscience for all those who profess a minimal belief in God.
61 Pennsylvania Charter of Liberties, 1701
The Frame of Government (constitution) that replaced the 1696 frame and defined Pennsylvania government until 1776.
MARYLAND
62 Orders Devised and Published by the House of Assembly to be Observed During the Assembly, February 25, 1638
Procedural rules governing the deliberative process in the legislature.
63 Act for Establishing the House of Assembly and the Laws to Be Made Therein, 1638
Political compact that formally established the Maryland legislature.
64 An Act for Church Liberties, 1638
One of the earliest statements on religious freedom, this compact extended that freedom to Catholics in Maryland.
65 An Act for Swearing Allegeance, 1638
A typical oath confirming English citizenship that together with the oath of a local political covenant expresses a dual citizenship in a de facto federal structure.
66 An Act What Persons Shall Be Called to Every General Assembly and an Act Concerning the Calling of General Assemblies, 1638
A temporary constitution that grounds political institutions on popular sovereignty—proposed by the Lord Proprietary and approved by the freemen gathered in a General Assembly.
67 An Act for the Liberties of the People, 1638
A brief, temporary bill of rights.
68 Maryland Toleration Act, April 21, 1649
Established the broadest definition of religious freedom in seventeenth-century colonial America until the establishment of Pennsylvania.
VIRGINIA
69 Articles, Laws, and Orders, Divine, Politic, and Martial for the Colony in Virginia, 1610–1611
Based on martial law rather than on consent and not in any sense covenantal, the first colonial code of law reflects the importance of religion to Virginia political culture.
70 Laws Enacted by the First General Assembly of Virginia, August 2–4, 1619
The first colonial political compact of any type, this code of law is also the first passed by a representative body.
71 Constitution for the Council and Assembly in Virginia, July 24, 1621
Formally establishes a bicameral legislature for Virginia.
72 Laws and Orders Concluded by the Virginia General Assembly, March 5, 1624
A major amendment to, and update of, Laws Enacted by the First General Assembly [70].
NORTH CAROLINA
73 Act Relating to the Biennial and Other Assemblies and Regulating Elections and Members in North Carolina, 1715
Formalizes the legislature and the electoral process for selecting representatives.
SOUTH CAROLINA
74 Act to Ascertain the Manner and Form of Electing Members to Represent the Province, 1721
A legislative act that defines the basis for representation in South Carolina and lays out a fair electoral process.
GEORGIA
75 Act to Ascertain the Manner and Form of Electing Members to Represent the Inhabitants of This Province in the Commons House of Assembly, June 9, 1761
The first formal definition of the electoral process underlying representative government in Georgia.
CONFEDERATIONS
76 The New England Confederation, 1643
A true confederation and the first attempt to unite several colonies created by different charters.
77 The Albany Plan of Union, 1754
Although never ratified, the first serious attempt to unite all the colonies under a common compact.
78 The Articles of Confederation, November 15, 1777
The first U.S. Constitution—a compact that created a confederation.
Appendix: Unadopted Colonial Plans of Union
79 William Penn’s Plan of Union, February 8, 1697
The first proposal for uniting all the colonies under a general government.
80 Joseph Galloway’s Plan of Union, 1774
The immediate precursor to the Articles of Confederation.
Bibliography
