The ''Connecticut Colony'' or ''Colony of Connecticut'', originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
which later became
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settlement for a Puritan congregation, and the English permanently gained control of the region in 1637 after struggles with the Dutch. The colony was later the scene of a bloody war between the colonists and
Pequot Indians known as the
Pequot War. Connecticut Colony played a significant role in the establishment of self-government in the New World with its refusal to surrender local authority to the
Dominion of New England
The Dominion of New England in America (1686–1689) was an administrative union of English colonies covering New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies (except for Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvania). Its political structure rep ...
, an event known as the
Charter Oak
The Charter Oak was an unusually large white oak tree growing on Wyllys Hyll in Hartford, Connecticut in the United States, from around the 12th or 13th century until it fell during a storm in 1856. According to tradition, Connecticut's Roy ...
incident which occurred at
Jeremy Adams' inn and tavern.
Two other English settlements in the State of Connecticut were merged into the Colony of Connecticut:
Saybrook Colony
The Saybrook Colony was an English colony established in late 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in present-day Old Saybrook, Connecticut by John Winthrop, the Younger, son of John Winthrop, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. ...
in 1644 and
New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
The history of ...
in 1662.
Leaders
Thomas Hooker
Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was known as an outstanding spea ...
delivered a sermon to his congregation on May 31, 1638, on the principles of government, and it influenced those who wrote the
Fundamental Orders of Connecticut
The Fundamental Orders were adopted by the Connecticut Colony council on . The fundamental orders describe the government set up by the Connecticut River towns, setting its structure and powers. They wanted the government to have access to the ...
later that year. The Fundamental Orders may have been drafted by
Roger Ludlow
Roger Ludlow (1590–1664) was an English lawyer, magistrate, military officer, and colonist. He was active in the founding of the Colony of Connecticut, and helped draft laws for it and the nearby Massachusetts Bay Colony. Under his and John Ma ...
of Windsor, the only trained lawyer living in Connecticut in the 1630s; they were transcribed into the official record by secretary
Thomas Welles
Thomas Welles (14 January 1660) is the only person in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and fro ...
. The Reverend
John Davenport and merchant
Theophilus Eaton
Theophilus Eaton (January 7, 1658) was a wealthy New England Puritan merchant, first Governor of New Haven Colony, Connecticut, co founder of that same colony and co founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. His brother, Nathaniel Eaton, w ...
led the founders of the
New Haven Colony
The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1638 to 1664 primarily in parts of what is now the state of Connecticut, but also with outposts in modern-day New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
The history of ...
, which was absorbed into Connecticut Colony in the 1660s.
In the colony's early years, the governor could not serve consecutive terms, so the governorship rotated for 20 years between John Haynes and
Edward Hopkins
Edward Hopkins (1600 – March 1657) was an English colonist and politician and 2nd Governor of the Connecticut Colony. Active on both sides of the Atlantic, he was a founder of the New Haven and Connecticut colonies, serving seven one-year t ...
, both of whom were from Hartford.
George Wyllys
George Wyllys or Wyllis (1590 – 9 March 1645) served for a year (1642–1643) as one of the early governors of the Connecticut Colony.
Born at the manor of Fenny Compton in Warwickshire, England, to Richard and Hester (Chambers) Willi ...
,
Thomas Welles
Thomas Welles (14 January 1660) is the only person in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and fro ...
, and
John Webster
John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and '' The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and c ...
, also Hartford men, sat in the governor's chair for brief periods in the 1640s and 1650s.
John Winthrop the Younger
John Winthrop the Younger (February 12, 1606 – April 6, 1676) was an early governor of the Connecticut Colony, and he played a large role in the merger of several separate settlements into the unified colony.
Early life
Winthrop was born ...
of
New London
New London may refer to:
Places United States
*New London, Alabama
*New London, Connecticut
*New London, Indiana
*New London, Iowa
*New London, Maryland
*New London, Minnesota
*New London, Missouri
*New London, New Hampshire, a New England town
** ...
was the son of the founder of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony, and he played an important role in consolidating separate settlements into a single colony on the Connecticut River. He also served as Governor of Connecticut from 1659 to 1675, and he was instrumental in obtaining the colony's 1662 charter which incorporated New Haven into Connecticut. His son
Fitz-John Winthrop
Fitz-John Winthrop (March 14, 1637 – November 27, 1707), was the governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1698 until his death on November 27, 1707.Winsor, Justin (1887) ''Narrative and critical history of America, Volume 5'' Houghton, Miffl ...
also governed the colony for 10 years starting in 1698.
