53 The First American Constitution 1638-39

53. The First American Constitution, 1638-39

The Connecticut colonists had leisure now to settle the form of their government. Massachusetts had such a liberal charter that nothing more seemed to be necessary in that colony. The Mayflower Compact did well enough for the Pilgrims. The Connecticut people had no charter, and they wanted something more definite than a vague compact. So in the winter of 1638-39 they met at Hartford and set down on paper a complete set of rules for their guidance. This was the first time in the history of the English race that any people had tried to do this. The Connecticut constitution of 1638-39 is therefore looked upon as "the first truly political written constitution in history." The government thus established was very much the same as that of Massachusetts with the exception that in Connecticut there was no religious condition for the right to vote as there was in Massachusetts.