Fundamental Orders of Connecticut

Thomas Hooker was a Puritan Dissenter who disagreed with many of the Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He is called the "Father of Connecticut". Thomas and some of his followers left Massachusetts in the early 1630s and landed in modern day New Hartford, CT. He believed that government must answer to the people and that all Puritans should be extended suffrage (voting rights).

The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (FOC) are often called the first written constitution. It established the government of the colony of Connecticut. It contains ideas that continued into the US Constitution like Individual Rights and Separation of Church and State. It established the government of the colony of Connecticut.