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CONNECTICUT , one of the thirteen See also:original states of the See also:United States of See also:America, and one of the New See also:England See also:group of states. It is bounded N. by See also:Massachusetts, E. by Rhode See also:Island, S. by See also:Long Island See also:Sound, and W. by New See also:York; the S.W. corner projects along the Sound S. of New York for about 13 m. Situated between 4o° 54' and 42° 3' N. See also:lat., and 71° 47' and 73° 43' W. long., its See also:total See also:area is 4965 sq. m., of which 145 are See also:water See also:surface: only two states of the See also:Union, Rhode Island and See also:Delaware, are smaller in area. Physiography.—Connecticut lies in the S. portion of the peneplain region of New England. Its surface is in See also:general that of a gently undulating upland divided near the See also:middle by the See also:lowland of the Connecticut valley, the most striking physiographic feature of the See also:state. The upland rises from the See also:low S. See also:shore at an See also:average See also:rate of about 20 ft. in a mile until it has a mean See also:elevation along the N. border of the state of r000 ft. or more, and a few points in the N.W. rise to a height of about 2000 ft. above the See also:sea. The lowland dips under the See also:waters of Long Island Sound at the S. and rises slowly to a height of only roo ft. above them where it crosses the N. border. At the N. this lowland is about 15 M. wide; at the S. it narrows to only 5 M. and its total area is about 600 sq. m. Its formation was caused by the removal of a See also:band of weak rocks by erosion after the general upland surface had been first formed near sea-level and then elevated and tilted gently S. or S.E.; in this band of weak rocks were several sheets of hard igneous See also:rock (See also:trap) inclined from the See also:horizontal several degrees, and so resistant that they were not removed but remained to See also:form the " trap ridges " such as See also:West Rock See also:Ridge near New Haven and the See also:Hanging Hills of See also:Meriden. These are identical in origin and structure with Mt. Tom Range and See also:Holyoke Range of Massachusetts, being the S. continuation of those structures. The ridges are generally deeply notched, but their highest points rise to the upland heights, directly to the E. or W. The W. See also:section of the upland is more broken than the E. section, for in the W. are several isolated peaks lying in See also:line with the S. continuation of the See also:Green and the Housatonic See also:mountain ranges of See also:Vermont and Massachusetts, the highest among them being : See also:Bear Mountain (See also:Salisbury) 2355 ft.; Gridley Mountain (Salisbury), 2200 ft.; Mt. See also:Riga (Salisbury), 2000 ft.; Mt. See also:Bail (See also:Norfolk) and See also:Lion's See also:Head (Salisbury), each 176o ft.; See also:Canaan Mountain (See also:North Canaan), 168o ft.; and See also:Ivy Mountain (See also:Goshen), 1640 ft. Just as the surface of the lowland is broken by the notched trap-ridges, so that of the upland is often interrupted by rather narrow deep valleys, or See also:gorges, extending usually from N. to S. or to the S.E. The lowland is drained by the Connecticut See also:river as far S. as See also:Middletown, but here this river turns to the S.E. into one of the narrow valleys in the E. section of the upland, the turn being due to the fact that the river acquired its See also:present course when the See also:land was at a See also:lower level and before the lowland on the soft rocks was excavated. The See also:principal See also:rivers in the W. section of the upland are the Housatonic and its affluent, the See also:Naugatuck; in the E. section is the See also:Thames which is really an outlet for three other rivers (the Yantic, the Shetucket and the Quinebaug). In the central and N. regions of the state the course of the rivers is rapid, owing to a relatively See also:recent tilting of the surface. The Connecticut river is navigable as far as See also:Hartford, and the Thames as far as See also:Norwich. The Housatonic river, which in its picturesque course traverses the whole breadth of the state, has a See also:short stretch of See also:tide-water See also:navigation. The lakes which are found in all parts of the state and the rapids and waterfalls along the rivers are largely due to disturbances of the drainage lines by the See also:ice invasion of the glacial See also:period. To the glacial See also:action is also due the extensive removal of the original See also:soil from the uplands, and the See also:accumulation of morainic hills in many localities. The sea-See also:coast, about See also:loo m. in length, has a number of bays which have been created by a depression of small valleys making several See also:good harbours. The See also:climate of Connecticut, though temperate, is subject to sudden changes, yet the extremes of See also:cold and See also:heat are less than in the other New England states. The mean See also:annual temperature is 49° F., the average temperature of See also:winter being 27°, and that of summer 72°. Since the general direction of the winter winds is from the N.W. the extreme of cold (-10° or -15°) is See also:felt in the north-western See also:part of the state, while the prevailing summer winds, which are from the S.W., See also:temper the heat of summer in the coast region, the extreme heat (roo°) being found in the central part of the state. The annual rainfall varies from 45 to 50 in. See also:Agriculture.