The Online Library of Liberty

A project of Liberty Fund, Inc.

• Preface
• Introductory Essay
• New Hampshire: 1: [agreement of the Settlers At Exeter In New Hampshire]
• 2: General Laws and Liberties of New Hampshire
• Massachusetts: 3: [agreement Between the Settlers At New Plymouth] (the Mayflower Compact)
• 4: [plymouth Oath of Allegiance and Fidelity]
• 5: [the Salem Covenant of 1629]
• 6: [agreement of the Massachusetts Bay Company At Cambridge, England]
• 7: [the Watertown Covenant of July 30, 1630]
• 8: [massachusetts Election Agreement]
• 9: The Oath of a Freeman, Or of a Man to Be Made Free
• 10: [the Massachusetts Agreement On the Legislature]
• 11: [cambridge Agreement]
• 12: [dorchester Agreement]
• 13: [cambridge Agreement On a Town Council]
• 14: [massachusetts Agreement On the Legislature]
• 15: The Oath of a Freeman
• 16: [salem Oath For Residents]
• 17: [watertown Agreement On Civil Officers]
• 18: [the Enlarged Salem Covenant of 1636]
• 19: [plymouth Agreement]
• 20: [pilgrim Code of Law]
• 21: [dedham Covenant]
• 22: [the Massachusetts Body of Liberties]
• 23: [the Combination of the Inhabitants Upon the Piscataqua River For Government]
• 24: [massachusetts Bicameral Ordinance]
• 25: [massachusetts Ordinance On the Legislature]
• 26: The Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts
• 27: [massachusetts Ordinance On Legislative Procedure]
• 28: [towns of Wells, Gorgiana, and Piscataqua Form an Independent Government]
• 29: [the Cambridge Agreement of October 4, 1652]
• 30: [puritan] Laws and Liberties
• 31: [an Act of the General Court]
• Rhode Island: 32: [providence Agreement]
• 33: [government of Pocasset]
• 34: [newport Agreement]
• 35: [the Government of Portsmouth]
• 36: Plantation Agreement At Providence
• 37: [organization of the Government of Rhode Island]
• 38: [warwick Agreement]
• 39: Acts and Orders of 1647
• 40: Charter of Providence
• 41: [general Assembly of Rhode Island Is Divided Into Two Houses]
• Connecticut: 42: Plantation Covenant At Quinnipiack
• 43: Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
• 44: Guilford Covenant
• 45: Structure of Town Governments
• 46: Fundamental Articles of New Haven
• 47: [connecticut Oath of Fidelity]
• 48: Capitall Lawes of Connecticut, Established By the Generall Court the First of December, 1642
• 49: The Government of Guilford
• 50: New Haven Fundamentals
• 51: [majority Vote of Deputies and Magistrates Required For the Passage of Laws In Connecticut]
• 52: Connecticut Code of Laws
• 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
• 54: [division of the Connecticut General Assembly Into Two Houses]
• New York: 55: [a Letter From Governor Richard Nicolls to the Inhabitants of Long Island]
• 56: Charter of Liberties and Privileges
• New Jersey: 57: Fundamentals of West New Jersey
• Pennsylvania: 58: Concessions to the Province of Pennsylvania
• 59: Charter of Liberties and Frame of Government of the Province of Pennsylvania In America
• 60: An Act For Freedom of Conscience
• 61: [pennsylvania Charter of Liberties]
• Maryland: 62: Orders Devised and Published By the House of Assembly to Be Observed During the Assembly
• 63: Act For Establishing the House of Assembly and the Laws to Be Made Therein
• 64: An Act For Church Liberties
• 65: An Act For Swearing Allegeance
• 66: An Act What Persons Shall Be Called to Every General Assembly and an Act Concerning the Calling of General Assemblies
• 67: An Act For the Liberties of the People
• 68: [maryland Toleration Act]
• Virginia: 69: Articles, Laws, and Orders, Divine, Politic, and Martial For the Colony In Virginia
• 70: [laws Enacted By the First General Assembly of Virginia]
• 71: Constitution For the Council and Assembly In Virginia
• 72: [laws and Orders Concluded By the Virginia General Assembly]
• 73: Act Relating to the Biennial and Other Assemblies and Regulating Elections and Members In North Carolina
• South Carolina: 74: Act to Ascertain the Manner and Form of Electing Members to Represent the Province
• 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
• Confederations: 76: [the New England Confederation]
• 77: [the Albany Plan of Union]
• 78: The Articles of Confederation
• 79: [william Penn’s Plan of Union]
• 80: [joseph Galloway’s Plan of Union]

41

[General Assembly of Rhode Island Is Divided into Two Houses]

Taken without alteration from Bartlett, Vol. ii, 1664 to 1677, 110.

