“It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed…” a bold and establishing statement, that precedes each of the 11 Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, a document inspired by Connecticut’s founder Thomas Hooker.

Hooker was born in Leicestershire, England, July 5th 1586, to a Protestant family. While attending school at Cambridge University, Hooker was converted over to Puritanism, and eventually became a puritan minister.  The Puritans were targeted by the English authorities and Hooker was forced to leave England and travel to Holland for religious freedom. He then travelled to the New World, and joined the Puritain believers in Massachusetts.

Thomas Hooker was a strong believer in self-government and congregationalism, and after some disagreements with the Puritian leaders in Massachusetts about the government of the church, left with 100 followers to establish a new colony.

Eventually three other settlements came and united with Hooker and his group in the place now known as Hartford Connecticut.

In a sermon Thomas Hooker gave in 1638, he said: “The foundation of authority is laid firstly in the free consent of people.” This was before the United States Constitution, so the idea of self government was very extremist, and not implemented on a larger scale. It was Thomas Hooker’s philosophy that gave the foundation for The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, and eventually the United States Constitution. 

 One of the first Constitutions of modern times, and remarkably but not surprising, there is no mention anywhere on the document of  “dread sovereign” or a “gracious king”, unlike the Mayflower Compact. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were adopted January 14th 1639, and is the precursor to the United States Constitution. Cleon Skousen in his book “The 5000 Year Leap” says: “It was the first written constitution known to [modern] history, that created a government, and marked the beginnings of American democracy, of which Thomas Hooker deserves more than any other man to be called the father.”

As Americans or anyone who benefits from American ideals we owe much of our freedom and liberty to those who came before us. Let’s not forget the small but not insignificant contribution of Thomas Hooker and his group of believers not only did they strive for religious freedom but also dreamed a step further and had hope for a free government. 

To read the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut here is a good source: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/order.asp

Sources:

-“The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut – Teaching American History”. Teaching American History, n.d., https://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/the-fundamental-orders-of-connecticut/. Accessed 19 April 2021.

– “Thomas Hooker (15861647) | Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project”. Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project, 2016, https://connecticuthistory.org/people/thomas-hooker/. Accessed 19 April 2021.

-“Avalon Project – Fundamental Orders of 1639”. n.d., https://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/order.asp. Accessed 19 April 2021.

-“Thomas Hooker Facts ***”. n.d., https://www.landofthebrave.info/thomas-hooker.htm. Accessed 19 April 2021.

-Skousen, W. C. The 5000 Year Leap. National Center for Constitutional, 2006.