—Connecticut is not an agricultural state. Al-though three-fourths of the land surface is included in farms, only 7% of this three-fourths is cultivated; but agriculture is of considerable economic and historic See also:interest. The accounts of the fertility of the Connecticut valley were among the causes leading to the See also:English colonization, and until the middle of the nineteenth See also:century agriculture was the principal occupation. The soils, which are composed largely of sands, except in the upland valleys where alluvial loarns with the sub-soils of See also:clay are found, were not suitable for tillage. However, a thrifty, industrious, self-reliant agricultural See also:life See also:developed, labour was native-See also:born, the See also:women of the See also:household worked in the See also:fields with the men, some employment was found for every See also:season, and a See also:system of neighbourly See also:barter of See also:food products took the See also:place of other modes of See also:exchange. But the development of manufactures in the first See also:half of the 19th century, the competition of the new western states in See also:farm products, and the See also:change in the See also:character of the See also:population incident to the growth of cities, caused a See also:great change in agriculture after 186o. Indeed, during every See also:decade from 186o to 1890 the total value of farm See also:property and products declined; and the increase of products from ago to 1900 was due to the growth of See also:dairy farms, which yielded almost one-third of the total farm product of the state. In the same decade See also:Indian See also:corn, potatoes and See also:tobacco were the only staples whose acreage increased and the See also:production of all cereals except Indian corn and See also:buckwheat declined. Tobacco, which was first grown here between 164o and 166o, because of a See also:law restricting the use of tobacco to that grown in the See also:colony, was in the decade 189o-1900 the only See also:crop raised for See also:consumption outside the state; average yield per See also:acre (1673 lb) was exceeded in the See also:continental United States only in Vermont (1844 Ib) and Massachusetts (1674 lb) in 1899, and in 1907 (1510 lb) by New See also:Hampshire (165o lb), Vermont (1625 lb) and Massachusetts (1525 lb). The total value of Connecticut tobacco in 1907 was $2,501,000 (1906, $4,415,922; 1905, $3,911,933), and the average farm See also:price was 11.5 cents per lb (in 1906, 18 cents; 1905, 17 cents). But the cultivation of tobacco is confined almost exclusively to the valleys of the Connecticut and Housatonic rivers, and these lands are constantly and ex-pensively treated with nitrogenous fertilizers; the grades raised are the broad-See also:leaf and the Habana See also:seed-leaf wrappers, which, excepting the See also:Florida growth from See also:Sumatra seed, are the nearest domestic approach to the imported Sumatra. The manufacture of cigars was begun in See also:South See also:Windsor, Connecticut, in 18or. Dairying was responsible for the increased production between 1889 and 1899 of Indian corn and the large acreage in See also:hay, which surpassed that of any other crop, but many hay and See also:grain farms were afterwards abandoned. The production of See also:orchard fruits and See also:market vegetables, however, increased during the decade 189o-1900. Other evidences of the transition in agricultural life are that in Tolland and See also:Windham counties the value of farm buildings exceeded that of farm land, that in See also:Middlesex and See also:Fairfield counties the acreage as well as the value of the farms declined, that native farm labour and ownership were being replaced by See also:foreign labour and ownership; while dependent land See also:tenure is insignificant, 87 % of the farms being worked bytheir owners. The state See also:board of agriculture holds annual conventions for the discussion of agricultural problems. Minerals.