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
This volume is not just another collection of documents assembled in the hope of illuminating general historical trends or eras. Instead, the set of documents selected for reproduction results from decision rules based on a theory of politics. The theory of politics is drawn from the work of Eric Voegelin, although it was the work of Willmoore Kendall and George Carey that first pointed to the possibility of, and need for, a collection of American colonial documents based on Voegelin’s ideas.1
Eric Voegelin argues that political analysis should begin with a careful examination of a people’s attempt at self-interpretation—a self-interpretation that is most likely to be found in their