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94-405: The capacity of Cheshire Correctional Institution is 1580 inmates. 41°31′18″N 72°54′00″W  /  41.521721°N 72.899941°W  / 41.521721; -72.899941 This Connecticut state location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Connecticut Connecticut ( / k ə ˈ n ɛ t ɪ k ə t / kə- NET -ik-ət )

188-683: A battle in Fairfield , the Pequots sued for peace. Connecticut's original Charter in 1662 granted it all the land to the "South Sea"—that is, to the Pacific Ocean. The Hartford Treaty with the Dutch was signed on September 19, 1650, but never ratified by the British, stated the western boundary of Connecticut ran north from Greenwich Bay for a distance of 20 miles (32 km), "provided

282-402: A charter from Charles   II which united the settlements of Connecticut. Historically significant colonial settlements included Windsor (1633), Wethersfield (1634), Saybrook (1635), Hartford (1636), New Haven (1638), Fairfield (1639), Guilford (1639), Milford (1639), Stratford (1639), Farmington (1640), Stamford (1641), and New London (1646). The Pequot War marked

376-606: A coincidence that both he and Wilson served as members of the Committee of Detail without mentioning judicial review in the initial draft of the Constitution but then stressed its central importance at their ratifying conventions just a year preceding its inclusion by Ellsworth in the Judiciary Act of 1789 . Along with William Samuel Johnson, Ellsworth served as one of Connecticut's first two United States senators in

470-668: A corruption investigation, later pleading guilty to federal charges. Oliver Ellsworth Oliver Ellsworth (April 29, 1745 – November 26, 1807) was a Founding Father of the United States , attorney , jurist , politician , and diplomat . Ellsworth was a framer of the United States Constitution , United States senator from Connecticut , and the third chief justice of the United States . Additionally, he received 11 electoral votes in

564-946: A database of U.S. customs records maintained online by the Mystic Seaport Museum , the largest being the 180-ton Patient Mary launched in New Haven in 1763. Connecticut's first lighthouse was constructed in 1760 at the mouth of the Thames River with the New London Harbor Lighthouse . Connecticut designated four delegates to the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence : Samuel Huntington , Roger Sherman , William Williams , and Oliver Wolcott . Connecticut's legislature authorized

658-415: A federation rather than a single national entity. Three weeks earlier, on May 30, 1787, Edmund Randolph of Virginia had moved to create a "national government" consisting of a supreme legislative, an executive, and a judiciary. Ellsworth accepted Randolph's notion of a threefold division but moved to strike the phrase "national government." Since then, the "United States" has been the official title used in

752-553: A further expansion of industry, and an emphasis on increasing food production on the farms. Thousands of state, local, and volunteer groups mobilized for the war effort and were coordinated by the Connecticut State Council of Defense. Manufacturers wrestled with manpower shortages; Waterbury's American Brass and Manufacturing Company was running at half capacity, so the federal government agreed to furlough soldiers to work there. In 1919, J. Henry Roraback started

846-621: A major fire. Heavy rainfall caused the Connecticut River to flood downtown Hartford and East Hartford. An estimated 50,000 trees fell onto roadways. The advent of lend-lease in support of Britain helped lift Connecticut from the Great Depression, with the state a major production center for weaponry and supplies used in World War   II . Connecticut manufactured 4.1% of total U.S. military armaments produced during

940-525: A major role in convincing President Washington to send John Jay to England to negotiate the 1794 Jay Treaty that prevented warfare with England, settled debts between the two nations, and gave American settlers better access to the Midwest. On March 3, 1796, Ellsworth was nominated by President George Washington to be Chief Justice of the United States , the seat having been vacated by John Jay . (Jay's replacement, John Rutledge , had been rejected by

1034-563: A major role in supplying the Union forces with weapons and supplies during the Civil War . The state furnished 55,000 men, formed into thirty full regiments of infantry, including two in the U.S. Colored Troops , with several Connecticut men becoming generals. The Navy attracted 250 officers and 2,100 men, and Glastonbury native Gideon Welles was Secretary of the Navy. James H. Ward of Hartford

