Connecticut Colony Mrs. Nameika

Founding & History of Connecticut Colony The first Europeans that landed on the shores of Connecticut were Dutch traders. They sailed up the Connecticut River around the year 1614, and landed near Hartford. In the year 1633, the Dutch settlers had purchased land from the Pequot Tribe and made a permanent settlement. Later the settlers also bought land along the Connecticut River from the Mohegan Indians Many settlers from the Mass Bay Colony came to Connecticut looking for more religious freedom.

Founding & History of Connecticut Colony In 1637, there was trouble between the settlers and the Pequot Indians. The Pequot Indians wanted to take the lands that had been purchased from the Mohegans. Captain John Mason led the colonists to victory over the Pequots. The settlers wanted to create a plan for the type of government they wanted.

Founding & History of the Connecticut Colony Thomas Hooker believed that government of Connecticut should be based on the consent of those who are governed. Connecticut had the first written document that explained and laid out the method of government for the colony.

Founders of the Connecticut Colony Captain John Mason Was the magistrate of Mass Bay Colony Moved to Connecticut with a small group of settlers in 1635. Magistrate of Windsor, then Hartford, and Wethersfield Reverend Hooker & Reverend Stone The founding father of the colony Connecticut. Hooker was a powerful Puritan preacher in England, but considered a nonconformist. Settled primarily in Hartford, CT and were preachers there. John Haynes Drafted the Fundamental Orders document with Thomas Hooker and Roger Ludlow. Became the first Governor of Connecticut in 1639 John Winthrop His father was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony & left for Connecticut after his father died Governor of the colony of Connecticut 1659-1676 Gained the charter for the state of Connecticut John Davenport Formed a colony in Connecticut that revolved around the port of New Haven. The colony was strict on church membership and political process Reverend Hooker John Haynes John Winthrop John Davenport

Reasons for the Founding of the Connecticut Colony Connecticut was founded when settlers from the Mass Bay Colony wanted to break away. They were looking for more religious and political freedom from the Puritans. The settlers were also looking to profit from fur trade, fertile farming along the Connecticut River, and wanted to control trade along the river.

The First Charter of the Connecticut Colony Date: 1662 Between: The King of England and John Winthrop, John Mason, Samuel Willis and other colonists of Connecticut “all such others as now are or hereafter shall bee Admitted and made free of the Company and Society of our Collony of Connecticut in America, shall from tyme to tyme and forever hereafter, bee one Body Corporate and Pollitique in fact and name, by the Name of Governour and Company of the English Collony of Connecticut in New England in America; And that by the same name they and their Successors shall and may have perpetuall Succession, and shall and mey bee Persons able and Capable in the law to Plead and bee Impleaded, to Answere and to be Answered vnto, to Defend and bee Defended in all and Singular, Suits, Causes, quarrelles, Matters, Accons and things of what kind or nature soever, And alsoe to have, take, possesse, acquire and purchase lands Tenements or hereditaments, or any goods or Chattells, and the same to, Lease, Graunt, Demise, Alien, bargaine, Sell and dispose of, as other our leige People of this our Realme of England, or any other Corporacon or Body Politique within the same may lawfully doe.”

The Economy, Major Industries & Occupations of the Connecticut Colony Fishing Farming and Agriculture- wheat, corn, cattle, tobacco Trade and Shipping Products- rum and shipbuilding

Religion in the Connecticut Colony The settlers who moved to Connecticut came from the Pilgrim colonies in Massachusetts. They believed in the Puritan, (Congregationalists and Calvinists) religion but wanted more religious freedom and were looking for more economic opportunities. “Connecticut’s early settlers believed the Anglican Church in England had not gone far enough in purging itself of the rituals and practices of the Catholic Church. They objected, in particular, to the hierarchical organization of the Church of England and its ostentatious and elaborate ritual. Their hopes to “purify” the church by freeing individual congregations of any higher control and by simplifying the ritual and form of the church put them in intense conflict with both James II and Charles II of England in the early decades of the 17th century.”

Government in Colonial Connecticut The Fundamental Orders of 1639 were drafted by Thomas Hooker, John Haynes, and Roger Ludlow. The colonists of Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor voted on the orders The first governor of Connecticut was John Haynes, who was elected in 1639 They laid the ground work for how the government of Connecticut would run The Fundamental Orders were the new world’s first constitution. Connecticut got it’s nickname “The Constitution State” because of the Orders. The Fundamental Orders gave every Puritan man in good standing with the church a right to vote.

Major Cities & The Status of Slavery in the Connecticut Colony Hartford, Wethersfield, and Windsor were the three most important cities. Slavery was legal in the colony of Connecticut until 1848 when they abolished it completely.

Bibliography (Internet Sources) http://www.ctheritage.org/encyclopedia/ctto1763/hooker.htm http://www.ctheritage.org/encyclopedia/ctto1763/winthrop_j_jr.htm http://www.law.ou.edu/ushistory/colony.shtml http://www.kids.ct.gov/kids/cwp/view.asp?a=2573&q=329084 http://www.historycentral.com/TheColonies/Connecticut.html http://www.colonialwarsct.org/1639.htm http://www.ctheritage.org/encyclopedia/ctto1763/overviewctto1763.htm http://www.city-data.com/states/Connecticut-History.html http://www.cslib.org/gov/haynesj.htm http://www.slavenorth.com/connecticut.htm