Editing Connecticut General Assembly (section)

==History==

The three settlements that would become Connecticut ([[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]], [[Wethersfield, Connecticut|Wethersfield]], and [[Windsor, Connecticut|Windsor]]) were established in 1633, and were originally governed by the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony|Massachusetts Bay Company]] under terms of a commission for settlement. When the commission expired in 1636 and the [[Connecticut Colony]] was established, the legislature was established as the "General Corte", consisting of six magistrates along with three-member committees representing each of the three towns. In 1639, the [[Fundamental Orders of Connecticut]] were adopted, which changed the spelling to "General Court;" formalized its executive, judicial, and legislative authority; and changed its membership to consist of the governor and six magistrates (each elected for one year terms) and three or four deputies per town (elected for six-month terms). Although the magistrates and deputies sat together, they voted separately and in 1645 it was decreed that a measure had to have the approval of both groups in order to pass. The [[History of the Connecticut Constitution#The Connecticut Charter of 1662|Charter of 1662]] changed the name to the General Assembly, while replacing the six magistrates with twelve assistants and reducing the number of deputies per town to no more than two. In 1698, the General Assembly divided itself into its current bicameral form, with the twelve assistants as the Council and the deputies as the House of Representatives. The modern form of the General Assembly (divided into the upper Senate and lower House and devoid of all executive and judicial authority) was incorporated in the [[History of the Connecticut Constitution#The Constitution of 1818|1818 constitution]].<ref>''Under the Gold Dome: An Insider's Look at the Connecticut Legislature'', by Judge Robert Satter. New Haven: Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, 2004, pp. 16-27.</ref>