Connecticut
Motto: He Who Transplanted Still Sustains
Connecticut derives it’s name from a local Algonquin word meaning “Long tidal river”. Over it’s early history it was part of several colonies including New Netherlands (Dutch), Massachusetts Colony, Connecticut Colony, Saybrook Colony and Hartford Colony. Hartford and Saybrook Colonies had what are considered the first constitutions in the US.
Prior to colonization Connecticut was inhabited by several native tribes. They were part of a loose federation of tribes in the northeast US that were well organized and powerful.
Colonial Connecticut started as a Dutch Colony but the first real mass of people to enter were Puritans from the Massachusetts Colony starting in 1636. The settlements were independent and did not have a charter from the English Crown until 1682 when Charles II officially granted a charter called the Connecticut Colony that included much more territory than the state possesses today.
Connecticut had 4 delegates to the Second Continental Congress that signed the Declaration of Independence in 1775 and raised 6 regiments to fight the British. There were several battles in the state including one led by Benedict Arnold after the British raided and destroyed a supply depot in the state. It was the ‘jumping off point’ for many raids and battles that were fought on Long Island and New York.
Connecticut ratified the US Constitution in January 1788 becoming the 5th state to do so. The state had a thriving economy at the end of the Revolution with busy seaports and textile mills. Negotiations with New York, Pennsylvania and the Federal Government concluded with the boundaries of the state as we know them today In 1800.
A Blockade during the war of 1812 led to heavy industrialization of Connecticut which soon became a leader in textile and manufactured goods. The end of the war saw the state as a leader in exports and goods for domestic consumption.
Connecticut had been governed under the original constitutions (called the Fundamental Orders) from 1639 but adopted a state constitution in 1818.
Connecticut contributed men and materials to the Union cause during the Civil War. Besides the production of the industrial plants it also provided 30 regiments to the infantry including two ‘colored regiments’. Also significant was the states contribution to the Navy in ships and manpower.
The state was an early adopter of the Railroad System. By 1872 the Consolidated line became dominant and by 1912 had bought out more than 50 smaller companies including steamship lines.
World War I was prime time for Connecticut as all three of the arms manufacturers produced significant products for the war effort. Remington produced half the ammunition used by US troops while Colt and Winchester had serious production too.
The now well known Electric Boat Company received orders from the US Government for 85 submarines while other suppliers in the state also built submarines and freighters for the war.
Connecticut sent so many servicemen to the war effort that some industries who were deemed ‘necessary to the war effort’ had soldiers furloughed from the army to fill jobs and bring them up to full production.
In 1925 Pratt and Whitney was established in Hartford to build aircraft engines. Not only were they a prime supplier during WWII but are one of the top three jet engine manufacturers in the world today.
During WWII Connecticut became one of the leading suppliers of war materials in the US at a far greater rate than it’s size and population would suggest. Pratt and Whitney built a mountain of aircraft engines, Electric Boat built submarines and PT Boats, Colt, Remington and Winchester all built arms and made ammunition, Hamilton Standard built propellers, Chance-Vought built fighter planes and General Electric built bazookas in Connecticut.
Igor Sikorsky demonstrated the first untethered flight of a helicopter in Connecticut in 1940. While the aircraft’s development would not come in time for WWII it would have a significant impact on military forces around the world. The Sikorsky plant would become the largest producer in Connecticut.
After the war some of the arms industries moved away, but there was plenty left to power a dynamic period after the war. Electric Boat would get the contract to build Nuclear Submarines starting with the Nautilus in 1964.
One of the Senators from Connecticut during the 50s and 60s was Prescott Bush. His son and his grandson would both become Presidents of the US.
The engine that drove Connecticut’s economy slowed at the end of the cold war, but a new industry was soon to come. In 1992 Foxwoods Casino opened as the largest casino in the Western Hemisphere. The even larger Mohegan Sun opened 4 years later.
Town records may not be kept where liquor is sold.
It is illegal to dispose of used razor blades.
I hope you enjoyed this synopsis of Connecticut. The words and ideas are mine but I used Wikipedia Connecticut as the source for the information.
All images in this post are properly licensed and used.
This is part of a series on the various states. In the next installment we will tell the rest of the story of Connecticut. I hope you will return for it. Thanks for stopping by!
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