Major
John Mason was the military leader of the early colony. He was the commander in the
Pequot War, a magistrate, and the founder of Windsor, Saybrook, and Norwich. He was also Deputy Governor under Winthrop.
Roger Ludlow
Roger Ludlow (1590–1664) was an English lawyer, magistrate, military officer, and colonist. He was active in the founding of the Colony of Connecticut, and helped draft laws for it and the nearby Massachusetts Bay Colony. Under his and John Ma ...
was an Oxford-educated lawyer and former Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He petitioned the General Court for rights to settle the area, and he led the March Commission in settling disputes over land rights. He is credited as drafting the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut (1650) in collaboration with Hooker, Winthrop, and others. He was also the first Deputy Governor of Connecticut.
William Leete
William Leete (1612 or 1613 – 16 April 1683) was Governor of the Colony of New Haven from 1661 to 1665 and Governor of the Colony of Connecticut from 1676 to 1683.
Biography
Leete was born about 1612 or 1613 at Diddington, Huntingdonshire, E ...
of
Guilford served as governor of New Haven Colony before its merger into Connecticut, and he also served as governor of Connecticut following Winthrop's death in 1675. He is the only man to serve as governor of both New Haven and Connecticut.
Robert Treat
Robert Treat (February 23, 1624July 12, 1710) was a New England Puritan colonial leader, militia officer and governor of the Connecticut Colony between 1683 and 1698. In 1666 he helped found Newark, New Jersey.
Biography
Treat was born in Pitm ...
of
Milford Milford may refer to:
Place names Canada
* Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia
* Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia
* Milford, Ontario
England
* Milford, Derbyshire
* Milford, Devon, a place in Devon
* Milford on Sea, Hampshire
* Milford, Shro ...
served as governor of the colony, both before and after its inclusion in the
Dominion of New England
The Dominion of New England in America (1686–1689) was an administrative union of English colonies covering New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies (except for Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvania). Its political structure rep ...
under
Sir Edmund Andros
Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714) was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served ...
. His father
Richard Treat
Richard Treat (or Trott) (15841669) was an early settler in New England and a patentee of the Royal Charter of Connecticut, 1662.
Biography
Early life and ancestors
He was baptized on August 28, 1584, at Pitminster, county of Somerset, England, ...
was one of the original patentees of the colony.
Roger Wolcott was a weaver, statesman, and politician from Windsor, and he served as governor from 1751 to 1754.
Oliver Wolcott
Oliver Wolcott Sr. (November 20, 1726 December 1, 1797) was an American Founding Father and politician. He was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation as a representative of Connecticut, and t ...
was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and also of the Articles of Confederation, as a representative of Connecticut and the nineteenth governor. He was a major general for the Connecticut Militia in the Revolutionary War serving under
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
.
Religion
The original colonies along the Connecticut River and in New Haven were established by separatist
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
who were connected with the
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
and
Plymouth colonies. They held
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
religious beliefs similar to the English Puritans, but they maintained that their congregations needed to be separated from the English state church. They had immigrated to
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
during the
Great Migration. In the middle of the 18th century, the government restricted voting rights with a property qualification and a church membership requirement.
Congregationalism was the
established church in the colony by the time of the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
.
Economic and social history
The economy began with subsistence farming in the 17th century and developed with greater diversity and an increased focus on production for distant markets, especially the British colonies in the
Caribbean. The American Revolution cut off imports from Britain and stimulated a manufacturing sector that made heavy use of the entrepreneurship and mechanical skills of the people. In the second half of the 18th century, difficulties arose from the shortage of good farmland, periodic money problems, and downward price pressures in the export market. In agriculture, there was a shift from grain to animal products. The colonial government attempted to promote various commodities as export items from time to time, such as
hemp,
potash
Potash () includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. , and lumber, in order to bolster its economy and improve its balance of trade with Great Britain.
Connecticut's domestic architecture included a wide variety of house forms. They generally reflected the dominant English heritage and architectural tradition.
See also
*
List of colonial governors of Connecticut
The territory of the United States state of Connecticut was first settled by Europeans in the 1620s, when Dutch traders established trading posts on the Connecticut River. English settlers, mainly Puritans fleeing repression in England, began to ...
