The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop, By Edmund S Morgan
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even a popular demand, if it existed, could have been met by a less drastic measure than the one they took. The rial answer as to why they opened the door to Freeman ship so wide is to be found in the terms of the commission with which they believed the colony was entrusted. The idea of a covenant or contract between God and man occupied a preeminent place in their thought. It was the basis of an individual's salvation. It was the origin of every true church and also of every state quote. It is of the nature and essence of every society to be knit together by some covenant either expressed or implied unquote, Winthrop once wrote, God's Special Commission to Massachusetts was an implied covenant, but there was more than one covenant involved in the establishment of any society. After the people joined in covenant with God, agreeing to be bound by his laws, they must establish a government to see those laws enforced, for they did not have enough virtue to carry out their agreement. Without the compulsive force of government, they must decide among themselves what form of government they wanted and then created by a voluntary joint compact. A second covenant, Winthrop evidently thought that the mere act of coming to Massachusetts constituted a sufficient acceptance of the basic covenant the Special Commission of God had given the colony. But the second covenant establishing the government required aim or explicit agreement. Though the king's charter gave the Bay Company a clear and exclusive right to govern the territory, the king's authority was insufficient. The do form of government, which Winthrop believed the special commission called for, could originate on Lee from a covenant between the settlers and the men who were to rule them. Hence, the extraordinary action of October 19 with its sequel, the extension of Freeman Ship Winthrop, did not believe that in extending Freeman ship, he had transformed Massachusetts into a democracy. The legislative power was lodged not in the people but in the select group, where, according to his reading of the Bible, it belonged. Nor was Winthrop's action in securing the consent of the people to his government and affirmation of the principle that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. He did not believe that the officers chosen under the new system would be simply the agents of the people who elected them. Rulers, however selected, received their authority from God, not from the people. And we're accountable to God, not to the people. Their business was to enforce the nation's covenant with God and during their term of service, so long as they devoted themselves to this business, they were free to act as they thought, best suiting their actions to the circumstances. Winthrop did believe that the people or a properly qualified portion of them were entitled to determine the form of government to be established over them and to select the persons who should run that government. These two operations performed. Their role was played out until, under the form of government they had chosen. It was time to elect new rulers. If a ruler failed in his duty to enforce the laws of God, the people would be obliged to turn him out without waiting for election time. But so long as he did his duty, his authority was absolute, and regardless of any errors of judgment, he might make the people were obliged to submit. Indeed, anything less than submission would be rebellion against the authority of God