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1128-666: A manufacturing center for arms, hardware, and timepieces, Connecticut, as with the rest of the region, had transitioned into an economy based on the financial, insurance, and real estate sectors; many multinational firms providing such services can be found concentrated in the state capital of Hartford and along the Gold Coast in Fairfield County . The name Connecticut is derived from the Mohegan-Pequot word that has been translated as "long tidal river" and "upon

1222-623: A pro-slavery position and included many Copperheads willing to let the South secede. The intensely fought 1863 election for governor was narrowly won by the Republicans. Connecticut's extensive industry, dense population, flat terrain, and wealth encouraged the construction of railroads starting in 1839. By 1840, 102 miles (164 km) of line were in operation, growing to 402 miles (647 km) in 1850 and 601 miles (967 km) in 1860. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad , called

1316-815: Is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States . It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capital is Hartford , and its most populous city is Bridgeport . Connecticut lies between the major hubs of New York City and Boston along the Northeast Corridor , where the New York-Newark Combined Statistical Area , which includes four of Connecticut's seven largest cities, extends into

1410-466: The "Long Island Express" passed just west of New Haven and devastated the Connecticut shoreline between Old Saybrook and Stonington from the full force of wind and waves, even though they had partial protection by Long Island. The hurricane caused extensive damage to infrastructure, homes, and businesses. In New London, a 500-foot (150 m) sailing ship was driven into a warehouse complex, causing

1504-744: The 1796 presidential election . Born in Windsor, Connecticut , Ellsworth attended the College of New Jersey where he helped found the American Whig–Cliosophic Society . In 1777, he became the state attorney for Hartford County, Connecticut , and was selected as a delegate to the Continental Congress , serving during the remainder of the American Revolutionary War . He served as a state judge during

1598-742: The Connecticut Light & Power Co. which became the state's dominant electric utility. In 1925, Frederick Rentschler spurred the creation of Pratt & Whitney in Hartford to develop engines for aircraft; the company became an important military supplier in World War   II and one of the three major manufacturers of jet engines in the world. On September 21, 1938, the most destructive storm in New England history struck eastern Connecticut, killing hundreds of people. The eye of

1692-539: The First Bank of the United States , and the bargain whereby state debts were assumed in return for locating the capital to the south (today the District of Columbia ). Ellsworth's other achievements included framing the measure that admitted North Carolina to the Union, devising the non-intercourse act that forced Rhode Island to join the union, and drawing up the bill to regulate the consular service. He also played

1786-679: The Hudson River Valley. Some of the men were veterans of the winter encampment at Valley Forge , Pennsylvania , the previous winter. Soldiers at the Redding camp endured supply shortages, cold temperatures, and significant snow, with some historians dubbing the encampment "Connecticut's Valley Forge". The state was also the launching site for a number of raids against Long Island orchestrated by Samuel Holden Parsons and Benjamin Tallmadge , and provided soldiers and material for

1880-497: The New Haven or "The Consolidated", became the dominant Connecticut railroad company after 1872. J. P. Morgan began financing the major New England railroads in the 1890s, dividing territory so that they would not compete. The New Haven purchased 50 smaller companies, including steamship lines, and built a network of light rails (electrified trolleys) that provided inter-urban transportation for all of southern New England. By 1912,

1974-806: The New Haven Colony ; both merged into the former by 1664. Connecticut's official nickname, the "Constitution State", refers to the Fundamental Orders adopted by the Connecticut Colony in 1639, which is considered by some to be the first written constitution in Western history. As one of the Thirteen Colonies that rejected British rule during the American Revolution , Connecticut was influential in

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2068-671: The Quasi-War . He was succeeded as chief justice by John Marshall . He subsequently served on the Connecticut Governor's Council until his death in 1807. Ellsworth was born in Windsor, Connecticut , to Capt. David and Jemima (née Leavitt) Ellsworth. Ellsworth's ancestors had lived in Windsor since the middle of the 17th century. He entered Yale in 1762, but transferred to the College of New Jersey (later Princeton ) at

2162-597: The Susquehanna River and Delaware River named Westmoreland County . This resulted in the brief Pennamite-Yankee Wars with Pennsylvania . Yale College was established in 1701, providing Connecticut with an important institution to educate clergy and civil leaders. The Congregational church dominated religious life in the colony and, by extension, town affairs in many parts. With more than 600 miles (970 km) of coastline including along its navigable rivers, Connecticut developed during its colonial years

