CONNECTICUT

Indian and Black slaves were outlawed very early in Connecticut, not on moral grounds of concern for the Indians and Blacks, but because of the negative effects on the white poor. Why would anyone pay the poor any more than the amortization costs of a slave? Therefore there was no way a poor white could make a living wage if slavery were to coexist.

This appears to be one of the first uses of the word "United" with respect to what was to become the United States.

These were a set of laws governing their colony that the people voted. It appears to be the earliest legislation on term limits in America.

This constitution is erroneously described as the first written constitution in America. It was the first written by whites, but the Iroquois Indians had written a formal constitution over 100 years earlier. This particular clause is fascinating as part of the separation between church and state debate. In this first constitution, legislation was to be the law of the land, not religious law. However, if the legislation were silent on the issue, then religious law was to govern. Thus, neither side in the debate choose to quote it very often, as it only gives them half a victory.

This is historically a very important quotation. It shows that gun control was existant in Colonial America. The violation of the gun laws were so serious that the Connecticut Council itself heard and tried the case and it was not even handled by the constable. On the same day, they also fined Bartholomew Barnardt for allowing his son to shoot a militia musket in his possession. Today, most states would not be allowed much gun control as politically there is a belief that in Colonial America gun use and ownership was almost universal. That assertion appears to be untrue. See {613056} and {613057}.

This appears to be one of the first uses of the word "United" with respect to what was to become the United States.

This constitution is erroneously described as the first written constitution in America. It was the first written by whites, but the Iroquois Indians had written a formal constitution over 100 years earlier. This particular clause is fascinating as part of the separation between church and state debate. In this first constitution, legislation was to be the law of the land, not religious law. However, if the legislation were silent on the issue, then religious law was to govern. Thus, neither side in the debate choose to quote it very often, as it only gives them half a victory.

These were a set of laws governing their colony that the people voted. It appears to be the earliest legislation on term limits in America.

This is historically a very important quotation. It shows that gun control was existant in Colonial America. The violation of the gun laws were so serious that the Connecticut Council itself heard and tried the case and it was not even handled by the constable. On the same day, they also fined Bartholomew Barnardt for allowing his son to shoot a militia musket in his possession. Today, most states would not be allowed much gun control as politically there is a belief that in Colonial America gun use and ownership was almost universal. That assertion appears to be untrue. See {613056} and {613057}.

Indian and Black slaves were outlawed very early in Connecticut, not on moral grounds of concern for the Indians and Blacks, but because of the negative effects on the white poor. Why would anyone pay the poor any more than the amortization costs of a slave? Therefore there was no way a poor white could make a living wage if slavery were to coexist.