—The See also:mineral See also:industries of Connecticut have had a See also:fortune very similar to that of agriculture. The See also:early settlers soon discovered metals in the soil and began to See also:work them. About 1730 the production of See also:iron became an important See also:industry in the vicinity of Salisbury, and from Connecticut iron many of the See also:American military supplies in the See also:War of See also:Independence were manufactured. See also:Copper was See also:mined in See also:East See also:Granby as early as i 705 and furnished material for early colonial and United States coins. See also:Gold, See also:silver and See also:lead have also been produced, but the See also:discovery of larger deposits of these metals in other states has caused the See also:abandonment of all See also:metal mines in Connecticut, except those of iron and See also:tungsten. The quarries of See also:granite near Long Island Sound, those of See also:sandstone at See also:Portland, and of feldspar at Branchville and South See also:Glastonbury, however, have furnished See also:building and paving materials for other states; the See also: In 1732 the See also:London hatters complained of the competition of Connecticut hats in their See also:trade. Before 1749 brass works were in operation at Waterbury—the great brass manufacturing business there growing out of the making of metal buttons. In 1768 See also:paper See also:mills were erected at Norwich, and in 1776 at East Hartford. In 1788 the first woollen mills in New England were established at Hartford, and about 1803 one See also:hundred See also:merino See also:sheep were imported by See also:David See also:Humphreys, who in r8o6 built a See also: Connecticut has long ranked high in textile manufactures, but the product of cotton goods in 1900 ($15,489,442) and in 1905 ($18,239155) had not materially advanced beyond that of 1890 ($15,409,476), this being due to the increase in cotton manufacturing in the South. Between 1890 and 1900 Connecticut's products in See also:dyeing and See also:finishing of textiles, industries which have as yet not developed in the South, increased 217'3% from $715,388 in 1890 to $2,269,967 in 19o0; in 1905 their value was $2,215,314. The manufacture of woollen goods and silk also increased respectively 33% and 26.5% between 1890 and 1900; the returns for 'goo, however, include the See also:fur See also:hat product ($7,546,882), which was not included in the returns for 189o. In 1905 the value of the woollen goods manufactured in the state was $11,166,965; of the silk goods, $15,623,693. The value of the products of all the textile industries combined increased from $46,819,399 in woo to $56,933,113 in 1905, when the combined textile product value was greater than that of any other manufactured product in the state. The most important single industry in 1905 was the manufacture of rolled brass and copper with a product value of $41,911,903 (in 1900, $36,325,178)-80.7% of the total for the United States; the value of the product of the other brass industries was brass ware (1905) $9,022,427,-51 *6% of the total for the United States,—(1900) $8,947,451; and brass castings and brass finishing (1905) $2,982,115, (1900) $3,254,239. Hardware ranks next in importance, the output of 1905 being valued at $21,480,652,—which was 46.9% of the total product value of hardware for the entire United States,—as against $16,30',198 in 1900. Then come in See also:rank of product value for 1905: foundry and See also:machine See also:shop products (1905) $20,189,384, (1900) $1$,991,079; cotton goods; silk and silk goods; ammunition (1905) $15,394,485; being 77.2% of the value of all ammunition made in the United States,—(19o0) $9,823,712; and See also:rubber boots and shoes (1905) $12,829,346, (1900) $11,999,038. In 1905 the state ranked first in the United States in the value of clocks manufactured, $6,158,o34, or 69.4% of the total product value of the industry for that year in the United States,—and also in the value of plated ware—$8,125,881, being 66.9% of the product value of the United States. The decade of greatest See also:absolute increase in the value of manufactures was that ending in 1900, the value of manufactured products in that year being $352,284,116, an increase of $104,487,742 over that of 18901 The general tendency was towards the centralization of industry, the number of establishments in the leading industries increasing less than 5%, while the capital and the value of the products increased respectively 33.5% and 42 %. Among the new manufactories were a See also:ship-building See also:establishment at Groton near New London, which undertook contracts for the United States See also:government, and a compressed-See also:air plant near Norwich. Of the 359 manufactured products classified by the United States See also:census, 249, or almost seven-tenths, were produced in Connecticut. This prominence in manufactures is due to excellent transportation facilities, to good water See also:powers, to the ease with which labour is got from large cities, to plentiful capital (furnished by the large
1 The figure given above as the See also:gross value of all manufactured products in 1900 includes that of all manufacturing and See also:mechanical establishments. The value of the products of factories alone was $315,106,150. By 1905 this had increased to $369,082,091 or
17'1 %.