2256-504: The U.S. Revenue Cutter Service that would evolve into the U.S. Coast Guard, President Washington assigned Jonathan Maltbie as one of seven masters to enforce customs regulations, with Maltbie monitoring the southern New England coast with a 48-foot cutter sloop named Argus . In 1786, Connecticut ceded territory to the U.S. government that became part of the Northwest Territory . The state retained land extending across

2350-607: The " Knowledge Corridor ". Due to its geography, Connecticut has maintained a strong maritime tradition; the United States Coast Guard Academy is located in New London by the Thames River . The state is also associated with the aerospace industry through major companies Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky Aircraft headquartered in East Hartford and Stratford , respectively. Historically

2444-620: The 1636 murder of an English privateer and his crew, followed by the murder of a trader, colonists raided a Pequot village on Block Island . The Pequots laid siege to Saybrook Colony's garrison that autumn, then raided Wethersfield in the spring of 1637. Organizing a band of militia and allies from the Mohegan and Narragansett tribes, colonists declared war and attacked a Pequot village on the Mystic River . Death toll estimates range between 300-700 Pequots. After suffering another major loss at

2538-554: The 1780s and was selected as a delegate to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention , which produced the United States Constitution . While at the convention, Ellsworth played a role in fashioning the Connecticut Compromise between the more populous states and the less populous states. He also served on the Committee of Detail , which prepared the first draft of the Constitution, but he left the convention and did not sign

2632-627: The 19th century. During the war, the British launched raids in Stonington and Essex and blockaded vessels in the Thames River. Derby native Isaac Hull became Connecticut's best-known naval figure to win renown during the conflict, as captain of the USS ; Constitution . The British blockade during the War of 1812 hurt exports and bolstered the influence of Federalists who opposed

2726-547: The 19th century. In 1875, the first telephone exchange in the world was established in New Haven. When World War I broke out in 1914, Connecticut became a major supplier of weaponry to the U.S. military; by 1918, 80% of the state's industries were producing goods for the war effort. Remington Arms in Bridgeport produced half the small-arms cartridges used by the U.S. Army, with other major suppliers including Winchester in New Haven and Colt in Hartford. Connecticut

2820-572: The Atlantic, prompting him to resign from the Court in late 1800, while still in Europe. He resigned after just four years due to his "constant, and at times excruciating pains," sufferings made worse by his Europe travels, as special envoy to France. Though he retired from national public life upon his return to America in early 1801, he later served once more on the Connecticut Governor's Council. He

2914-557: The British got word of Continental Army supplies in Danbury , and they landed an expeditionary force of some 2,000 troops in Westport . This force then marched to Danbury and destroyed homes and much of the depot. Continental Army troops and militia led by General David Wooster and General Benedict Arnold engaged them on their return march at Ridgefield in 1777. For the winter of 1778–79, General George Washington decided to split

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3008-674: The Committee of Appeals, which can be described as a forerunner of the Federal Supreme Court. While serving on it, he participated in the Olmstead case that brought state and federal authority into conflict. In 1779, he assumed greater duties as a member of the Council of Safety, which, with the governor, controlled all military measures for the state. His first judicial service was on the Supreme Court of Errors when it

3102-500: The Continental Army into three divisions encircling New York City , where British General Sir Henry Clinton had taken up winter quarters. Major General Israel Putnam chose Redding as the winter encampment quarters for some 3,000 regulars and militia under his command. The Redding encampment allowed Putnam's soldiers to guard the replenished supply depot in Danbury and to support any operations along Long Island Sound and

3196-547: The Convention to designate the government. The complete name, "the United States of America," had already been featured by Paine, and its inclusion in the Constitution was the work of Gouverneur Morris when he made the final editorial changes in the Constitution. Ellsworth played a major role in the adoption of the Connecticut Compromise . The Convention was deadlocked over the question of representation in Congress, with

3290-532: The Convention. The Convention deliberations were interrupted from July 26 to August 6, 1787 while the committee completed its task. Though Ellsworth left the Convention near the end of August and did not sign the complete final document, he wrote the Letters of a Landholder to promote its ratification. He also played a dominant role in Connecticut's 1788 ratification convention, when he emphasized that judicial review guaranteed federal sovereignty. It seems more than

