Carolina's Ashley Cooper strongly believes in the English tradition of common law and balanced government (a system sometimes called the “Ancient Constitution” wherein the nobility play an essential role.
The Fundamental Constitutions is designed to formalize a “Gothic” system of balanced government in the new province.
Although described as feudalism by some authorities, the system is arguably more advanced by virtue of its constitution and emphasis on basic rights and reciprocal benefits among classes.
It is nevertheless a pre-Enlightenment system predicated on class hierarchy.
The Fundamental Constitutions provide a framework for urban and regional development consistent with and supportive of the plan for governance and economic development.
Once settlement begins in 1670 a series of “instructions” are transmitted to the colonists with details that flesh out areas that are not addressed by the Fundamental Constitutions.
The design of towns in Carolina is influenced by the intensive planning that had gone on in London after the Great Fire of 1666.
The government of Charles II had solicited plans to rebuild the city, and inspired designs were submitted by the architect Christopher Wren, the scientist Robert Hooke, the cartographer Richard Newcourt, and landscape planner and polymath John Evelyn.
Their designs influence city planning in the areas of public health and safety, land use efficiency, and urban aesthetics.
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