953
See also:insurance and banking concerns of the state), and to Connecticut's liberal See also:Joint Stock See also:Act of 1837 (copied in Great See also:Britain and else-where), permitting small sums to be capitalized in manufactures; and even to a larger extent, possibly it is the result of the ingenuity of the Connecticut See also:people. In the two decades 188o–1900 more See also:patents were secured in Connecticut in proportion to its population than in any other state. It was in Connecticut that See also:Elias See also:Howe and See also:Allen B. See also: One company, the New York, New Haven & Hartford, controlled 87% of this railway mileage in 1904, and practically all the steamboat lines on Long Island Sound. Since 1895 electric railways operated by the trolley system have steadily developed, their mileage in 1909 approximating 895 M. By their See also:influence the rural districts have been brought into See also:close See also:touch with the cities, and many centres of population have been so connected as to make them practically one community.
Population.—The population of Connecticut in 188o was 622,700; in 189o, 746,258—an increase of 19.8%; in 1900, 908,420—an increase of 21.7% over that of 1890; and in 1910, 1,114,756. Of the 1900 population 98.2% were See also: The executive and legislative officials are chosen by the See also:electors for a See also:term of two years; the See also:attorney general for four years; the See also:judges of the supreme See also:court of errors and the See also:superior court, appointed by the general assembly on nomination by the See also:governor, serve for eight, and the judges of the courts of See also:common pleas (in Hartford, New London, New Haven, See also:Litchfield and Fairfield counties) and of the See also:district courts, chosen in like manner, serve for four years. In providing for the judicial system, the constitution says: " the powers and See also:jurisdiction of which courts shall be defined by law." The general assembly has interpreted this as a See also:justification for interference in legal matters. It has at various times granted divorces, confirmed faulty titles, annulled decisions 954 of the justices of the See also:peace, and validated contracts against which See also:judgment by See also:default had been secured. Qualifications for See also:suffrage are: the See also:age of twenty-one years, citizenship in the United States, See also:residence in the state for one year and in the township for six months preceding the See also:election, a good moral character, and ability " to read in the English See also:language any See also:article of the Constitution or any section of the Statutes of this State." 1 Women may vote for school officials. The right to decide upon a See also:citizen's qualifications for suffrage is vested in the selectmen and clerk of each township. A property qualification, found in the original constitution, was removed in 1845. The Fifteenth See also:Amendment of the Federal Constitution was ratified (1869) by Connecticut, but negroes were excluded from the suffrage by the state constitution until 1876. The See also:jurisprudence of Connecticut, since the 17th century, has been notable for its divergence from the common law of England. In 1639 See also:inheritance by See also:primogeniture was abolished, and this resulted in conflict with the British courts in the 18th century.2 At an early date, also, the See also:office of public See also:prose-' cutor was created to conduct prosecutions, which until then had been See also:left to the aggrieved party. The right of bastards to inherit the See also:mother's property is recognized, and the age of consent has been placed at sixteen years. Neither See also:husband nor wife acquires by See also:marriage any interest in the property of the other; the earnings of the wife are her See also:sole property and she has the right to make contracts as if unmarried. After residence in the state for three years See also:divorce may be obtained on grounds of fraudulent See also:contract, See also:desertion, neglect for three years, See also:adultery, See also:cruelty, intemperance, imprisonment for life and certain crimes. The Joint Stock Act of 1837 furnished the precedent and the principle for .similar legislation in other American states and (it is said) for the English Joint Stock Companies Act of 1856. The relations between capital and labour are the subject of a See also:series of statutes, which prohibit the employment of See also:children under fourteen years of age in any mechanical, See also:mercantile or manufacturing establishment, punish with See also:fine or imprisonment any See also:attempt by an employer to influence his employee's vote or to prevent him from joining a labour union, and in cases of insolvency give preference over general liabilities to debts of $loo or less for labour. A See also:homestead entered upon See also:record and occupied by the owner is exempt to the extent of $r000 in value from liability for debts. The government of Connecticut is also notable for the variety of its administrative boards. Among these are a board of pardons, a state library See also:committee, a board of See also:mediation and See also:arbitration for See also:adjustment of labour disputes, a board of See also:education and a railway See also:commission. The bureau of labour See also:statistics has among its duties the giving of See also:information to immigrant labourers regarding their legal rights: it has See also:free employment agencies at Bridgeport, Norwich, Hartford, New Haven and Waterbury. A state board of charities has supervision over all philanthropic and penal institutions in the state, including hospitals, which numbered 