3384-406: The Court of France in 1799, and tasked with settling differences with Napoleon 's government regarding restrictions on U.S. shipping that might otherwise have led to military conflict between the two nations. The agreement accepted by Ellsworth provoked indignation among Americans for being too generous to Napoleon. Moreover, Ellsworth came down with a severe illness resulting from his travel across

3478-490: The Court of its original jurisdiction under Article III of the United States Constitution to hear controversies between two states. Ellsworth's chief legacy as Chief Justice is his discouragement of the previous practice of seriatim opinion writing, in which each Justice wrote a separate opinion in the case and delivered that opinion from the bench. Ellsworth instead encouraged the consensus of

3572-406: The Court to be represented in a single written opinion, a practice which continues to the present day. Ellsworth received 11 electoral college votes from three states in the 1796 presidential election . Those votes came at the expense of Thomas Pinckney , who as a result, lost the vice presidency to Thomas Jefferson . President Adams appointed Ellsworth United States Envoy Extraordinary to

3666-602: The Long Island Sound between the towns of Old Saybrook and Old Lyme . The name of the river is in turn derived from anglicized spellings of Quinnetuket , a Mohegan-Pequot word for "long tidal river". Before the arrival of the first European settlers, the region was inhabited by various Algonquian tribes. In 1633, the Dutch West India Company established a small, short-lived settlement called House of Hope in Hartford. Half of Connecticut

3760-519: The New Haven operated over 2,000 miles (3,200 km) of track with 120,000 employees. As steam-powered passenger ships proliferated after the Civil War, Noank would produce the two largest built in Connecticut during the 19th century, with the 332-foot wooden steam paddle wheeler Rhode Island launched in 1882, and the 345-foot paddle wheeler Connecticut seven years later. Connecticut shipyards would launch more than 165 steam-powered vessels in

3854-609: The Pacific and Indian oceans. The first half of the 19th century saw as well a rapid rise in whaling, with New London emerging as one of the New England industry's three biggest home ports after Nantucket and New Bedford . The state was known for its political conservatism, typified by its Federalist party and the Yale College of Timothy Dwight . The foremost intellectuals were Dwight and Noah Webster , who compiled his great dictionary in New Haven. Religious tensions polarized

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3948-799: The Senate the previous December, and Washington's next nominee, William Cushing , had declined the office in February.). He quickly was confirmed by the United States Senate (21–1), and took the prescribed judicial oath on March 8, 1796. No major cases came before the Supreme Court during Ellsworth's brief tenure as chief justice. However, four cases the Court issued rulings on were of lasting importance in American jurisprudence: Hylton v. United States (1796) implicitly addressed

4042-418: The Senate three weeks to expunge the superfluous letter." Senator William Maclay , a Republican Senator from Pennsylvania, offered a more hostile assessment: "He will absolutely say anything, nor can I believe he has a particle of principle in his composition," and "I can in truth pronounce him one of the most candid men I ever knew possessing such abilities." [Brown, 224–225] What seems to have bothered McClay

4136-696: The Senate's acceptance of the Bill of Rights promoted by Madison in the House of Representatives. Significantly, Madison sponsored the Judiciary Act in the House at the same time. Combined, the Judiciary Act and Bill of Rights gave the Constitution the "teeth" that had been missing in the Articles of Confederation. Judicial Review guaranteed the federal government's sovereignty, whereas the Bill of Rights guaranteed

4230-402: The Supreme Court's power of judicial review in upholding a federal carriage tax; Hollingsworth v. Virginia (1798) affirmed that the president had no official role in the constitutional amendment process ; Calder v. Bull (1798) held that the Constitution's Ex post facto clause applied only to criminal, not civil, cases; and New York v. Connecticut (1799) which was the first use by

4324-405: The Thames River which eventually drew the reprisal from the British force led by Arnold. Connecticut ratified the U.S. Constitution on January 9, 1788, becoming the fifth state. The state prospered during the era following the American Revolution, as mills and textile factories were built and seaports flourished from trade and fisheries. After Congress established in 1790 the predecessor to

4418-505: The U.S. Senate from 1952 to 1963; his son George H. W. Bush and grandson George W. Bush both became presidents of the United States. In 1965, Connecticut ratified its current constitution , replacing the document that had served since 1818. In 1968, commercial operation began for the Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Haddam ; in 1970, the Millstone Nuclear Power Station began operations in Waterford . In 1974, Connecticut elected Democratic Governor Ella T. Grasso , who became

