Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina

The Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina were adopted on 1 March 1669 by the eight Lords Proprietors of the Province of Carolina, which included most of the land between what is now Virginia and Florida. It replaced the Charter of Carolina and the Concessions and Agreements of the Lords Proprietors of the Province of Carolina (1665). The date 1 March 1 1669 was when the proprietors confirmed the Constitutions and sent them to the Colony; later on two other versions were introduced in 1682 during the rule of Charles II and in 1698, following the 1688 Glorious Revolution that ousted the Stuart monarchy. The proprietors suspended the Constitutions in 1690. Despite the claims of proprietors on the valid version of the Constitution, the colonists officially recognized the 21 July 1669 version, claiming that six proprietors had sealed the Constitutions as "the unalterable form and rule of Government forever" on that date. The earliest draft of this version in manuscript is believed to be the one found at Columbia, South Carolina archives.

The Constitutions were "reactionary" and "experimented with a non-common law system designed to encourage a feudal social structure", including through the use of non-unanimous jury decisions for criminal convictions. Some scholars think that the Colonists, settlers, and the British Crown kept themselves at a distance to the Constitutions from the beginning; however, others argue that it was a legal document that drew on the Stuart king's earlier charter to the colony and reflected crucial legal realities. While the provisions of the Fundamental Constitutions were never fully employed nor ratified, the documemt did help to shape power in the Carolinas and especially land distribution. Colonists' main concerns over the document were its exaltation of proprietors as noblemen at the apex of the hierarchically designed society. Second, the Constitutions had rules that were hard to implement by settlers for practical reasons. Thus, the proprietors had to amend the rules five times. They were repealed in part after the 1688 revolution against James II—the Glorious Revolution, which also reflected a partial reaction against such principles; however, for eight proprietors and the king who were the authors of the "Fundamental Constitutions", it reflected the proper order of governance, or as they wrote, they were creating a government with lords so "that the government of this province may be made most agreeable to the monarchy under which we live and of which this province is a part; and that we may avoid erecting a numerous democracy." The eight Lords Proprietors were Duke of Albemarle (1608–1670); Earl of Clarendon (1609–1674); Baron Berkeley of Stratton (1602–1678); Earl of Craven (1608–1697); Sir George Carteret (c. 1610–1680); Sir William Berkeley (1605–1677); Sir John Colleton (1608–1666); and Earl of Shaftesbury (1621–1683). Shaftesbury's secretary John Locke was involved in the drafting of the Constitutions for his patron and the other Lords Proprietors.