*
History of the Connecticut Constitution
Connecticut is known as "The Constitution State". The origin of this title is uncertain, but the nickname is assumed to be a reference to the Fundamental Orders of 1638–39 which represent the framework for the first formal government written b ...
*
Connecticut Western Reserve
The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Colony under the terms o ...
*
History of Springfield, Massachusetts
The history of Springfield, Massachusetts dates back to the colonial period, when it was founded in 1636 as ''Agawam Plantation'', named after a nearby village of Algonkian-speaking Native Americans. It was the northernmost settlement of the C ...
References
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
* Andrews, Charles M. ''The Colonial Period of American History: The Settlements, volume 2'' (1936) pp 67–194, by leading scholar
* to 1664
* Burpee, Charles W. ''The story of Connecticut'' (4 vol 1939); detailed narrative in vol 1-2
* Clark, George Larkin. ''A History of Connecticut: Its People and Institutions'' (1914) 608 pp; based on solid scholarshi
online* Federal Writers' Project. ''Connecticut: A Guide to its Roads, Lore, and People'' (1940) famous WPA guide to history and to all the town
online* Fraser, Bruce. ''Land of Steady Habits: A Brief History of Connecticut'' (1988), 80 pp, from state historical society
* , vol. 1 to 1740s
* Jones, Mary Jeanne Anderson. '' Congregational Commonwealth: Connecticut, 1636–1662'' (1968)
* Roth, David M. and Freeman Meyer. ''From Revolution to Constitution: Connecticut, 1763–1818'' (Series in Connecticut history) (1975) 111pp
* ; very old textbook; strongest on military history, and schools
* Taylor, Robert Joseph. ''Colonial Connecticut: A History'' (1979); standard scholarly history
* very old history; to 1764
*
Van Dusen, Albert E. ''Connecticut A Fully Illustrated History of the State from the Seventeenth Century to the Present'' (1961) 470pp the standard survey to 1960, by a leading scholar
* Van Dusen, Albert E. '' Puritans against the wilderness: Connecticut history to 1763 ''(Series in Connecticut history) 150pp (1975)
* Zeichner, Oscar. ''Connecticut's Years of Controversy, 1750–1776'' (1949)
::Specialized studies
* Buell, Richard, Jr. ''Dear Liberty: Connecticut's Mobilization for the Revolutionary War'' (1980), major scholarly study
*
* Collier, Christopher. ''Roger Sherman's Connecticut: Yankee Politics and the American Revolution'' (1971)
* Daniels, Bruce Colin. ''The Connecticut town: Growth and development, 1635–1790'' (Wesleyan University Press, 1979)
* Daniels, Bruce C. "Democracy and Oligarchy in Connecticut Towns-General Assembly Office holding, 1701-1790" ''
Social Science Quarterly
''Social Science Quarterly'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Southwestern Social Science Association. The journal covers political science, sociology, economics, history, social work, g ...
'' (1975) 56#3 pp: 460-475.
* Fennelly, Catherine. ''Connecticut women in the Revolutionary era'' (Connecticut bicentennial series) (1975) 60pp
* Grant, Charles S. ''Democracy in the Connecticut Frontier Town of Kent'' (1970)
* Hooker, Roland Mather. ''The Colonial Trade of Connecticut'' (1936) online; 44pp
*
* Main, Jackson Turner. ''Connecticut Society in the Era of the American Revolution'' (pamphlet in the Connecticut bicentennial series) (1977)
* Pierson, George Wilson. ''History of Yale College'' (vol 1, 1952) scholarly history
* Selesky Harold E. ''War and Society in Colonial Connecticut'' (1990) 278 pp.
* Taylor, John M. ''The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut, 1647–1697'' (1969
online* , 700pp
::Historiography
* Daniels, Bruce C. "Antiquarians and Professionals: The Historians of Colonial Connecticut," ''Connecticut History'' (1982), 23#1, pp 81–97.
* Meyer, Freeman W. "The Evolution of the Interpretation of Economic Life in Colonial Connecticut," ''Connecticut History'' (1985) 26#1 pp 33–43.
External links
Published colonial records
::Archival collections
Guide to the Connecticut Colony Land Deeds.Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
::Other
Colonial Connecticut Records: The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, 1636–1776
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States and territories established in 1636
States and territories disestablished in 1776
1636 establishments in Connecticut
1776 disestablishments in the British Empire
Colonial settlements in North America
Colonial United States (British)
Dominion of New England
English colonization of the Americas
Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas
Former English colonies
Thirteen Colonies
Christian states