4512-486: The United States Constitution. Ellsworth served as a key Senate ally to Alexander Hamilton and aligned with the Federalist Party . He led the Senate passage of Hamiltonian proposals such as the Funding Act of 1790 and the Bank Bill of 1791 . He also advocated in favor of the United States Bill of Rights and the Jay Treaty . In 1796, after the Senate rejected the nomination of John Rutledge to serve as Chief Justice, President George Washington nominated Ellsworth to

4606-477: The antecedents of a maritime tradition that would later produce booms in shipbuilding, marine transport, naval support, seafood production, and leisure boating. Historical records list the Tryall as the first vessel built in Connecticut Colony, in 1649 at a site on the Connecticut River in present-day Wethersfield. In the two decades leading up to 1776 and the American Revolution, Connecticut boatyards launched about 100 sloops , schooners and brigs according to

4700-417: The convention, on August 21 and 22, in favor of slavery being abolished. He also played an important role in keeping the concept of judicial review out of the Constitution. Along with James Wilson , John Rutledge , Edmund Randolph , and Nathaniel Gorham , Ellsworth served on the Committee of Detail , which prepared the first draft of the Constitution, based on resolutions that had already been passed by

4794-400: The development of the federal government of the United States . In 1787, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth , state delegates to the Constitutional Convention , proposed a compromise between the Virginia and New Jersey Plans; its bicameral structure for Congress , with a respectively proportional and equal representation of the states in the House of Representatives and Senate ,

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4888-407: The document. His influence helped ensure that Connecticut ratified the Constitution, and he was elected as one of Connecticut's inaugural pair of senators, serving from 1789 to 1796. He was the chief author of the Judiciary Act of 1789 , which shaped the federal judiciary of the United States and established the Supreme Court's power to overturn state supreme court decisions that were contrary to

4982-432: The end of his second year. Along with William Paterson and Luther Martin (both of whom served with him at the Constitutional Convention in 1787) he founded the "Well Meaning Club," which became the Cliosophic Society—now part of Whig-Clio, the nation's oldest college debating club. He received his A.B. degree in 1766, Phi Beta Kappa after 2 years. Soon afterward, Ellsworth turned to the law. After four years of study, he

5076-432: The federal government, which brought it to its present boundaries (other than minor adjustments with Massachusetts). For the first time in 1800, Connecticut shipwrights launched more than 100 vessels in a single year. Over the following decade to the doorstep of renewed hostilities with Britain that sparked the War of 1812, Connecticut boatyards constructed close to 1,000 vessels, the most productive stretch of any decade in

5170-466: The first constitutional document in America. The Quinnipiack Colony was established by John Davenport , Theophilus Eaton , and others at New Haven in March 1638. The New Haven Colony had its own constitution called "The Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony", signed on June 4, 1639. Each settlement was an independent political entity, established without official sanction of the English Crown. In 1662, Winthrop traveled to England and obtained

5264-466: The first message transmitted by Morse over the telegraph , "What hath God wrought?" Commissioned as a captain of the Connecticut militia in 1773, Ellsworth was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1774 and led three regiments of light cavalry supporting the Continental Army in New York during the summer of 1776. Ellsworth built up a prosperous law practice and in 1777 he became Connecticut's state attorney for Hartford County . That same year, he

5358-515: The first practical helicopter . The helicopter saw limited use in World War II, but future military production made Sikorsky Aircraft 's Stratford plant Connecticut's largest single manufacturing site by the start of the 21st century. Connecticut lost some wartime factories following the end of hostilities, but the state shared in a general post-war expansion that included the construction of highways and resulting in middle-class growth in suburban areas. Prescott Bush represented Connecticut in

5452-437: The first significant clash between colonists and Native Americans in New England. The Pequot had been aggressively extending their area of control at the expense of the Wampanoag to the north, Narragansett (east), Connecticut River Valley Algonquian tribes and the Mohegan (west), and Lenape Algonquian people (south). Meanwhile, the Pequot had been reacting with increasing aggression to colonial territorial expansion. In response to

