The Fundamental Orders (1639) was a short document, sometimes refer to as an early Constitution, that consisted of a preamble and 11 orders or laws in which three English colony in North America, known as the "Connecticut towns": Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield agreed to be governed in all civil matters by the Orders, established the structure, powers and limitations of a representative government (without including any outside authority like the British king), and stated some individual's rights that later inspired the creation of the U.S. government.