103 in 1907; and the board visits the almshouses supported by seventy-eight (of the 168) towns of the state, and investigates and supervises the See also:provision made for the town poor in the other ninety towns of the state; some, as See also:late as r906, were, with the few paupers maintained by the state, cared for in a private See also:almshouse at See also:Tariff ville, which was commonly known as the " state almshouse. " The institutions supported by the state are: a state See also:prison at See also:Wethersfield, the Connecticut industrial school for girls (reformatory) at Middle-town and a similar institution for boys at Meriden,the Connecticut See also:hospital for the insane at Middletown, and the Norwich hospital for the insane at Norwich. The state almost entirely supports the Connecticut school for imbeciles, at Lakeville; the American school for the See also:deaf, in Hartford; the oral school for the deaf, 1 The constitution prescribes that " the privileges of an elector shall be forfeited by a conviction of See also:bribery, See also:forgery, See also:perjury, duelling, fraudulent See also:bankruptcy, See also:theft or other offense for which an infamous See also:punishment is inflicted," but this See also:disability may in any See also:case be removed by a two-thirds vote of each house of the general assembly. 2 See An article, " The Connecticut See also:Intestacy Law," by Charles M. See also:Andrews in the Yale See also:Review, vol. iii.at Mystic; the Connecticut See also:institute and industrial See also:home for the See also:blind, at Hartford; See also:Fitch's home for soldiers, at Noroton; ten county jails in the eight counties; and eight county temporary homes for dependent and neglected children. Education.—Education has always been a See also:matter of public interest in Connecticut. Soon after the See also:foundation of the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven, See also:schools similar to the English Latin schools were established. The Connecticut See also:Code of 165o required all parents to educate their children, and every township of 50 householders (later 30) to have a teacher supported by the men of See also:family, while the New Haven Code of 1656 also encouraged education. In 1672 the general court granted 600 acres of land to each county for educational purposes; in 1794 the general assembly appropriated the proceeds from the See also:sale of western lands to education, and in 1837 made a similar disposition of funds received from the Federal See also:treasury. The existing organization and methods in school work began in 1838, when the state board of commissioners of common schools (later replaced by a board of education) was organized, with See also: The debt was increased in See also:April 1909 by the issue of bonds for $I,000,000 (out of $7,000,000 authorized in 1907). The principal source of revenue was an indirect tax on corporations, the tax on railways, savings See also:banks and life insurance companies, yielding 70% of the state's income. A tax on inheritances ranked next. There is a military See also:commutation tax of $2, and all persons neglecting to pay it or to pay the See also:poll tax are liable to imprisonment. A state board of equalization has been established to insure equitable taxation. More than 13o underwriting institutions have been chartered in the state since 1794. The insurance business centres at Hartford. The legal rate of interest is 6 %, and days of See also:grace are not allowed.
See also:History.—The first See also:settlement by Europeans in Connecticut was made on the site of the present Hartford in 1633, by a party of Dutch from New Netherland. In the same year a trading See also:post was established on the Connecticut river, near Windsor, by members of the See also:Plymouth Colony, and See also: These early colonists had come to Massachusetts in the Puritan See also:migration of 163o; their removal to Connecticut, in which they were led principally by Thomas See also: In 1.643 the jurisdiction of the New Haven colony was extended by the See also:admission of the townships of See also:Milford, See also:Guilford and See also:Stamford to equal rights with New Haven, the recognition of their local governments, and the formation of two courts for the whole jurisdiction, a court of magistrates to try important cases and hear appeals from " plantation " courts, and a general court with legislative powers, the highest court of appeals, which was similar in See also:composition to the general court of the Connecticut Colony. Two other townships were after-wards added to the colony, See also:Southold, on Long Island, and See also:Branford, See also:Conn.
The religious test for citizenship was continued (except in the case of six citizens of Milford), and in 1644 the general court decided that the "judicial laws of See also:God as they were declared by See also:Moses " should constitute a See also:rule for all courts " till they be branched out into particulars hereafter." The theocratic character of the government thus established is clearly revealed in the series of strict enactments and decisions which constituted thefamous " See also:Blue Laws." Of the laws (45 in number) given by See also:Peters, more than one-half really existed in New Haven, and more than four-fifths existed in some form in the New England colonies. Among those of New Haven are the See also:prohibition of trial by See also:jury, the infliction of the See also:death See also:penalty for adultery, and of the same penalty for See also:conspiracy against the jurisdiction, the strict observance of the See also:Sabbath enjoined, and heavy fines for " concealing or entertaining Quaker or other blasphemous hereticks."