5546-425: The first time that a major party presidential ticket included someone of the Jewish faith. Gore and Lieberman fell five votes short of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in the Electoral College. In the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 , 65 state residents were killed, mostly Fairfield County residents who were working in the World Trade Center . In 2004, Republican Governor John G. Rowland resigned during

5640-421: The first woman in any state to be elected governor without being the wife or widow of a previous governor. Connecticut's dependence on the defense industry posed an economic challenge at the end of the Cold War . The resulting budget crisis helped elect Lowell Weicker as governor on a third-party ticket in 1990. Weicker's remedy was a state income tax which proved effective in balancing the budget, but only for

5734-418: The following year. John Winthrop the Younger of Massachusetts received a commission to create Saybrook Colony at the mouth of the Connecticut River in 1635. A large group of Puritans arrived in 1636 from Massachusetts Bay Colony , led by Thomas Hooker , who established the Connecticut Colony at Hartford. The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut were adopted in January 1639, and have been described as

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5828-411: The judiciary with final appeal to the Supreme Court. Needless to say, this had not been the original intention of either Madison or Ellsworth. Ellsworth was the principal supporter in the Senate of Hamilton's economic program , having served on at least four committees dealing with budgetary issues. These issues included the passage of Hamilton's plan for funding the national debt, the incorporation of

5922-431: The large states wanting proportional representation and the small states demanding equal representation for each state. During the debate, he joined his fellow Connecticut delegate Roger Sherman in proposing the bicameral Congress in which two members of the Senate would be elected by each state legislature , while membership in the House of Representatives would be apportioned among the states based on its share of

6016-406: The laws accepted by these courts could be appealed. This seemingly modest specification provided the federal government with its only effective authority over state government at the time. In effect, judicial review supplanted Congressional Review, which Madison had unsuccessfully proposed four times at the Convention to guarantee federal sovereignty. Granting the federal government this much authority

6110-399: The long river", both referring to the Connecticut River . Evidence of human presence in the Connecticut region dates to as far back as 10,000 years ago. Stone tools were used for hunting, fishing, and woodworking. Semi-nomadic in lifestyle, these peoples moved seasonally to take advantage of various resources in the area. They shared languages based on Algonquian . The Connecticut region

6204-492: The most important component of the Judiciary Act. This gave the Federal Supreme Court the power to veto state supreme court decisions supportive of state laws in conflict with the U.S. Constitution. All state and local laws accepted by state supreme courts could be appealed to the federal Supreme Court, which was given the authority, if it chose, to deny them for being unconstitutional. State and local laws rejected by state supreme courts could not be appealed in this manner; only

6298-434: The most was Ellsworth's emphasis on private negotiations and tacit agreement rather than public debate. Significantly, there was no official record of Senate proceedings for the first five years of its existence, nor was there any provision to accommodate spectators. The arrangement was essentially the same as for the 1787 Convention, in contrast to the open sessions of the House of Representatives . Ellsworth's first project

6392-432: The new federal government. He identified with the emerging Federalist Party and played a dominant role in Senate proceedings equivalent to that of Senate Majority Leaders in later decades. According to John Adams , he was "the firmest pillar of [Washington's] whole administration in the Senate." [Brown, 231] Aaron Burr complained that if Ellsworth had misspelled the name of the Deity with two D's, "it would have taken

6486-427: The northern part of present-day Ohio called the Connecticut Western Reserve . The Western Reserve section was settled largely by people from Connecticut, and they brought Connecticut place names to Ohio. Connecticut made agreements with Pennsylvania and New York which extinguished the land claims within those states' boundaries and created the Connecticut Panhandle . The state then ceded the Western Reserve in 1800 to

6580-449: The outfitting of six new regiments in 1775, in the wake of the clashes between British regulars and Massachusetts militia at Lexington and Concord. There were some 1,200 Connecticut troops on hand at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775. In 1775, David Bushnell invented the Turtle which the following year launched the first submarine attack in history, unsuccessfully against a British warship at anchor in New York Harbor. In 1777,

6674-409: The position. Ellsworth was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, and served until 1800, when he resigned due to poor health. Few cases came before the Ellsworth Court , and he is chiefly remembered for his discouragement of the previous practice of seriatim opinion writing. He simultaneously served as an envoy to France from 1799 to 1800, signing the Convention of 1800 to settle the hostilities of

