PILLAR #2 

Common Law

     This concept developed in heathen Germanic tribes. American colonists adopted common law around 1618. The British did so in 1688. 

     This was nothing new. "For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they show the work of the law is written on their hearts..." (Rom. 2:14-15). 

     From Jeremiah: "After those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Hebrews 8:10). 

     Pilgrims who arrived at Plymouth were different. These "separatists," were used to self-governance. They landed well off their course and beyond the limits of their charter. They had no predetermined governor, nor were they sure what to do with those who were not Puritans. 

     Their remarkable solution was the Mayflower Compact, which established political equality, giving the strangers equal vote, while appealing to the king that they were not defiant. Jamestown and Plymouth were new in human history. 

     In the New World that would become America, the people handled whatever "crown" there was. They remained English subjects, but locally they pursued self-government like nowhere else on earth. 

Next: PILLAR #3, Private property with titles and deeds.