. The story of American democracy, political and industrial . possessed by anEnglish executive: (1) the General Court could not be dis-solved except by its own vote; and (2) it could be elected andbrought together, on occasion, without the governor s right of the General Court is expressly asserted to callinto question magistrate or governor, and even (in modernphrase) to recall them during their short term of franchise was never restricted to church members,as in Massachusetts. At first, anyone whom a town al-lowed to vote in town meeting could vote also in the GeneralC
. The story of American democracy, political and industrial . possessed by anEnglish executive: (1) the General Court could not be dis-solved except by its own vote; and (2) it could be elected andbrought together, on occasion, without the governor s right of the General Court is expressly asserted to callinto question magistrate or governor, and even (in modernphrase) to recall them during their short term of franchise was never restricted to church members,as in Massachusetts. At first, anyone whom a town al-lowed to vote in town meeting could vote also in the GeneralCourt of Elections. That is, the toivns fixed not only thelocal, but also the general franchise. But in 1659 the General BIRTHPLACE OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY 103 Court ordered that thereafter no one should vote for gover-nor or for members of the General Court unless he werepossessed of thirty pounds worth of property, real or per-sonal. Even in democratic Connecticut this propertyqualification stood, with slight change, until long after theAmerican An Old Grist Mill at New London, Connecticut, built in 1645. Cf. page 72. Connecticut did not reject theocracy. Hooker believed ina Bible commonwealth as zealously as Cotton did, thoughhe understood his Bible differently on political Connecticutmatters. The governor had to be a member of anda church; the preamble of the Orders states the *^®°<=*^yfirst purpose of the government to be the maintaining of thediscipline of the churches, which according to the truth of thegospell is now practiced amongst us; and the first code oflaws, in 1650, authorizes the government to see [that] theforce, ordinances, and rules of Christe bee observed in every 104 THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION Church according to his word. The General Court placedministers, defined their powers, and even decided who shouldbe admitted to the sacraments. THE NEW ENGLAND CONFEDERATION The Neiv England colonies had hardly established them-selves in the wilder
Size: 1760px × 1420px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidstoryofameri, bookyear1922