6768-408: The proceedings beginning on June 20, when he proposed the use of "the United States" to identify the government under the authority of the Constitution. The words "United States" had already been used in the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation as well as Thomas Paine 's The American Crisis . It was Ellsworth's proposal to retain the earlier wording to sustain the emphasis on

6862-481: The protection of states and citizens from the misuse of this sovereignty by the federal government. The Judiciary Act and Bill of Rights thus counterbalanced each other, each guaranteeing respite from the excesses of the other. However, with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1865, seventy-five years later, the Bill of Rights could be brought to bear at all levels of government as interpreted by

6956-471: The said line come not within 10 miles [16 km] of Hudson River". This agreement was observed by both sides until war erupted between England and The Netherlands in 1652. Conflict continued concerning colonial limits until the Duke of York captured New Netherland in 1664. Most Colonial royal grants were for long east-west strips. Connecticut took its grant seriously and established a ninth county between

7050-579: The short-term. He did not run for a second term, in part because of this politically unpopular move. In 1992, initial construction was completed on Foxwoods Casino at the Mashantucket Pequots reservation in eastern Connecticut, which became the largest casino in the Western Hemisphere. Mohegan Sun followed four years later. In 2000, presidential candidate Al Gore chose Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate, marking

7144-472: The southwestern part of the state. Connecticut is the third-smallest state by area after Rhode Island and Delaware , and the 29th most populous with slightly more than 3.6 million residents as of 2020 , ranking it fourth among the most densely populated U.S. states . The state is named after the Connecticut River , the longest in New England, which roughly bisects the state and drains into

7238-765: The state, as the Congregational Church struggled to maintain traditional viewpoints, in alliance with the Federalists. The failure of the Hartford Convention in 1814 hurt the Federalist cause, with the Democratic-Republican Party gaining control in 1817. Connecticut had been governed under the " Fundamental Orders " since 1639, but the state adopted a new constitution in 1818. Connecticut manufacturers played

7332-814: The war effort, especially to Washington's army outside New York City. General William Tryon raided the Connecticut coast in July 1779, focusing on New Haven, Norwalk, and Fairfield. New London and Groton Heights were raided in September 1781 by Benedict Arnold, who had turned traitor to the British. At the outset of the American Revolution, the Continental Congress assigned Nathaniel Shaw Jr. of New London as its naval agent in charge of recruiting privateers to seize British vessels as opportunities presented, with nearly 50 operating out of

7426-427: The war, ranking ninth among the 48 states, with major factories including Colt for firearms, Pratt & Whitney for aircraft engines, Chance Vought for fighter planes, Hamilton Standard for propellers, and Electric Boat for submarines and PT boats. In Bridgeport, General Electric produced a significant new weapon to combat tanks: the bazooka . On May 13, 1940, Igor Sikorsky made an untethered flight of

7520-486: The war. The cessation of imports from Britain stimulated the construction of factories to manufacture textiles and machinery. Connecticut came to be recognized as a major center for manufacturing, due in part to the inventions of Eli Whitney and other early innovators of the Industrial Revolution . The war led to the development of fast clippers that helped extend the reach of New England merchants to

7614-434: The whole population of the states. The compromise was adopted by the Convention on July 16, 1787. On the contentious issue of whether slaves would be counted as part of the population in determining representation of the states in Congress or would instead be considered property and so not be counted, Ellsworth voted for the eventual Three-Fifths Compromise . Later, stressing that he had no slaves, Ellsworth spoke twice before

7708-508: Was admitted to the bar in 1771 and later became a successful lawyer and politician. In 1772, Ellsworth married Abigail Wolcott, the daughter of Abigail Abbot and William Wolcott, nephew of Connecticut colonial governor Roger Wolcott , and granddaughter of Abiah Hawley and William Wolcott of East Windsor, Connecticut . They had nine children including the twin brothers William Wolcott Ellsworth and Henry Leavitt Ellsworth . William married Noah Webster 's daughter, served in Congress and

7802-605: Was adopted and remains to this day. In January 1788, Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the Constitution . Connecticut is a developed and affluent state, performing well on the Human Development Index and on different metrics of income except for equality . It is home to a number of prestigious educational institutions, including Yale University in New Haven , as well as other liberal arts colleges and private boarding schools in and around

