The Plymouth General Court (formerly styled, ''The General Court of Plymouth Colony'') was the original colonial legislature of the

Plymouth colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the passengers on the ...

from 1620 to 1692. The body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases.

History

The General Court of the Colony of New Plymouth was founded in 1620 when the Pilgrims came to

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, and the General Court served as the colony's legislature and judicial court. In 1636 the Court created North America's first written

legal code A code of law, also called a law code or legal code, is a systematic collection of statutes. It is a type of legislation that purports to exhaustively cover a complete system of laws or a particular area of law as it existed at the time the cod ...

with a set of statutes including a rudimentary

bill of rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...

protecting traditional liberties such as the right to a

jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significan ...

. The early law of the colony was based roughly on English

common law In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipres ...

and Mosaic law, but the judicial structure resembled local manor and borough courts in England rather than the higher King's Court, which created the common law. The early Plymouth General Court met within the fort on

Burial Hill Burial Hill is a historic cemetery or burying ground on School Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Established in the 17th century, it is the burial site of several Pilgrims, the founding settlers of Plymouth Colony. It was listed on the Nat ...

near

Cole's Hill Cole's Hill is a National Historic Landmark containing the first cemetery used by the ''Mayflower'' Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The hill is located on Carver Street near the foot of Leyden Street and across the street from Ply ...

in downtown Plymouth. The Plymouth colony was officially incorporated by charter into the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

on October 7, 1691, although the General Court of the Plymouth Colony remained in effective government until the new charter arrived on May 14, 1692, carried by

William Phips Sir William Phips (or Phipps; February 2, 1651 – February 18, 1695) was born in Maine in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was of humble origin, uneducated, and fatherless from a young age but rapidly advanced from shepherd boy, to shipwright, s ...

. The last official meeting of the Plymouth General Court occurred on June 8, 1692. The Plymouth General Court was officially disestablished in 1692 when the Massachusetts Colony with its

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from th ...

and Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court took over Plymouth's former jurisdiction. Initially the General Court consisted of the Governor of the colony, the Council of Assistants (an

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something prev ...

body), and all the colony's Freemen. Unlike other New England colonies which used a more representative system, such as the Massachusetts Bay Colony, all the officers of the General Court were directly elected by the Freemen. At this early stage of the Colony's history the body of Freemen consisted of only the signatories to the Mayflower Compact. The Governor and Assistants acted as magistrates with legislative function being reserved for the Freemen in an open assembly. This form of direct democracy was similar to the

open town meeting Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...

system still in place in many New England towns. However this method of governance did not last due to the inconvenience and cost of travel that colonists would have to endure to meet at the General Court. In 1639 changes were made which allowed Freemen of each town of the colony to elect from themselves 2 magistrates/delegates (the town of Plymouth was allowed 4). These delegates would act as local magistrates who could hear local cases and would also serve as delegates to the General Court. There were provisions which allowed these delegates to be removed from office if they were found to be "troublesome". Some elements of direct democracy remained, such as the officers continuing to be elected from the whole body of freemen and not by the delegates of the Court. Who counted as a Freeman changed over the history of the Plymouth Colony. The original restrictions, limiting the freemen to those original Compact signatories, was amended to include additional signatories. Some exclusions to this included groups such as

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

and

Ranters The Ranters were one of a number of dissenting groups that emerged around the time of the English Commonwealth (1649–1660). They were largely common people and the movement was widespread throughout England, though they were not organised and ...

. Signing of the compact required an oath of fidelity, and since groups such as Quakers are not permitted to take oaths they were to be excluded from Plymouth political life. In 1671 the qualifications for Freemen liberalized again allowing any

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

man over 21 years old who possessed property worth over £20 to be considered.(Davis 1900, p.8-9

References

Bibliography

{{cite book , last= Davis , first= William T. , date= 1900 , title= History of the Judiciary of Massachusetts, Including the Plymouth and Massachusetts Colonies, the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and the Commonwealth , publisher= The Boston Book Company , isbn=9780306706134

External links

The Book of the General Laws of the Inhabitants of the Jurisdiction of New-Plimouth (1685)
1620 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies 1691 disestablishments in the Thirteen Colonies

Plymouth General Court The Plymouth General Court (formerly styled, ''The General Court of Plymouth Colony'') was the original colonial legislature of the Plymouth colony from 1620 to 1692. The body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases. History The General ...

General Court Plymouth, Massachusetts Massachusetts culture

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links