March 27, 1666

Several colonies independently made this important move to a bicameral legislature—Massachusetts (Massachusetts Bicameral Ordinance [24]) and Connecticut (Division of the Connecticut General Assembly [54]) are others noted in this collection. To a certain extent these moves to bicameralism were attempts to emulate the structure and processes of the British Parliament, and to a certain extent they were a response to colonial political inclinations. The documents provide only vague reasons for bicameralism, but it is certain that the British model was not so much slavishly imitated as it was studied for beneficial design characteristics. In British North America, with no true aristocracy to serve as the basis for an upper house, bicameralism was grounded in the desire for a careful, deliberative process as well as in a desire to distinguish representation of specific geographical units, such as towns and counties, from representation of the interests of the entire colony. In short, bicameralism provided a way for the colonists to respond simultaneously to two of their fundamental values—localism and the common good.

The Assembly having taken notice of the motion from the townes of Portsmouth and of Warwick, desiring the Assembly would order that the deputyes may sitt apart from the magistrates as a House by themselves; and consequently the magistrates to sitt as a House by themselves; and that of these two houses may consist the law makeing power, called in the Charter the Gennerall Assembly, of this body, collony, or corporation of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. At this present Assembly haveing well weighed such conveniances, and such considerationes as may perswade to grant the same, and yett to provide against such inconveniancyes as may for want of mature and sound advice proceed therefrom, doe in this presant Assembly enacte and declare that it is freely agreed, that the request of the townes aforesaid, be granted and ordered, that the magistrates sitt by themselves, and the deputyes by themselves, and that each house soe sitting have equal power and priviledge in the proposeing, composing and propagating any act, order and law in Gennerall Assembly; and that neither house in Gennerall Assembly shall have power without the concurrance of the majour part of the other House, to make any law or order to be accounted as an acte of the Gennerall Assembly. This in gennerall, is fully ordered, with a recommendation of the more pertickelar and methodicall settleing the ways and circumstances of ordering and regulating the afaires in each house and addresses, &c., from the one house to the other, vnto the consideration of the Gennerall Assembly, that is to sitt the first Wednesday in the month of May, now next ensuinge: where it is hopefully expected the matter may be fully debated and sett in a good way vpon more deliberation than this presant time can afford. The Court haveing alredye sate long on other weighty matters that lay before them.

Ordered, that the Recorder shall have for his atendance on the Gennerall Assembly in October, and for the Assembly now in March, 1666, for coppies of both, twenty five shillings from each towne.

Ordered, that coppies shall spedily goe forth vnder the seale to each towne.

42

Plantation Covenant at Quinnipiack

The text is taken from Isabel Macbeath Calder, The New Haven Colony (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1934), 51. Calder in turn cites the New Haven Colonial Records, 1638–1649, 12. The first part of the first sentence, in brackets, has been added by this editor on the basis of information found in Calder and elsewhere. The spelling and punctuation are Calder’s.

April 1638

Although the framers used the title shown above, it is more frequently referred to in history books as the “New Haven Plantation Covenant.” This document was adopted shortly after the group arrived from Boston. It was to function as a temporary, general agreement until the people could become familiar enough with each other’s religious views, sentiments, and moral conduct to adopt a written frame of government and code of laws, which they did fourteen months later (see the New Haven Fundamentals, 1643 [50]). The earlier document, reproduced below, was not actually a covenant because there was no oath. The settlers, not knowing each other well, did not want to force an oath on each other until they were certain they all had agreed on what was to be covenanted. Thus the authors termed the document a “plantation covenant” to indicate its lesser status.

We the assembly of free planters do solemnly covenant] thatt as [in] matters thatt Concerne the gathering and ordering of a Chur. so Likewise in all publique offices wch concerne Cuill orders as Choyce of magistrates and officers makeing and repealing of Lawes devideing allotmts of Inheritance and all things of Like nature we would all of vs be ordered by those Rules wch the scripture holds forth to vs.