Fundamental Orders of Connecticut The British North American colonies were on the cutting edge of governmental systems in They developed confederations and other styles of ruling that greatly differed from theiron fist of the absolutist monarch of Britain. Among these colonies, Connecticut was theforerunner. Among three major towns, Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield, Connecticut formedwhat is today known as a federalist government. Within Connecticuts federalism, the ideas ofmany modern governing techniques were applied, such as a written constitution and popularsovereignty. Because of this, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was a blueprint for themodern day Constitution because it contained a central government linked to local governments,three separate branches of government, and a representative government unlike the one of Britain.The modern day federalism that is applied today is structured like that of the Connecticutfederalism. A general court in Hartford acts like a central meeting place like that of present dayWashington D.C.. This General court has the ability to rule over the towns of Connecticut, but thelocals of a town may provide input to their public officer and he can provide the central court withthis information. The general court is not to be mistaken as an absolute rule. An example is foundin section 11 of the Fundamental Orders. The general court may distribute funding to the towns,and they may distribute them as they please. If this was a dictatorship, the general court would tellthe local governments how to distribute their funds.The Fundamental Orders established three branches of government like that of the modernday federalism. In section 1 of the Fundamental Orders, an executive office as well as a judicialbranch is elected. The person with the most votes becomes the governor, and the next six runnersup would hold positions as magistrates in the general court. The representative branch is...
