Half Way Covenant : The United States

Fundamental Orders of Connecticut- Settlers in the Connecticut River colony drafted the Fundamental Orders which were in essence a modern constitution. It established a regime democratically controlled by the “substantial” that elected by popular vote a governed by that legislature. Essential features were borrowed by Connecticut for its colonial charter and the state constitution.

76) With this in mind the framers carefully and purposefully crafted a Constitution that divided federal powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. This division of power gave each branch the ability and authority to control the others through a specific system of checks and balances. One check on Congress was the design of a bicameral system where Congress was divided into the House of Representatives and the Senate. Members of the House of Representatives would be elected by majority popular vote making them the direct representative of their constituencies. Members of the Senate would be elected by state legislatures making them direct representatives of the states, and proponents of the state’s rights and sovereignty. Joseph Story (1833) suggests that one main reason for the mode of appointing the Senate was to introduce a powerful check upon rash legislation, and prevent the national governments encroachment on the powers of the states (p.183). However, in passing the 17th Amendment the mode of electing the Senate as a means of partitioning federal and state power collapsed leaving the states unprotected from abuses of the central government.

Most colonies had a powerful royal governor appointed by the King of England. These royal governors often held massive power, being able to do things that even the king could not do, such as vetoing legislation and dismissing judges. They also served as the military commander for their province. In most colonies, adult, white, and land-owning males were permitted to vote in elections. The New England colonies’ governments were dominated by religion. They followed a unique form of church government known as congregationalism, where the people, known as the saints, pledged to follow God’s law. In the Middle colonies, a document called Duke’s Laws guaranteed religious toleration and created local governments. The colonies had Councils and Assemblies that gathered to initiate legislation. In the Southern colonies, one of the first representative-style governments was created. The House of Burgesses was created in 1619 in Virginia by Sir Edwin Sandys, and was created mostly to make the colony more attractive to wealthy

Another field of influence for American Democracy lies in the English .English rule passed the English Bill of Rights in 1689, a similar declaration of which can be found in the American Bill of Rights. The English were also the first superpower to institute rule by Parliament. Parliament is a form of legislature in which power is distributed between two "Houses" (House of Commons and the House of Lords). The American system of Checks and Balances between three separate institutions (Judiciary, Executive and Legislative) owes its existence primarily to the English Parliament. Over the centuries, English influence on American government has been great, and today these influences can still be seen in everyday American life, The Colonial Experiences encountered by early American citizens before the revolution have impacted contemporary United States Government. For example, The Virginia House of Burgesses was the first instance of representative democracy in the New World. It involved a form of Congress, with 2 representative politicians per state. Smaller towns and outposts held town meetings, in which a fairly primitive form of

This Virginia plan called for legislature with two houses a lower house chosen by the people of the states

First, our government follows the Fundamental Orders. The Fundamental Orders were written by Thomas Hooker, the founder of Connecticut. The Fundamental Orders are also the very first constitution in America. The Orders state that Connecticut shall have two assemblies annually (Fundamental Orders of 1639). The first assembly election is the second Thursday in April. The second election

The Legislative branch was formed in 1789 with the 1st congress. The first congress contained 65 representatives, 37 of them were pro-administration and 28 of them were anti-administration.(About the First Federal Congress (1789-1791). Also there were 26 senators.(“About the First Federal Congress (1789-1791”) The role of this congress was to demonstrate the US constitution 's framework. This congress also helped to answer questions and address the concerns that were brought about during ratification. The 1st Congress set up the rules and procedures for the House and the Senate. The Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate were established by the congress. This congress was tasked with taking care of revolutionary war debt and the deciding where the future Capital would be located, however, they never established the location

A bicameral legislature means that there are two different houses that everything has to go through. In the Iroquois system of government they have two sets of Confederate Lords: Mohawk and Seneca Lords; Oneida and Cayuga Lords. Any questions will first be passed through the Mohawk and Seneca Lords, and then it will be discussed by the Oneida and Cayuga

The Fundamental orders made it clear that they were following god's plan; to keep the people in peace. They believed that god mandated that to keep the people united there had to be a well structured government. the intent was to keep America running smooth and that's what hapened. With the specific orders indicated people had a better idea of what to do and should follow the laws specifically as it was indicated. This shows how even in the 1600's governors tried to please the poeple.

The Framers of the Constitution created the Virginia Plan, made by James Madison, to state the concerns of the large states. This plan created a legislature that was based on population. So, the bigger the population the more members were elected for the House of Representatives. The members would then elect two senators for each state.

The type of government that took place in Maryland was proprietary government. A proprietary colony is a colony in which land territory is given to a person or group by the king in form of a charter/ license. The proprietors owned the land to themselves with no king appointing positions, making laws, raising militia,collecting taxes, etc. Basically, the proprietors was like the king of the land. The proprietors peformed most of the duties of kings did such as The king usually grants these lands to proprietaries as a form of debit or gratitude towards highly regarded person. Another common reason for these grants of land was to settle British people in these areas quickly. In some cases Kings granted this land in return of a percentage of the

The Three-Fifths Compromise was when they counted each slave as 3/5th of a person. The Compromise was more populous to the large states which were: Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. The less populous were the small states which included New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, Delaware, and New York. It was one of the reasons the United States had a civil war between the North and the South. It also ended slavery. Without it the south would have more power in congress and therefore slavery would have never ended because the southern states wanted slavery to be counted fully.

Half-way covenant: the Half-Way covenant made the Puritan church more accessible to those who had

In the mid 1600’s, Puritan pastors began preaching a different sermon. It was based on the teachings of the biblical prophet, Jeremiah, and known as the jeremiad. An intense change in the church led to the creation of the Half-Way Covenant. It erased the segregation between the converted and non-converted members of society. Many believe this arrangement diluted the religious values of the church because it intermingled the sinners with the saved. (Cengage Learning , 2013)

The New Covenant is different than the Old Covenant because it incorporates a promise. Precedently, the covenants were made, but not promised. With the covenant be promised, it meant that there would be drastic changes that would take place. Mainly the New Covenant would signify the end of how God historically dealt with his people.