Democracy in United States
...of the first statements of rights and obligations made by a group of New World European migrants. It was also an effective answer to a few settlers who thought they could place their own aims above the community. English landowners had insisted on meeting with their leaders for consultation in local matters ever since the Magna Carta was signed in 1215. Virginia settlers expected that same right. The House of Burgesses was modeled after the English Parliament and established in 1619. Members would meet at least once a year with their royal governor to decide local laws and determine local taxation. They continued to meet on a yearly basis to decide local matters. The tradition established by the House of Burgesses was extremely important to colonial development. Each new English colony demanded its own legislature in turn. Since 1619, Americans have had 157 years to practice democracy before the Declaration of Independence was signed. By this time they were quite good at it. All over our country and throughout the world, the New England Town Meeting serves as a model of democracy. Most recently, what have been referred to as ``Town Meetings'' have been held by presidential candidates and others who seek to stimulate discussion about everything from issues in a campaign, to international trade agreements, to race relations in America. In South America, countries emerging from military rule and in Eastern European countries who have rid themselves of communism, ``Town Meetings'' have been held to demonstrate the freedom enjoyed by ordinary citizens and prove that every person's opinion is important and should be heard. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was the first written constitution in the American colonies, prepared as the covenant for the new Puritan community in Connecticut, established in the 1630s. It established a precedent for written constitutions in the colonies. To the Puritans, a covenant was an agreement with God to build a holy society. Those who moved to Connecticut from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts carried with them the tradition of the commonwealth, a community of people who worked together for the good of the whole. The Fundamental Orders described a system of government for the new community, in writing. The Fundamental Orders were the first written constitution in America and marked the start of d...