A third Puritan settlement was established in 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut river, under the auspices of an English company whose leading members were See also: This was accomplished by the royal See also:charter of 1662, which defined the boundaries of Connecticut as extending from Massachusetts south to the sea, and from Narragansett bay west to the South Sea (Pacific Ocean). This charter had been secured without the knowledge or consent of the New Haven colonists and they naturally protested against the union with Connecticut. But on account of the threatened absorption of a part of the Connecticut territory by the Colony of New York granted to the See also:duke of York in 1664, and the See also:news that a commission had been appointed in England to See also:settle intercolonial disputes, they finally assented to the union in 1665. Hartford then became the capital of the united colonies, but shared that honour with New Haven from 1701 until 1873. The charter was liberal in its provisions. It created a See also:corporation under the name of the Governor and Company of the English Colony of Connecticut in New England in America, sanctioned the system of government already existing, provided that all acts of .the general court should be valid upon being issued under the See also:seal of the colony, and made no See also:reservation of royal or See also:parliamentary See also:control over legislation or the See also:administration of See also:justice. Consequently there developed in Connecticut an See also:independent, self-reliant colonial government, which looked to its chartered privileges as the supreme source of authority. Although the governmental and religious influences which moulded Connecticut were similar to those which moulded New England at large, the colony developed certain distinctive characteristics. Its policy "was to avoid notoriety and public attitudes; to secure privileges without attracting needless 1 A collection of these laws was published in his General History of Connecticut (London, 1781), by the Rev. Samuel Peters (1735-1826), a Loyalist clergyman of the Church of England, who in 1774 was forced by the patriots or whigs to flee from Connecticut. The most extreme (and most quoted) of these laws were never in force in Connecticut, but the substantial genuineness of others was cons elusively shown by See also:Walter F. See also:Prince, in The Report of the American See also:Historical Association for 1898. 956 See also:notice; to act as intensely and vigorously as possible when action seemed necessary and promising; but to say as little as possible, and evade as much as possible when open resistance was evident folly."' The relations of Connecticut with neighbouring colonies were notable for numerous and continuous quarrels in the 17th century. Soon after the first settlements were made, a dispute arose with Massachusetts regarding the boundary between the two colonies; after the brief war with the Pequot See also:Indians in 1637 a similar See also:quarrel followed regarding Connecticut's right to the Pequot lands, and in the New England See also:Confederation (established in 1643) See also:friction between Massachusetts and Connecticut continued. Difficulty with Rhode Island was caused by the conflict between that colony's charter and the Connecticut charter regarding the western boundary of Rhode Island; and the encroachment of outlying Connecticut settlements on Dutch territory, and the attempt to extend the boundaries of New York to the Connecticut river, gave rise to other disputes. These questions of boundary were a source of continuous discord, the last of them not being settled until 1881. The attempts of See also:Governors See also:Joseph See also:Dudley (1647—1720), of Massachusetts, and Thomas Dongan (1634—1715) of New York, to unite Connecticut with their colonies also caused difficulty. The relations of Connecticut and New Haven with the mother country were similar to those of the other New England colonies. The period of most serious friction was that during the administration of the New England colonies by See also:Sir See also:Edmund See also:Andros (q.v.), who in pursuance of the later See also:Stuart policy both in England and in her American colonies visited Hartford on the 31st of See also:October 1687 to execute quo warranto proceedings against the charter of 1662. It is said that during a discussion at See also:night over the surrender of the charter the candles were extinguished, and the document itself (which had been brought to the See also:meeting) was removed from the table where it had been placed. According to tradition it was hidden in a large See also:oak See also:tree, afterwards known as the " Charter Oak." 2 But though Andros thus failed to secure the charter, he dissolved the existing government. After the Revolution of 1688, however, government under the charter was resumed, and the See also:crown lawyers decided that the charter had not been invalidated by the quo warranto proceedings. Religious affairs formed one of the most important problems in the, life of the See also:colon-. The established ecclesiastical system was the Congregational. The Code of 1650 (Connecticut) taxed all persons for its support, provided for the collection of church taxes, if necessary, by civil distraint, and forbade the formation of new churches without the consent of the general court. The New England Half Way Covenant of 1657, which extended church membership so as to include all baptized persons, was sanctioned by the general court in 1664. The See also:custom by which neighbouring churches sought mutual aid and See also:advice, prepared the way for the Presbyterian system of church government, which was established by an ecclesiastical assembly held at Saybrook in 1708, the church constitution there framed being known as the " Saybrook See also:Platform." At that See also:time, however, a liberal policy towards dissent was adopted, the general court granting permission for churches " soberly to differ or dissent " from the establishment. Hence a large number of new churches soon sprang into being. In 1727 the Church of England was permitted to organize in the colony, and in 1729 a similar See also:privilege was granted to the Baptists and See also:Quakers. A religious revival swept the colony in 1741. The very existence of the establishment seemed threatened; consequently in 1742 the general court forbade any ordained See also:minister to enter another See also:parish than his own without an invitation, and decided that only those were legal ministers who were recognized as such by the general court. Throughout the remaining years of the 18th 1 See also:Johnston, Connecticut, p. 130. 2 For a good version of the tradition see Wadsworth or the Charter Oak (Hartford, 1904), by W. H. Gocher. The tree was blown down in Augpst 1856; in June 1907 a See also:marble See also:shaft was unveiled on its site by the Society of Colonial See also:Wars, of Connecticut.century there was See also:constant friction between the establishment and the nonconforming churches; but in 1791 the right of free See also:incorporation was granted to all sects.
