Name________________________  Date_________________________  Section______________________    DBQ‐Colonial Representative Government    Directions: Look at Documents 1‐3, and then answer their accompanying questions.   Then, use the documents and your knowledge of history to write a paragraph in response to the Big Question Below. Be sure to include in your paragraph at least three details from the three documents. Reviewing your responses to the document questions will help you to answer the Big Question as well.   Document 1: The Ordinance of Virginia, dated July 24, 1619, called for the creation  of an assembly chosen by and made up of colonists.  The House of Burgesses, as the  assembly is known, marked the beginning of representative government in America.      “And this General Assembly shall have the free Power….to make, ordain, and enact  such Laws and Orders, for the [good] of the said Colony, and the good government  thereof….”    What powers did the Burgesses have?                Document 2: In 1620, the Pilgrims arrived in America.  While still aboard the  Mayflower, they drew up and signed the Mayflower Compact.        “ We….combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick….[to] enact, constitute,  and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Offices,  from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general  Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience.”    What powers did the Mayflower Compact give the Plymouth settlers?               

Document 3:     In 1639, the colonists of Connecticut drew up the Fundamental Orders of  Connecticut, which established a new government with an elected legislature and  governor.  It was the first written constitution in the colonies.    5. It is Ordered…that … the other General Court in September shall be for making of laws, and any other public occasion, which concerns the good of the Commonwealth. 8. It is Ordered,…, that Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield shall have power, each Town, to send four of their Freemen as their deputies to every General Court; 10. It is Ordered, …, [the] General Courts shall consist the supreme power of the Commonwealth, and they only shall have power to make laws or repeal them, to grant levies [taxes], to admit of Freemen, dispose of lands undisposed of…. by the whole body of Freemen. What are three powers of the General Court of Connecticut?

            The Big Question: How were the Virginia House of Burgesses, The Mayflower  Compact and The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut important to the development  of representative government in America.