7896-474: Was also an important U.S. Navy supplier, with Electric Boat receiving orders for 85 submarines, Lake Torpedo Boat building more than 20 subs, and the Groton Iron Works building freighters. On June 21, 1916, the Navy made Groton the site for its East Coast submarine base and school. The state enthusiastically supported the American war effort in 1917 and 1918 with large purchases of war bonds,

7990-421: Was apparently rejected because its potential misuse could later be used to reject the Constitution at State Ratifying Conventions . Upon the completion of these conventions the previous year, Ellsworth was in the position to render the sovereignty of the federal government defensible, but through judicial review instead of congressional review. Once the Judiciary Act was adopted by the Senate, Ellsworth sponsored

8084-653: Was chosen as one of Connecticut's representatives in the Continental Congress . He served 1777–80 and 1781–83 on various committees, including the Marine Committee, the Board of Treasury, and the Committee of Appeals. Ellsworth was also active in his state's efforts during the Revolution , having served as a member of the Committee of the Pay Table that supervised Connecticut's war expenditures. In 1777 he joined

8178-659: Was elected Governor of Connecticut. Henry became the first Commissioner of the United States Patent Office , the mayor of Hartford, president of Aetna Life Insurance and a major benefactor of Yale College . Henry was also instrumental in the creation of the U.S. Agriculture Department and oversaw the forced relocation of Cherokee Indians from Georgia to the Oklahoma Territory . He was a friend and backer of inventors Samuel Colt and Samuel F.B. Morse , and his daughter Annie Ellsworth proposed

8272-617: Was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1803. Ellsworth died at his home in Windsor on November 26, 1807, at the age of 62. He is buried at the Palisado Cemetery, behind the First Church of Windsor . In 1847, John Calhoun praised Ellsworth as the first of three Founding Fathers (with Roger Sherman and William Paterson ) who gave the United States "the best government instead of

8366-625: Was established in 1785, but he soon shifted to the Connecticut Superior Court and spent four years on its bench. Ellsworth participated in the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia as a delegate from Connecticut along with Roger Sherman and William Samuel Johnson . More than half of the 55 delegates were lawyers, eight of whom, including both Ellsworth and Sherman, had previous experience as judges conversant with legal discourse. Ellsworth took an active part in

8460-877: Was inhabited by multiple Native American tribes which can be grouped into the Nipmuc , the Sequin or "River Indians" (which included the Tunxis , Schaghticoke , Podunk , Wangunk , Hammonasset , and Quinnipiac ), the Mattabesec or "Wappinger Confederacy" and the Pequot-Mohegan . Some of these groups still reside in Connecticut, including the Mohegans , the Pequots , and the Paugusetts . Dutchman Adriaen Block

8554-676: Was initially claimed by the Dutch colony New Netherland , which included much of the land between the Connecticut and Delaware Rivers, although the first major settlements were established by the English around the same time. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony to form the Connecticut Colony , while other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and

8648-467: Was the Judiciary Act , described as Senate Bill No. 1, which effectively supplemented Article III in the Constitution by establishing a hierarchical arrangement among state and federal courts . Years later Madison stated, "It may be taken for certain that the bill organizing the judicial department originated in his [Ellsworth's] draft, and that it was not materially changed in its passage into law."[Brown, 185] Ellsworth himself probably wrote Section 25,

8742-517: Was the first European explorer in Connecticut. He explored the region in 1614. Dutch fur traders then sailed up the Connecticut River , calling it Versche Rivier ("Fresh River") and building a fort at Dutch Point in Hartford, which they named "House of Hope" ( Dutch : Huis van Hoop ). The Connecticut Colony originally consisted of several smaller settlements in Windsor, Wethersfield, Saybrook, Hartford, and New Haven. The first English settlers came in 1633 and settled at Windsor, then at Wethersfield

8836-478: Was the first U.S. Naval Officer killed in the Civil War. Connecticut casualties included 2,088 killed in combat, 2,801 dying from disease, and 689 dying in Confederate prison camps. A surge of national unity in 1861 brought thousands flocking to the colors from every town and city. However, as the war became a crusade to end slavery, many Democrats (especially Irish Catholics) pulled back. The Democrats took

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