In the War of American Independence Connecticut took a prominent part. During the controversy over the See also:Stamp Act the general court instructed the colony's See also:agent in London to insist on " the exclusive right of the colonists to tax themselves, and on the privilege of trial by jury," as rights that could not be surrendered. The patriot sentiment was so strong that See also:Loyalists from other colonies were sent to Connecticut, where it was believed they would have no influence; and the copper mines at See also:Simsbury were converted into a military prison; but among the nonconforming sects, on the other hand, there was considerable sympathy for the British cause. Preparations for war were made in 1774; on the 28th of April 1775 the expedition against See also:Ticonderoga and Crown Point was resolved upon by some of the leading members of the Connecticut assembly, and although they had acted in their private capacity funds were obtained from the colonial treasury to raise the force which.on the 8th of May was put under the command of Ethan Allen. Connecticut See also:volunteers were among the first to go to Boston after the See also:battle of See also:Lexington and more than one-half of See also:Washington's See also:army at New York in 1776 was composed of Connecticut soldiers. Yet with the exception of isolated British movements against Stonington in 1775, Danbury in 1777, New Haven in 1779 and New London in 1781 no battles were fought in Connecticut territory.
In 1776 the government of Connecticut was reorganized as a state, the charter of 1662 being adopted by the general court as " the Civil Constitution of this State, under the sole authority of the people thereof, independent of any See also: From 1830 until 1855 there was close rivalry between the Democratic and Whig parties for control of the state administration. In the Civil War Connecticut was one of the most ardent supporters of the Union cause. When See also:President See also:Lincoln issued his first See also:call, for 75,000 volunteers, there was not a single See also:militia company in the state ready for service. Governor William A. See also:Buckingham (1804—1875), one of the ablest and most zealous of the " war-governors," and afterwards, from 1869 until his death, a member of the United States See also:Senate., issued a call for volunteers in April 1861; and soon 54 companies, more than five times the state's See also:quota, were organized. Corporations, individuals and towns made liberal contributions of See also:money. The general assembly made an See also:appropriation of $2,000,000, and the state furnished approximately 48,000 men to the army. See also:Edward See also:Hopkins • 1648-1649 John Haynes • 1649-1650 Edward Hopkins . • 1650-1651 John Haynes ^ 1651-1652 Edward Hopkins . . 1652-1653 ohn Haynes • 1653-1654 dward Hopkins • 1654-1655 Thomas See also:Welles • 1655-1656 John See also:Webster . 1656-1657 John See also:Winthrop 1657-1658 Thomas Welles • 1658-1659 John Winthrop • 1659-1676. William Leete • 1676-1683 Robert Treat • 1683-x687 Edmund Andros 1687-1689 Robert Treat • 1689-1698 Fitz John Winthrop x698-i7o8 Gurdon Saltonstall 1708-1725 Joseph Talcott 1725-1742 See also:Jonathan Law 1742-1751 Roger See also:Wolcott 1751-1754 Thomas Fitch • 1754-1766 William Pitkin 1766-1769 Jonathan See also:Trumbull 1769-1776 The New Haven Colony. Theophilus Eaton 1639-1657 See also:Francis See also:Newman 1658-166o William Leete . . . Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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