In 1662, King Charles II of England granted governmental authority and a royal charter to the Connecticut colonies.
At the urging of influential preacher Thomas Hooker, the Connecticut legislative body (or General Court) began secret committee meetings to discuss drafting the orders in June 1638.
They called for "an orderly and decent government according to God" in attempts to pursue "the liberty and purity of the gospel of our Lord Jesus"[3] and stipulated that "the Governor be always a member of some approved congregation".
Connecticut's government had separation of powers as defined by the original Fundamental Orders of 1639, but with a strong single assembly.
For many years, John Haynes and Edward Hopkins took turns with the position, each serving a two-year term and then rotating back to the role of lieutenant governor.
The governorship was an extremely important role during the American Revolutionary War due to its responsibility as commander-in-chief of the state militia.
This often led to circumstances where a representative or assistant sat in review of a case in which he was personally interested as an attorney, litigant, or friend of one of the parties.
It also resulted in the constant situation of a Superior Court judge sitting in review of a case over which he had presided at the trial level.
A notorious instance of legislative interference with the courts occurred in 1815, when Peter Lung was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Lung's Case outraged all Connecticut judges, most notably Chief Justice Zephaniah Swift, who spoke out for judicial independence in a pamphlet the following year.
Governor John Winthrop Jr. was sent as an emissary to negotiate with the English government, and set sail for England on 23 July 1661.
He proved successful in his mission, and the English attorney general approved a bill for incorporation of the Connecticut Charter.
The colony's borders were to be Narragansett Bay on the east and Massachusetts on the north, while its southwestern boundary was expanded to the "South Sea on the West", meaning the Pacific Ocean.
Andros serves a writ on the governor, again demanding the surrender of the charter; he finally went to Hartford with a band of soldiers on 31 October 1687.
The historical accuracy of what followed is somewhat uncertain, but the commonly accepted version is that Andros met with the leaders of the colony one night at the meetinghouse, expecting them to relinquish the charter.
They had it lying on a table, but they suddenly blew out the candles and threw the room into darkness; when the lights were reignited, it had vanished.
Some advocated direct ties to the crown with a royal government, while others lobbied for drafting a completely new charter, but Connecticut finally opted to return to the status quo.
The General Assembly formally approved the Declaration of Independence with the other colonies, especially since its own Roger Sherman had helped to draft it.
The legislature declared in its resolution that Connecticut's government "shall continue to be as established by Charter received from Charles the second, King of England, so far as an adherence to the same will be consistent with an absolute independence of this State on the Crown of Great Britain".
Eleven of the Thirteen Colonies had drafted state constitutions by 1786, but Connecticut elected to continue operation under the Charter.
In 1817, they took control of the state Assembly (lower house), and elected Oliver Wolcott Jr. as Governor and Jonathan Ingersoll as Lieutenant-governor.
One measure of the event's importance is the attention given to the sometimes long-winded sermons; President Ezra Stiles of Yale preached one in 1783 that lasted five hours and was 99 pages when printed.
[10] Governor Wolcott knew that the Toleration Party would soon have the votes to take a slim majority in the upper house, after the spring elections of 1818.
[12] Croswell had been a newspaper editor during a time when paper was scarce and space was tight; his sermon was only 11 pages when printed, or about 30 minutes long when preached.
[13] The General Assembly met just after the unusually short Anniversary Election Sermon was delivered and made a significant change to voting rights in Connecticut.
[14] This eliminated the previous property requirements that had grown onerous, as more of the population moved to jobs in commerce or manufacturing rather than agriculture.
The most important ballot cast in the General Assembly was the vote on whether only a simple majority of the legislature would be required to approve whatever constitution was ultimately drafted.
It seems that Croswell's well-received and powerful short sermon was efficacious;[15] those in favor of a simple majority carried the vote by 81–80.
The governor still does not enjoy the privilege of pardon, but the office was granted a more significant power of veto under the latest constitution.
Connecticut is known as the Constitution State because of its early adoption of the Fundamental Orders in 1639, thought to be the earliest document of its kind in western civilization.