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 to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
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 (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...
. 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
The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place between 1636 and 1638 in New England between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narraga ...
. 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 repres ...
, an event known as the
Charter Oak incident which occurred at
Jeremy Adams
Jeremy Adams, also known as Jeremiah Adams (1604/5August 11, 1683), was one of the first settlers of Hartford, Connecticut. He was also the founder and first proprietor of Colchester, Connecticut, which was established on land owned by Adams, know ...
' inn and tavern.
Two other English settlements in the State of Connecticut were merged into the Colony of Connecticut:
Saybrook Colony in 1644 and
New Haven Colony 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 of Windsor, the only trained lawyer living in Connecticut in the 1630s; they were transcribed into the official record by secretary
Thomas Welles. The Reverend
John Davenport and merchant
Theophilus Eaton led the founders of the
New Haven Colony, 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, both of whom were from Hartford.
George Wyllys,
Thomas Welles, and
John Webster, 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 was the son of the founder of the
Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as th ...
, 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 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
The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place between 1636 and 1638 in New England between the Pequot tribe and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Narraga ...
, a magistrate, and the founder of Windsor, Saybrook, and Norwich. He was also Deputy Governor under Winthrop.
Roger Ludlow 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, ...
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 of
Milford 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 repres ...
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 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 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
Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...
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 C ...
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 to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
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 Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
.
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 Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both 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
Hemp, or industrial hemp, is a botanical class of '' Cannabis sativa'' cultivars grown specifically for industrial or medicinal use. It can be used to make a wide range of products. Along with bamboo, hemp is among the fastest growing plants ...
,
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
*
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
*
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 Co ...
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 wo ...
'' (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
{{coord, 41.71803, -72.75146, type:adm2nd_globe:earth_region:US-CT, display=title
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